Two years ago, educators, councils, and nonprofits across Colorado joined a statewide effort to bolster early childhood systems. Funded by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and facilitated by Early Milestones Colorado to help providers overcome COVID-19 pandemic hardships, the CIRCLE grant program gave local early care and education leaders the flexibility to solve their most urgent challenges such as strengthening the workforce, expanding access, and testing new approaches to family engagement.
What comes next? Findings from Marzano Research’s CIRCLE Two-Year Follow-Up Study (2025) provide insights. This comprehensive evaluation showed that the most enduring change came from projects that cultivated deep local partnerships. Nearly half of all grantees – 103 of 226 – remain active. Many have expanded, reached new families, and reshaped how their communities approach early care and education.
Six lessons from these efforts emerged as a guide for Colorado’s next investments in early childhood innovation.
1. Partnerships Drive Momentum
Partnerships turned out to be the strongest driver of sustaining progress, with 65% of grantees naming new or strengthened partnerships as their most valuable post-grant gain. These connections stretched small grants into long-term infrastructure. A rural county leveraged CIRCLE purchases into $2.8M for its first licensed center. And one agency collaborated with a university to launch an apprenticeship program that reimburses up to 75% of apprentice wages, helping centers stay open and families remain at work.
Collaboration fuels continuity. When local agencies, schools, and nonprofits work together, they build networks that carry forward long after funding ends. Because the strongest results emerged from shared responsibility and vision, any future rounds should reward partnership plans as intentionally as they reward service delivery.
2. Growth Beats Survival
Sustainability depends on growth, not maintenance. More than half of all CIRCLE projects expanded services after grant funding ended, and nearly half added new training or professional development opportunities for staff.
Sustained projects shared common traits. They integrated their innovations into daily operations, diversified funding, and adopted flexible staffing models that adjusted with enrollment changes. For example, one mid-sized provider in Garfield County partnered with local schools and colleges to create a “grow-your-own” staffing model that now reaches four neighboring counties.
This shows that successful short-term grants best serve as starting points rather than finish lines. When projects demonstrate results, future support should help them scale what’s working.
3. Workforce and Quality Remain Central
At every level (individual, organizational, and community), CIRCLE investments strengthened Colorado’s early childhood workforce. Two years post-grant, most sustained projects still focus on quality improvement and professional growth.
For example, a preschool built an apprenticeship pipeline that moved aides into credentialed roles. Another grantee launched bilingual supports. And some directors reported using CIRCLE data dashboards to demonstrate workforce needs and make the case for wage improvements and ongoing investment.
These efforts confirm that investments in workforce quality improve both access and stability. They make classrooms stronger, families more confident, and systems more resilient. The next wave of funding should continue to center coaching, mentorship, and career advancement as essential components of quality improvement.
4. Funding Fluency Matters More Than Windfalls
CIRCLE revealed that how organizations manage funding matters more than how much they receive. Many projects stayed active without new grants by embedding their activities into existing budgets. Others sustained roles by braiding small funding sources together rather than chasing large, one-time awards. One Denver organization, for instance, hired a bilingual coordinator with CIRCLE dollars and later sustained the role through three smaller grants.
And nearly all participants (91%) said they now feel better prepared to pursue additional grants. They learned how to combine funds, build partnerships, and communicate value to local funders.
This type of financial fluency turns short-term awards into long-term capacity. Future funding models should strengthen these skills through direct technical assistance such as grant-writing workshops, peer funding networks, and introductions to local funders. This builds independence and prepares communities to sustain innovation beyond the life of a single grant.
5. Flexible, Demand-Driven TA Keeps Projects Resilient
Technical assistance made a measurable difference. Early Milestones Colorado, the intermediary that administered the grants, offered hands-on, adapt, address challenges, and stay focused. When support was tailored to local needs (such as licensing, data systems, or workforce planning), grantees stayed on track.
This approach worked because it respected local expertise. CIRCLE’s TA model started from what communities already knew and helped them build on it. Administering grants like this through an intermediary allows for consistent, responsive support that state agencies or funders alone often can’t provide. This flexibility kept projects resilient even when funding or staffing shifted. Future efforts could include grant-writing bootcamps, a community of practice, regional roundtables with local agencies, and peer success panels.
6. Funding by Ripples, Not the Calendar
CIRCLE demonstrated when local educators and partners have both trust and flexibility, they create change that endures. The next wave of early childhood investment should follow the rhythm the grant revealed. Funders should design programs that allow successful projects to move from local pilot to daily practice. That means offering short, focused “glide-path” grants that bridge the gap between experimentation and permanence, giving communities time to strengthen what they started. Aligning dollars with relationship-building and continued learning will support these efforts in becoming part of everyday operations.
The Ripples That Keep Expanding
CIRCLE’s influence continues to spread. Two-thirds of projects reported community-level outcomes, and nearly half documented system-level effects. The changes moved outward – first through educators and families, then through organizations and policies. Those ripples now reach every county in Colorado.
These outcomes demonstrate that time and consistency matter. A single year of funding can start a ripple, but continued support helps it travel farther and reach more children and their families.
Marzano Research partners with early childhood leaders and educators to study, scale, and sustain data-driven change. Our research, evaluation, technical assistance, coaching, and strategy services help convert goals into lasting, effective systems. Reach out to Dr. Carrie Germeroth to chat about your early childhood education needs.
