From Ideas to Impact: What Colorado Can Teach Us about Building Implementation Infrastructure

Supported by the LAUNCH Pathways initiative, Colorado is bringing to life a statewide vision that aspires for every Colorado student to graduate with one of the Big 3 – 12 college credits, a work-based learning (WBL) experience, or industry-recognized credential –  by 2029, a vision that we share here at ESG. As the technical assistance partner for the Colorado team through the Launch initiative, we have had the privilege of supporting them in a transitional and pivotal moment for the work, when systems change takes root and is tested by the demands of implementation. The ongoing work of the team is providing an infrastructure model that will phase from innovation and ideas into realization and impact.  

The Homegrown Talent Coalition

To deliver on its promise, Colorado’s Big 3 attainment goal needs a two-fold approach: (1) an adaptive state policy system that provides clear expectations, yet is responsive to variable needs of districts; and (2) systems of support to strengthen district capacity around quality delivery of Big 3 experiences. This requires both building the foundation and creating the structures to support implementation. At the center of this approach is a trusted partner, the Homegrown Talent Coalition (“Coalition”).

The Homegrown Talent Coalition is a state-based alliance of policy, advocacy, and technical assistance organizations that have come together to form a unified vision and voice to support local districts in their implementation of the state’s policy and programmatic shifts. The Coalition brings together supportive partners from across Colorado to leverage existing capacity, expertise, and relationships to help all districts succeed. Coalition members share a commitment to the Big 3, but each organization brings its own priority focus areas, expertise, and network. Because members are a representative voice for what districts and local partners need to deliver on the Big 3, the Coalition is primed to offer a unique and contextualized perspective on how state policy can be appropriately prescriptive, setting clear parameters for quality, while still leaving space for local discretion on delivery. As such, the Coalition is intentionally-designed, and well-positioned, to shape the necessary state- and local-level infrastructure needed for the effective implementation of the Big 3. 

Building the Foundation: Adaptive State Policy Structures

Colorado policy makers have already set in motion a number of related but separate initiatives that would impact how districts approach implementation for the Big 3. This includes revising accountability, streamlining funding for postsecondary and workforce readiness, exploring the consolidation of higher education and workforce agencies, and developing a state longitudinal data system. There is a tremendous potential for synergy across the work underway if there are clear definitions that can lead towards strong data practices to drive incentives and resources aligned to district needs. 

In this productive landscape, the Coalition has taken on a necessary and critical arbiter-like role to shepherd alignment and ensure state policy is designed and refined for those implementing. To do so, the Coalition itself has had to organize and coordinate its structure to simultaneously drive and operate state-level implementation infrastructure, creating a feedback loop that informs state policy and ensures a responsiveness to the needs of districts and implementers.

Establishing Collaborative Governance

The Coalition is formed around a collaborative governance structure that allows it to operate as both an advocate and technical assistance provider. Members are organized into tables that lead different lanes of the work. For example, the Policy and Data tables stay abreast of state-level policy activity, maintain a line of sight across multiple points of intersection, and provide feedback to policymakers. The Coalition recently submitted its collective feedback on  rulemaking benchmarks for both the start-up and sustain post-secondary and workforce readiness (PWR) funding streams with questions and recommendations on definitions, clarity, and potential for impact. Offering a third-party perspective with a holistic lens means the Coalition can help the state build infrastructure that better ensures synergy, compounds on impact, and mitigates the consequences that result from siloed policy development or misalignment. Working together ensures all 34 partner organizations that make up the Coalition have their voice heard and amplified toward a consistent state vision, rather than proposing potentially competing or overlapping feedback that is too local to be actualized in state policy. Coherence and reach in feedback streamlines the work of the state agency to respond and ensures disparate regions of the state have an equal voice at the table. 

Evolving Data Systems

With help from LAUNCH resources, the Coalition also spent time synthesizing and understanding available state-level data related to student access to the Big 3. Recognizing the evolving data landscape and the variability between data collection efforts, this work was meant to be informative (not evaluative) and offer some insights into where state partners may want to commit more focus or resources or where data collection guidance could be improved to ensure better insights and supports are directed to the right places. 

Creating the Structures: District Capacity-Building 

Building district capacity for implementation of the Big 3 is not a one-size-fits all effort. A significant number of Colorado learners are served in rural communities without the same access or proximity to resources that can facilitate Big 3 experiences. Colorado is also known for its strong institutionalization of local control, meaning that implementation with fidelity largely lies with the districts.

Because of its membership and existing reach, the Coalition has been able to step into a local capacity-building role by championing the need for a clear statewide roadmap around the Big 3, balanced with the need for contextualized delivery. To do so, the Coalition has been thoughtful in building out its own capacity as a technical provider hub that promotes efficiency and is intentional about enhancing local infrastructure. 

Strengthening Program Structures

The Coalition’s Pathway Table is working to strengthen program structures to create more equitable and sustainable access to the Big 3 for all students across the state. Leveraging the same data discovery work that will help to inform state advocacy, the Pathways Table is working to steward a collaborative approach to TA delivery, focused on areas of need identified in statewide heatmaps of student outcome data.

Providing Implementation Models

With LAUNCH support, the Colorado team is also building a library of helpful context and examples to provide promising models for how other districts are working toward scaling Big 3 practices. While the primary goal of this research is to inform an evidence-based technical assistance strategy, it also feeds the state-level advocacy strategy, identifying the types of state policy conditions that allow exemplars to thrive.

Conclusion

While the Big 3 is not a completely new part of Colorado’s education policy landscape, the start of a new school year and the upcoming gubernatorial election mark a critical transition for the work. The ongoing work of the Colorado Homegrown Talent Coalition provides some key reflections and questions that other implementation leaders might ask themselves:

1. Who is holding our compass steady and driving momentum during key transitional moments to ensure systems change translates to long-term student impact?
2. How are we creating strong feedback loops and staying attune to the realities of implementation—especially those that look different across our state’s diverse communities—that help create a virtuous policy circle that helps refine enabling conditions?
3. What organizations are already supporting this work that can be a source of aligned, yet contextualized capacity for those implementing at a district level?
4. How do we give districts what they need to do what they do best: center and serve the students in their communities?

And in addition to all we have learned from Colorado’s work and experience is that sometimes, even more challenging and exciting than designing the blueprint, is the actual build.