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.

This webinar will present findings from two forthcoming publications on community schools: the PACE brief “Community Schools: A Coronavirus Recovery Strategy;” and “Creating Strong Community Schools: The Role of California Counties in Providing Technical Assistance” by the Learning Policy Institute. The webinar will also feature perspectives from leaders at the school and county levels who will speak to what it takes to launch and sustain community schools.

School districts across California have begun working to implement the Common Core State Standards and to prepare for California’s new assessments. Policy Analysis for California Education and California County Superintendents Educational Services Association are pleased to sponsor six regional leadership sessions on CCSS Systems Implementation. These meetings will introduce you to a variety of strategies, tools and resources that your district can use to support successful implementation of the CCSS.

Research consistently shows teacher quality is a powerful determinant of student achievement gains, yet urban school districts often struggle to staff schools with qualified teachers. In this seminar, Susanna Loeb explores changes in teacher recruitment in one urban school district as a result of a salary increase. Studying a policy in SFUSD, Loeb finds a differential salary increase can improve a school district’s attractiveness within the local teacher labor market and increase both the size and quality of teacher applicant pools, having the potential to increase the quality of new-hires.