Past Events

Jan
25
2024
Revitalizing Public Education in California: Navigating Challenges, Seizing Opportunities
Topic
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.
Feb
3
2023
40 Years of Evidence and Impact
Topic

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.

Mar
4
2022
Charting a Path to Equity
Topic

In today’s data-rich, technology-enhanced world, math learning opportunities are central to the path to higher education and 21st-century careers. Math classes must serve as stepping stones rather than stopping points on students’ journeys. Ensuring that happens means policies, practices, and perceptions must change to lower the systemic barriers that block some students’ paths forward, especially by race and gender. To learn more about and support new strategies that enhance deeper learning and equitable outcomes.

Mar
5
2020
PACE Series on Special Education 2
Topic
This webinar was the second in a three-part webinar series on special education featuring new research on the status of special education in California and paths forward for organizing schools to better support students with disabilities. This webinar covered Universally Designed Teaching, Teacher Preparation, Teacher Shortages, and Teacher Development.
Feb
27
2020
PACE Series on Special Education 1
Topic

This webinar was the first of a three-part webinar series on special education featuring new research on the status of special education in California and paths forward for organizing schools to better support students with disabilities. This webinar covered issues related to transitions into and out of special education services for students: Early Identification, Transitions into Preschool, Transitions Into and Between Identification Categories in K-12, Post-Secondary Transitions, and Work-Based Learning for students with disabilities.

Feb
7
2020
Evidence to Advance Equity and Excellence in California’s Cradle-to-Career Vision
Topic

PACE’s annual conference brings together nearly 300 California policymakers, researchers, and education leaders to discuss new research and approaches to improving educational outcomes for California’s students, from early childhood through higher education.

Nov
22
2019
Re-evaluating College Admissions
Topic

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.

Apr
29
2019
Findings and Implications for San Diego
Topic

Over the past 10 years, California's PreK-12 public school system has seen transformative changes in almost every arena, from academic standards and accountability to resource allocation through the funding formula. The Getting Down to Facts II project brought together over 100 of the country's top education scholars to examine these changes and assess our progress. The project's 36 studies focused on student success, governance systems, personnel issues, and school finance, and together, they can help build a common understanding of where we are that can be used to guide further improvements.

Apr
15
2019
63rd Annual Meeting of the Comparative Education Society
Topic

Education experts from PACE, LPI, and Opportunity Institute present a Plenary Session introducing CA’s education system to education scholars and leaders from countries around the world. They will discuss the historical roots of the many challenges facing CA’s schools and teachers, promising changes in the state’s education policy framework, and ongoing concerns about whether new policies will lead to meaningful improvements in the education policy framework, and ongoing concerns about whether new policies will lead to meaningful improvements in the education provided to CA students.

Feb
22
2019
Implications for Southern California
Topic

More than 100 researchers from across the nation have focused their attention on the current status of California’s schools as part of the Getting Down to Facts II project. This fall, the project released 36 detailed studies that examined progress and challenges in student success and provide a comprehensive overview of the state’s preK-12 finance, personnel, and governance systems.

Oct
15
2018
Evidence to Improve Education in California
Topic

Leading experts and practitioners discuss the state’s ambitious goals of expanding high-quality early education and care statewide. In a conversation moderated by EdSource’s Louis Freedberg, learn more about California’s constraints and opportunities. The webinar, part of an ongoing series of deeper dives into the Getting Down To Facts research released earlier this year, is co-sponsored by PACE and the Learning Policy Institute.

Sep
7
2018
Practice, Policy, and Measurement
Topic

Policy Analysis for California Education and the Learning Policy Institute invite you to an event on how schools can be organized to support the whole child, featuring a series of panels with leading researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.

Apr
27
2018
Topic

Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) , will put the spotlight on education during the Gubernatorial Education Forum. Join this lively discussion, moderated by ABC7 Eyewitness News co-anchor Marc Brown, to learn more about each candidates’ vision for California’s public schools.

Feb
2
2018
Topic

PACE’s annual research and policy conference is the premier event for policymakers, researchers, advocates and local education leaders who are working to define and sustain a long-term strategy for comprehensive policy reform and continuous improvement in California’s education system. Our conference will focus on three key education policy issues: ensuring educational equity under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), rethinking policy and practice in special education, and strengthening alignment between California’s pre–K and K–12 education systems.

Jun
22
2017
Topic

Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) is excited to invite you to The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Implementation and Impact Conference. Panels will address three key sets of issues: Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement California’s Infrastructure of Support for Schools and School Districts What Have We Learned After Four Years of LCFF Implementation?

Jan
27
2017
PACE Research and Policy Conference
Topic

PACE’s inaugural conference is the premier event for policymakers, researchers, advocates and other leaders working to define and sustain a long-term strategy for comprehensive policy reform and continuous improvement of California’s education system. Our full-day conference will engage with three key education policy issues: school funding adequacy, teacher policies and cross-system-alignment. Registered participants will learn about the key policy debates and research based best-practices through conference plenaries and workshops.

Mar
11
2015
Topic

As California educators enact the instructional shifts called for by the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), formative assessment has reemerged as a key practice for moving students toward college and career readiness. Join us for a one-day, hands-on workshop focusing on questions of practice: how can educators embed formative assessment into the classroom and the curriculum, and how can administrators and district leaders embed formative assessment into the culture of schools?

Jun
27
2014
Topic

CA adopted Common Core State Standards and state and local leaders are now engaged in the implementation process. PACE has organized this conference to review the current state of CCSS implementation in California, what we have learned, and what challenges we will have to face going forward. The conference will feature presentations from state officials who are guiding the implementation effort from Sacramento, local leaders who are wrestling with the challenge of implementing CCSS in their schools and classrooms, and researchers who are monitoring the progress of CCSS in districts across CA.

Apr
17
2013
Topic

Policy Analysis for California Education presents a panel discussion on the state and future of higher education in California with a focus on the issues of cost and quality.

Dec
6
2012
Topic

Conference agenda Effectiveness of Online: An Overview of the Research Evidence - Barbara Means, Center for Technology in Learning Toward an Evidence Framework for Evaluating Online Learning - Barbara Means, SRI International & Russell Rumberger, UC Santa Barbara UC Online Education - Keith Williams, UC Online Program Assessing The Quality Of High School Online Courses In The Context Of University Admissions - George C. Johnson, UC Cal State Online Increasing CSU Access- Ruth Black, CSU Online Online Education at California Community Colleges - Barry A. Russell, California Community Colleges

Sep
28
2012
What Common Core Standards Mean for English-Language Learners, Teachers, and Tests
Topic

Demanding more rigorous and complex learning, the 'Common Core' presents special challenges for English learners, who now experience lots of didactic, simple instruction under current accountability systems. This conference, cosponsored by PACE and the Education Writers Association, brings together 30 journalists with four district superintendents and other experts who vividly detailed new classroom practices, early efforts to acquaint teachers, and how Common Core may drive comprehensive efforts to improve California's accountability regime.

Feb
2
2012
Why Algebra Matters and How Technology Can Help
Topic

Learn about how promising digital tools and resources are now available to help you strengthen teaching and learning in middle grades mathematics, and the policy changes that California must make to take advantage of these new opportunities. In this seminar, policy leaders and experts in education technology will share and discuss what’s becoming possible with the proliferation of digital technologies in California schools.

Jan
12
2011
A Systems Approach to Improving Evaluation and Teacher/Principal Effectiveness
Topic

Pivot Learning Partners, Policy Analysis for California Education, and Full Circle Fund sponsored a one-day conference for school district teams with an interest in redesigning their teacher/principal evaluation systems in the larger context of strengthening teacher/principal effectiveness. In addition to listening to a panel of experts, team members had the opportunity to network with other district leaders from across the state.

Jul
1
2010
Implications for California
Topic

CA is one of many states facing important decisions on how to assess its students. This conference is an opportunity for policymakers, educators, education researchers, administrators, funders, and community partners to discuss the potential and challenges of performance assessments to support deeper and more rigorous student learning. A panel of leading education researchers, administrators, educators, funders, and community partners will discuss assessment policies and practices that support improved student achievement in CA.

Apr
27
2010
LAUSD's Quest for Equity, Autonomy, Transparency and Excellence
Topic

This conference cosponsored by PACE and Pivot Learning examines the reform efforts of the Los Angeles Unified School District amidst one of the largest budget crisis known to the district. The panels featured multiple perspectives discussing how resources are allocated to afford greater autonomy for schools, greater budget transparency for the community and greater equity of results for students.