In this seminar, Sean Reardon and Michal Kurlaender will present student-level data from four large California school districts was used to examine the impact of the California High School Exit Examination exam on student achievement and graduation rates. In particular, they focus of the effects of failing vs. passing the CAHSEE in 10th grade on the subsequent achievement and graduation rate of students with relatively low math and ELA skills.

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.

Although policy makers have been talking about and drafting policies to address inequities in student higher education experiences and outcomes for decades, problems of racial-ethnic inequities have proven to be intractable under current accountability and assessment policies. Estela Bensimon and Alicia Dowd discuss research findings from college sites in California and Wisconsin that are using their multi-disciplined approach and tools to help policymakers, leaders, and practitioners make sense of accountability data from the perspective of equity for racial and ethnic minority students.

American Institutes For Research presents findings from a recent study of the implementation of a weighted student funding system in two California school districts. Researchers will assess how the distribution of resources changed in these two districts after the move to student-based funding, and identify “lessons learned” for other districts and for state policy-makers who are considering more equitable and effective strategies for allocating scarce resources in California’s education system.

This seminar will feature Isabella Furth, Senior Associate, Viewpoint Learning, and Heidi Gantwerk, Vice President, Viewpoint Learning, discussing a recent project in which they engaged groups of citizens in informed dialogue about the future of California’s K-12 education system and the policy choices that our state faces. Moderated by David N. Plank, Executive Director, PACE.

This seminar will feature Jacob Adams, Professor of Education, Claremont Graduate University, presenting the findings and recommendations of the National Working Group on Funding Student Learning, with comments by Gerry Shelton, Founder and Partner, Capitol Advisors Group. Moderated by David N. Plank, Executive Director, PACE.

This seminar will feature a round-table discussion to assess No Child Left Behind from a variety of perspectives, asking what we have learned since 2001, and can the federal government rethink its historical mission of equalizing education opportunity and results.