Benjamin W. Cottingham

Benjamin Cottingham Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE)
Benjamin W. Cottingham
Associate Director, Strategic Partnerships,
Policy Analysis for California Education, Stanford University

Benjamin Cottingham is the associate director of strategic partnerships at PACE. His work focuses on the development of organizational conditions that support the continual improvement of student outcomes across California’s education system. He examines how California’s county offices of education support continuous improvement. He is involved with several research partnerships, including the CORE-PACE partnership, studying the impact of networked improvement communities on at-risk student populations. Cottingham received his master’s in education policy from Stanford University.

updated 2021

Publications by Benjamin W. Cottingham
How School Districts Craft Coherence Towards Continuous Improvement
Using qualitative case study methods, we examine how educators describe continuous improvement and craft coherence for implementation. We find that educators attempted to build system-wide improvement capabilities, taking into consideration…
Lessons from Two Learning Networks
Continuous improvement has a prominent place in California’s approach to educational accountability. But while there are proof points that show the potential of continuous improvement, currently there is not evidence that continuous improvement…
A Case Study of Two High-Poverty School Districts
This report examines two districts—Azusa Unified and Dinuba Unified—that have begun to shift district structures, policies, and culture to have a measurable effect on student outcomes. Both districts have committed to reducing the D/F rate for…
Lessons from Kern County
Counties, districts, and schools have had to respond to ever-shifting issues related to COVID-19. This brief describes the complex challenges that district superintendents faced, which often required expertise in areas beyond traditional…