California’s public school students are continuing to rebound from the pandemic, with more showing up for class, more graduating and fewer misbehaving at school, according to new data released today. The California School Dashboard, a color-coded snapshot of how students...
PACE co-founder Michael W. Kirst, former president of the California Board of Education (1977–1981 and 2011–2019), highlights in a new PACE commentary findings from his Learning Policy Institute report Standards-Based Education Reforms: Looking Back to Looking Forward, which analyzes the evolution of standards-based reforms in the United States. Kirst issues a call to action: California needs a strategic and tactical roadmap to improve instructional capacity in classrooms statewide. The commentary offers four recommendations: return the CDE to its former role of providing technical assistance on how to implement subject matter standards; strengthen COEs for effective capacity building; reorient the district role to focus on instructional capacity; and design the roadmap for targeted district support. Without a unified strategy, California risks more uneven progress. A comprehensive, coordinated approach is essential to equipping educators with the tools they need to deliver equitable, standards-aligned instruction to all students.
On November 6, 2024, the UC Berkeley School of Education (BSE) gathered esteemed guests, including faculty, family, alumni and local education leaders, to honor former Berkeley School of Education (BSE) interim dean and passionate civil rights and educational equity advocate...
Across the nation, school board meetings have become increasingly contentious in recent years, with parents and community members expressing frustration and anger over a variety of issues. From critical race theory (CRT) to book bans, these meetings have become a...
When the superintendent in San Francisco Unified proposed closing schools recently, parents launched a prolonged — and successful — protest. The uproar may have died down for now, but the issue is likely to erupt at school boards across the...
Education has never been a top priority of President-elect Donald Trump’s, but that doesn’t mean schools — or students — will be immune from Trump’s agenda in the next four years, education experts say. Trump may slash school funding, cut civil...
Daisy Gonzales, the new Executive Director of the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), is no stranger to navigating crises. From her upbringing as a foster youth, juggling school while moving homes, to managing the Assembly Budget Committee during the recession...
The re-election of former President Donald Trump is certain to bring a period of conflict,tension and litigation between his White House and California’s political and education leaders whose policies and values the president-elect castigates. It also could potentially have major...
I dreamed of following in my mother’s footsteps to become a teacher. We would spend our Augusts decorating her classrooms with cheesy quotes and fun colors. During the year, she would grade assignments and share her elementary school students’ funny...
Oakland mom Azlinah Tambu vividly remembers the moment that would transform her from the law-abiding, neighborhood school mom into a trespassing activist threatened with jail time. For months, Tambu, whose two children were then in elementary school, and others had...
Statewide efforts to increase rates of dual enrollment participation among high school students were paying off prior to the pandemic, but have stalled since students returned to in-person instruction, according to a recent breakdown from Policy Analysis for California Education...
A Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) commentary by UCLA Luskin Professor of Social Welfare Laura Wray-Lake highlights the first time that 16- and 17-year-olds will be allowed to vote in school board elections in two California cities. Oakland and...
A commentary by PACE co-founder Michael W. Kirst, former president of the California Board of Education (1977–1981 and 2011–2019), highlights findings from his Learning Policy Institute report Standards-Based Education Reforms: Looking Back to Looking Forward, which analyzes the evolution of standards-based reforms in the United States. Kirst issues a call to action: California needs a strategic and tactical roadmap to improve instructional capacity in classrooms statewide. The commentary offers four recommendations towards creating this roadmap: 1. Return the California Department of Education (CDE) to Its Former Role: Providing Technical Assistance on How to Implement Subject Matter Standards. 2. Strengthen County Offices of Education for Effective Capacity Building. 3. Reorient the District Role to Focus on Instructional Capacity. 4. Design the Roadmap for Targeted District Support.
San Francisco must do everything it can to avert a state takeover of its schools. That’s the stark message brought by Carl A. Cohn, the only outside educator to be brought in to help the team of city administrators set...
For the first time since COVID-19 hit, California students demonstrated slight across-the-board gains in math, English and science according to statewide standardized testing data released Thursday. The news offers a glimmer of hope for some in the face of concerns...
As the San Francisco Unified School District deliberates over a tentative list of school closures, it will have to account for the fact that the district’s enrollment has declined for several years—and could fall much further. But San Francisco’s public...
A recent report from Policy Analysis for California Education aims to provide education leaders with a better understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it can be used in education by exploring its potential strengths and limitations. Generative AI in...
Falling enrollments and gloomy economics point to the inevitable: Many school districts in California will close schools over the next decade. So far, they have been mainly elementary and middle schools, but high schools, spared until now, won’t escape, a...
The rise of AI promises new solutions to long-standing challenges. It also introduces some challenges of its own. In addition to concerns over privacy, bias and reliability, AI is driving a flood of new products in a broad range of...
English learners (ELs) are the fastest-growing demographic in US public schools. Migration to industrialized nations like the US will continue to drive that growth. By 2031, 72% of jobs in the US will require postsecondary education or training.2 English is...
California is poised today to announce which schools will share a windfall to bolster career paths for students – but delays and mishaps have meant that thousands of students missed the opportunity to participate. An estimated 300 K-12 schools will...
After nearly a decade at PACE, I am writing to announce that I am stepping down from my role as executive director. My time leading PACE has been an extraordinary journey, and I am immensely proud of what we have built together.
From Oceanside to Cajon Valley to Chula Vista, school board candidates across San Diego County are making the fight for and against what’s been described as “parental rights” part of their platforms. The loose term has evolved since it gained...
California’s public schools have a numbers problem—and it’s not just that their students don’t score very highly in national tests of mathematics ability. Their other numbers problem is the financial squeeze posed by declining enrollment, especially in large urban districts...
