2/27/26 ECEA Child Care Update

Elevating UPK Outcomes in Colorado: Why Kindergarten Readiness Alone Is Not Enough

Colorado is making one of the largest early childhood investments in the nation—hundreds of millions of dollars every year in Universal Preschool (UPK). Families, providers, and taxpayers deserve accurate accountability that actually tells us whether this historic program is working.

Kindergarten readiness assessments are not sufficient to measure UPK outcomes.

These fall-of-kindergarten observational tools cannot reliably isolate the impact of preschool. They are administered months after children leave UPK, often in entirely different settings, and include data from roughly one-third of kindergartners who never attended UPK.

Especially as school districts move to remove unnecessary accountability burdens from their systems through Senate Bill 26-068 — which requires the Colorado Department of Education to minimize standardized summative assessments to the extent possible and seek federal waivers where needed — it is critical that we stop forcing an outdated, inefficient kindergarten-entry snapshot to serve as the primary measure of UPK success. These tools are labor-intensive (15–20 hours of observation per child), highly subjective, and provide almost no meaningful pre/post growth data on the very children the program served.

In short: we are using an old system to evaluate a bold, new system. That approach is neither accurate nor fair to Colorado’s $300+ million annual investment.

We are shifting because it is the right thing to do.  (Here's our Policy Paper on the issue.)

A powerful scientific consensus now shows that executive function skills—inhibitory control, working memory, and cognitive flexibility—together with social-emotional protective factors such as initiative, self-regulation, and secure relationships, are among the strongest predictors of:

• Kindergarten readiness

• Third-grade reading and math proficiency

• High-school graduation and college attainment

• Adult economic success and workforce productivity

These skills matter far more than traditional literacy or numeracy snapshots. They build resilience, reduce behavioral challenges, and create the adaptable, self-directed workforce Colorado will need for decades to come—especially for children from low-income families, dual-language learners, and communities of color.

Better tools already exist—and they belong in UPK.

Brief, game-based executive function assessments (tablet-administered, 5–7 minutes) like the EFgo and strength-based tools like the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA) are: 

• Quick and low-burden for teachers (15–20 minutes total per child)

• Objective, standardized, and culturally fair across languages and backgrounds

• Delivered at the beginning and end of the preschool year—so we get true pre/post growth data that actually measures UPK’s impact

• Immediately actionable, with child-specific reports, classroom dashboards, evidence-based activities, and family take-home resources

• Cost effective - for the 2 assessments it's less than $25 per child

Teachers gain real-time insights to adjust instruction. Programs receive clear metrics that reflect the value they add. Families receive simple, multilingual games and tips. And the state finally gets trustworthy evidence of return on investment.

This is the accurate, responsive accountability Colorado families and taxpayers deserve.

By focusing on the skills that matter most—executive function and social-emotional protective factors—we move from reactive snapshots to responsive, evidence-driven improvement. We honor the enormous investment in UPK by evaluating it with tools worthy of the program itself. And we align with school districts’ push to reduce unnecessary burdens while delivering real results for every child.

The Early Childhood Education Association (ECEA) stands ready to partner with the Department of Early Childhood, school districts, providers, and legislators to make this vision reality. Because when we measure what truly drives long-term success, Colorado wins—for our children, our families, and our future.

Let’s build the world-class early childhood system our state deserves.

For more information or to join the conversation, contact ECEA at [email protected].

Together, we are elevating UPK outcomes—starting now.

ECEA Members Minute (click here)

Member's ONLY content this week.  If you click on the title and can't access the content below reach out to Dawn for support.

• CCCAP Update
• Keep the pressure on! Have you emailed your legislators yet??
• Did you read our members only update on Saturday?  Those UPK Solutions are something to consider for your program.  Let us know if you didn't get it!

The phrase "If you are not at the table, you are on the menu," often attributed to U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, emphasizes the critical need to be actively involved in decision-making processes. If you do not participate in shaping decisions, you will likely be negatively affected by them, acting as the subject ("on the menu").  Best way to be at the table?  Join ECEA....it doesn't cost much and may just save your business.

Membership matters!  Help us to help improve the industry as we proactively engage legislators to keep school districts from gaining unfair advantages above you and your business.  That work is not free and it's not something that any of us can afford alone.  

Join ECEA Now and contribute to make a difference!  

Homes: $8 a month

SACC's: $8 a month

Centers/Preschools:  $25, 35, or 55 a month