The PACE Annual Conference in January 2024 will bring together California policymakers, researchers, and education leaders to address critical questions about the state's public education system and explore transformative actions for improvement at all levels, from early childhood through higher education.

Academic preparation for postsecondary schooling is largely a function of rigorous, inclusive, and relevant high school curricula, including mathematics. Yet not all high school students have equal access to the courses that best prepare them for college and career. In this webinar, we will present new research on 12th grade math and course-taking in California which shows that nearly half of high school graduates do not meet the math requirements of state universities or are ill-prepared for college math.

PACE’s 2023 conference marks many important milestones: our first in-person annual conference since the start of the pandemic, the 10-year anniversary of the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula, and the 40-year anniversary of PACE’s founding.

In this seminar, we will present a comprehensive overview of California’s college readiness metrics and new statewide data on college persistence and completion. In addition, we describe the efforts of several public school districts to improve postsecondary access and success for all students, and to close persistent gaps by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

College access is more important than ever, and the time is right for a fresh look at the research on college admissions and the implications for education equity. PACE and UC Berkeley bring together an amazing group of policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. Speakers include leaders from the State Board of Education, each of California’s institutions of higher education (UC, CSU, and community colleges), K-12 school districts, the College Board, and advocacy organizations, along with experts in college admissions and access from universities across California and nationwide.

Michal Kurlaender and Jacob Jackson present research following up on their statewide evaluation of California’s Early Assessment Program (EAP), an academic preparation program developed jointly by the California Department of Education, the California State Board of Education, and the California State University and implemented in 2004. The goals of the EAP are to bridge the gap between K-12 educational standards in English and mathematics and the requirements and expectations of postsecondary education. In this seminar, Kurlaender and Jackson present new findings on EAP effects at California

Gardner Center staff and two institutional partners at the University of Chicago and Brown University, developed and studied the implementation of a CRIS in five urban school districts across the country. The seminar will present the recently-released CRIS Resource Series, including a menu of research-based indicators and six essential elements of CRIS implementation. The seminar includes a discussion of how districts, schools, and state agencies can use a college readiness indicator system to fulfill college readiness mandates and advance equitable access to deeper learning opportunities.

In this seminar Daniel Solorzano and Amanda Datnow present findings from a study focusing on young adults in poverty, many of whom are enrolled in community colleges. Their study is guided by the premise that it is important to take an asset-based approach to understanding youth in poverty and their communities. They argue to truly expand opportunities for success educational institutions must find a way to build on current strengths in families and communities. The project seeks to understand what knowledge and tools are needed to maximize postsecondary opportunities for low-income youth.

In this seminar, Svetlana Darche and David Stern focus on the practical question of how high schools might be held accountable for developing students' career readiness. Their goal is to propose a feasible indicator of high school students' career readiness that could be included among the measures used by states to hold schools accountable, and would complement and enhance the assessments of proficiency in academic subjects. Such an indicator could address the requirement for a career readiness measure as stated in a new provision of the California Education Code.

In this seminar Russell Rumberger from UC-Santa Barbara will present findings from his research on the causes and consequences of dropping out in California as part of the California Dropout Research Project, and from his recent book, Dropping Out, from a national perspective. He will address four facets of California’s dropout crisis: the severity of the problem and whether it’s getting better or worse; the individual and social consequences of dropping out; the reasons why students drop out of school; and changes in policy and educational practice that can help to address the problem.

As California implements the Common Core State Standards and discusses ways to better link K –12 and postsecondary education systems, it is critical to understand how well the state’s current postsecondary and career readiness standards relate to each other and to the Common Core. The panelists will discuss initial findings from a project focused on whether college and career readiness standards in the Health Sciences (entry-level in postsecondary, entry-level in the workforce, and exit-level in high school) require the same levels and types of knowledge and skills. Speaker: Andrea Venezia

The Early Assessment Program is an academic preparation program developed jointly by the California Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and the California State University. In this seminar, we present new results from a statewide study of the impact of the EAP on both student and school outcomes. We discuss how schools have responded to the EAP, given the voluntary nature of the program, and present findings from a new study evaluating the effect of the EAP on students’ likelihood for remediation once they arrive at a CSU campus.

To improve the preparation of California high school students for postsecondary education and careers, in 2006 the James Irvine Foundation launched a major initiative to develop what is now called the Linked Learning approach. The Foundation asked PACE to inform this effort by gathering evidence on the cost of Linked Learning programs. David Stern of the University of California, Berkeley, will present results from the new study of CPAs and from the PACE study of costs.

In this seminar researchers will summarize the results of a system-wide inventory of CTE programs, by college, that suggests the need for far more attention to developing coherent program structures that deliver value to students and employers. They will discuss some of the challenges facing the colleges presented by the organizational structure around the CTE and workforce development mission and draw some contrasts with other states that have assigned a higher priority to the CTE mission.

California participates in President Obama’s goal of increasing participation in postsecondary education the state needs to add roughly 100,000 students a year for the next ten years. Public institutions do not have the ability to meet these needs under current fiscal and structural constraints. What might be the role of private and for-profit colleges and universities in meeting the needs of the state? In this seminar, William G. Tierney addresses this question and more.

California’s community colleges serve nearly three-quarters of public postsecondary enrollments in the state and are critical to meet today’s needs for a highly educated workforce and citizenry. State public policies create the conditions under which the colleges operate to serve students’ needs and contribute to the economy. In this seminar, Nancy Shulock makes the case for supplementing ongoing efforts to increase student success with changes to policies in order to provide more favorable conditions under which the colleges can meet the needs of students and the state of California.