2020s | Policy Analysis for California Education

Does Reclassification Change How English Learners Feel About School and Themselves?

October 2022 | Article, Policy brief

Authors

This study explores the impact of reclassification on social-emotional learning skills (SEL) of English learners (ELs) in grades 4 to 8. Using a regression discontinuity design, the study found that reclassification improved academic self-efficacy by 0.2 standard deviations for students near the cutoff threshold. The results suggest that reclassification can positively influence the academic beliefs of ELs and the authors provide recommendations for districts to create practices that foster such positive beliefs.

The Pandemic’s Effect on Learning Policy and Practice in 2020–21

October 19, 2022 | California School Boards Association

Local educational agencies statewide planned to provide technology, assess student learning, implement tiered levels of support and prioritize services for special student populations during the 2020–21 school year, but methods of doing so largely varied across districts, according to recent...

Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj Co-Author of PACE Paper Examining Negative Effects of Immigration Enforcement on CA Students

October 18, 2022 | Gevirtz Graduate School of Education

Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, Associate Professor at UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School, is a co-author—with Jacob Kirksey, Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University and Gevirtz School alumnus—of the Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) brief “Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Students in...

Preliminary Glimpse at Test Scores Shows Steep Declines in Reading, Math

October 18, 2022 | EdSource

Recently released test scores from some of California’s largest school districts — representing more than 1 million students — offer a preview of what’s likely to be steep drops in reading and math scores statewide in the wake of Covid...

UCD Team Led by PACE Faculty Director Earns IES Grant to Study Pandemic Recovery of CA Community Colleges

October 14, 2022 | Davis Enterprise

The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences has awarded a $3 million research grant to a University of California, Davis-led research team to assess pandemic recovery efforts undertaken by the California Community Colleges. The goal of this three-year...

Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Students in California

October 2022 | Policy brief, Article

Authors

Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj

Jacob Kirksey

This study explores the impact of county-level immigration arrests on the academic achievement, attendance, and perceptions of school climate and safety for Latinx and Latinx English learner students in California's CORE districts. The research found that there is a negative relationship between immigration arrests and these students' academic performance and school experiences. The study recommends policies and practices that can help schools and districts create safer, more welcoming environments for immigrant-origin students and families in the face of anti-immigrant actions.

PACE Advisory Board Member Al Mijares: National Fentanyl Crisis is Like Nothing We’ve Ever Seen Before

October 11, 2022 | Orange County Department of Education

Our country has long likened its drug prevention efforts to a war, marshaling resources at the local, state and national levels to disrupt the production, distribution and consumption of illegal substances.

But the rise of fentanyl represents a dark and...

New Biography of Mike Kirst Explores an Accomplished Career Spanning Six Decades

October 10, 2022 | EdSource

In a biography out now in paperback, “Michael Kirst: An Uncommon Academic,” Richard Jung tracks the life and career of an unusual academic who made a big imprint on K-12 public policy in and out of government service. Kirst will...

Alisal Union School District Shines in PACE study

August 29, 2022 | Alisal Union School District

A study of the Alisal Union School District found its exemplary community engagement practices and collaboration with parents resulted in an outstanding response to students’ needs when the pandemic hit. In “Crisis Response in California School Districts: Leadership, Partnership, and...

CA State Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond Awarded for Education Research and Impact

September 28, 2022 | EdSource

tate Board of Education President Linda Darling-Hammond, a professor emeritus at Stanford University who founded the Learning Policy Institute in Palo Alto and Washington, D.C., is this year’s co-recipient of the Yidan Prize.The 6-year-old prize is one of the world’s...