Past Events

Dec
9
2011
Topic

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.

Jun
15
2011
Topic

In this seminar, Patricia Gándara, Gary Orfield, and Kimberly King present research findings on a series of reports designed to analyze the impact of fiscal cutbacks on opportunity for higher education in the CSU system. CSUs educate a greater number of Latino and African American students, enroll a much larger undergraduate student body than the University of California system overall, and many CSU students are first-generation college students struggling to get an education in difficult times.

Jan
21
2011
Topic

The RAND Corporation, in collaboration with the University of California and San Diego State University, is conducting a study that explores district and school leader responses to the Tier 3 initiative and federal stimulus dollars. In this seminar, the study team discussed qualitative data collected at 10 districts during the spring of 2010. Initial findings suggest that after one year, the Tier 3 flexibility is playing a critical role in helping districts to backfill budget gaps as the state crisis continues.

Nov
19
2010
Topic

Since 2009, AIR and Pivot Learning have successfully formed partnerships with the Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Twin Rivers Unified School Districts. This team has made a great deal of progress in initiating the activities necessary to implement the basic policy elements of Strategic School Funding for Results at the local level. At this briefing, representatives from each district will discuss the partnership’s progress and the challenges, and offered recommendations for state policy and other districts.

Oct
15
2010
Lessons for Policy and Practice
Topic

Since 2008, Fresno and Long Beach Unified School Districts have been engaged in a formal district partnership designed to help the districts achieve a common a set of goals. With the generous support of the Hewlett Foundation and Stuart Foundation, the American Institutes for Research, in collaboration with Pivot Learning Partners, has been documenting the districts’ work together. This panel featured the leaders of these two districts who discussed their Partnership and its implications for policy and practice.

Feb
26
2010
Science for Policy Makers
Topic

Lifting early school achievement depends on the quality of early learning environments—but what do we know about these environments that most effectively stimulate young children’s growth? How can we enrich children’s daily activities? In this seminar, Alison Gropnik and Bruce Fuller discuss key findings on quality, including play, close interactions with caregivers, and exploration—all which have been shown to have lasting effects on children’s development.

Feb
12
2010
Topic

The CAHSEE has been criticized as being unfair to English Learners, special education students and some racial groups, as well as being ineffective in raising student achievement. Some have called for eliminating passage of the CAHSEE as a graduation requirement for CA students. In this seminar, Julian Betts discusses whether the requirement and funding for intervention is helping or hurting students academically, with a focus on who has been failing the exam, how early we can identify students at risk of failing, and when school districts might intervene to help students at risk of failure.

May
29
2009
Overhauling California’s System of School Finance
Topic

Spurred by court rulings requiring states to increase public school funding, the U.S. now spends more per student on K-12 education than almost any other country. In this seminar, Eric Hanushek concludes the principal focus of both courts and legislatures on ever-increasing funding has done little to improve student achievement. Hanushek proposes a performance-based system that directly links funding to success in raising achievement. This system would empower and motivate educators to make better, more cost-effective decisions on running schools, leading to improved student performance.

May
22
2009
Improving Schools Within Budget Constraints
Topic

As CA continues to wrestle with the challenges of providing sufficient funding for schools, understanding the relationships among school funding, effective school resources, and outcomes is essential. In this seminar Norton Grubb addresses four principal questions: (1) What kinds of school resources make a difference to outcomes? (2) Why is the relationship between spending per student and outcomes so weak? (3) Why are outcomes so inequitable? (4) And what should CA do now, in both school finance and other areas of school policy, to avoid further damage to the state’s education system?

May
8
2009
Topic

As part of the Legislature’s February 2009 budget revisions, school districts were granted more flexibility in the use of some categorical grants. These actions offer an exceptional opportunity to reform California’s confusing system of categorical grants. This seminar provides an overview of the purposes of categorical grants pertaining to local v. state control over the use of educational resources to improve student performance. Lawrence O. Picus offers suggestions for ways California’s myriad of confusing categorical programs can be reformed to focus on student learning.

Feb
13
2009
Implementation and Policy Implications
Topic

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.

Jan
23
2009
How to Align Education Resources with Student Learning Goals
Topic

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.