Michael W. Kirst

Michael Kirst
Michael W. Kirst
Former President of the California Board of Education and Professor Emeritus of Education and Business Administration,
Stanford University

Michael W. Kirst is professor emeritus of education and business administration at Stanford University and a co-founder of PACE. He is a longtime education advisor to former California Governor Jerry Brown, who four times appointed Kirst president of state board. In this position, Kirst was instrumental in reshaping education policy and finance in California, overseeing the new academic standards and assessments in math and English language arts, the new science standards, and the Local Control Funding Formula. Before joining the Stanford University faculty, Kirst held several positions with the federal government. He has written or edited more than a dozen books, including Political Dynamics of American Education, and, with Andrea Venezia, From High School to College. Kirst received his PhD in political economy and government from Harvard University.

updated 2013

Contributing topics
Access, quality & alignment in early childhood education
College access & postsecondary success
Continuous school improvement & support
Education finance
Educational governance & policy
Educator workforce & effectiveness
Supporting students’ social-emotional, mental & physical health
Understanding, measuring & improving student outcomes
Contributing initiatives
CORE-PACE Research Partnership
COVID-19 Recovery
Getting Down To Facts II
LCFF Research Collaborative
PACE/USC Rossier Voter Poll
Policy Research Panels
Commentary by Michael W. Kirst
: California’s Dashboard Data Will Guide Improvement
: Michael Kirst on New Federal and State Policies
Michael W. Kirst in the Media
: Public School Choice Exists in California, but Few Districts Offer It
: California Spends More on Schools With the Neediest Kids. Here’s How It’s Succeeded, and Failed.
: Inside California’s Education System: A Conversation with PACE Cofounder Dr. Michael W. Kirst
: A Refresher Guide to the California School Dashboard
: California’s Achievement Gap Defies Extra Billions in School Spending
Publications by Michael W. Kirst
Overcoming the High School Senior Slump: New Education Policies
Overcoming the High School Senior Slump
New Education Policies
Senior slump is part of American high school culture. High school seniors, from the top of the class to the bottom, view much of senior year as a time they have "earned" for nonacademic pursuits, including fun, internships, and paid work. For the…
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Bridging Education Research and Education Policymaking
This paper examines the relationship between policy formation in the United States and educational policy researchers. The experience of one independent 'think tank', namely PACE, located within universities, illustrates how research might inform…
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Crucial Issues in California Education 2000
Are the Reform Pieces Fitting Together?
"Crucial Issues in California Education 2000" is a successor to "Conditions of Education," a PACE publication since 1984. Conditions combined up-to-date data and ongoing trends in a wide variety of indicators relevant to state education policy. In…
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Crucial Issues in California Education 2000
Are the Reform Pieces Fitting Together?: Executive Summary
California’s schools may face scarcities of many key ingredients, from qualified teachers to modern classrooms. But there is no shortage of ideas when it comes to how policymakers are eagerly searching for ways to fix the state’s troubled public…