Research shows that preK–3 alignment—coordinating preK–3 standards, curricula, instructional practices, assessments and professional development—can narrow achievement gaps by helping children sustain the gains they made in preschool, but many California districts say they are struggling to support alignment efforts.

School climate and student engagement surveys can tell us a good deal about important contributors to student success. They can illuminate students’ sense of belonging at school and their sense of themselves as learners. They can shed light on bullying...

Local officials have begun reevaluating how much their communities are getting for their single biggest expense: the degree-certified competence of public school teachers and administrators. Does every school system really need a credentialed curriculum director, when any good teacher should...

More than 20 years ago, Proposition 227 was passed in California, requiring that all public schools teach curriculum in English and providing only a year of special instruction to English learner students in the hope of quickly producing assimilated and...

Due to statewide teacher shortages, many of California’s approximately 800,000 special education students are being taught by teachers who haven’t completed teacher preparation programs or have received only partial training.

Recent survey results show that while more California county office of education leaders are understanding and accepting of the new roles of COEs in the Statewide System of Support, the state must further build out and enhance the system to...

As he was campaigning for governor, Gavin Newsom made some enormous promises for the youngest Californians and their families — universal preschool, affordable, high-quality child care, six months of paid family leave. And he’s delivered — on the first few...

The debate over whether to stop using the SAT in admissions at the sprawling and nationally influential University of California is approaching a turning point. Anti-testing groups are expected to file a lawsuit Tuesday demanding that the university drop the...

Research has shown that grades are the best single predictor of college performance and aren’t as heavily influenced as the standardized exams by income, parent education levels and race. But the ACT and College Board, which owns the SAT, argue...

The “Birth to Twelfth Grade Water Cooler Conference: Building a Shared California for All Students” brought together experts from across the educational spectrum to support greater alignment across systems. Early childhood education and K–12 stakeholders from throughout California gathered in...

A key goal of public education is to provide equitable opportunities for students, regardless of their backgrounds and circumstances. Achievement gaps on state standardized tests based on differences in family income levels are staggeringly wide and have become larger over...

The debate over whether to stop using the SAT in admissions at the sprawling and nationally influential University of California is approaching a turning point. Anti-testing groups are expected to file a lawsuit Tuesday demanding that the university drop the...

The debate over whether to stop using the SAT in admissions at the sprawling and nationally influential University of California is approaching a turning point. Anti-testing groups have filed a lawsuit demanding that the university drop the requirement for students...

The UC system has formed a task force in order to eliminate the traditionally required SAT/ACT standardized test scores in its admissions process. UC Berkeley Chancellor cited “inequity” in the current requirement of standardized testing.

The debate over whether to stop using the SAT in admissions at the sprawling and nationally influential University of California is approaching a turning point. Anti-testing groups filed two lawsuits Tuesday demanding that the university drop the requirement for students...

Measuring both student proficiency, whether students are on grade level, and student growth from year to year matters, particularly in places like Oakland where thousands of students enter school each year behind grade level. Despite the importance of growth, California...

California’s local governments—cities especially—and school districts have been packing ballots with tax increase measures in recent years and another batch is on tap for next year. Voters have, more often than not, bought into officials’ pleas for more revenue and...

I started my career as a trial attorney for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, vindicating students’ legal right to belong in school. My experiences taught me a lot about the corrosive effects of students being “othered” based on race...

California’s largest school district on Wednesday publicly released new data measuring how its students progress from year to year. Los Angeles Unified, which serves more than 600,000 students, published what are known as academic growth data as part of a...

In the 21st century, calls to “close the achievement gap” have been ubiquitous in education circles. Yet, as policymakers and educators devote more attention to the problem, a growing number of commentators have begun to worry that the dominance of...

Los Angeles Unified on Wednesday is expected to become the latest California school district to publicly share data showing how its students improve year to year, a move the district expects will provide deeper insights into how individual schools are...

In 2014, the CORE Districts—a consortium of eight of the largest school districts in California serving more than one million students—began measuring students’ social-emotional learning (SEL) as part of a No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver enabling CORE to develop...

Salvador Martinez, a fourth-year applied mathematics student and member of Beyond the Score, said the group lobbied for removing standardized testing from admission policy at the Policy Analysis for California Education conference at UC Berkeley this past weekend.

As faculty deliberate, UC Berkeley chancellor calls for ending the use of SAT and ACT. Pressures are mounting on the University of California to end its 50 year old practice of requiring freshman applicants to take the SAT or ACT...

The convergence of new research on standardized testing, a controversial proposed entrance requirement at California State University and the recent “Varsity Blues” admission scandal served as the backdrop for a wide-ranging Nov. 22 forum at UC Berkeley Law School.