INITIATIVE

Getting Down To Facts II

Getting Down to Facts II

Getting Down To Facts II is a research initiative that provides in-depth analysis of California’s education system as of 2018 and looks at what is working well and where improvement is still needed. Over one hundred researchers from the nation’s leading academic institutions focused on four aspects of California education – student success, governance systems, personnel issues, and school finance. These studies resulted in 36 methodologically rigorous technical reports that span these four areas. Nineteen research briefs synthesize the main findings from the technical reports for a broader readership. Taken together, these research products help to build a common understanding of the performance of California’s PreK-12 school system and the opportunities for improvement. While this research is not intended to advocate specific policies, the findings provide evidence to inform the policy decisions that can ensure California continues to move in the right direction on behalf of all students in the state.

Recent Initiative Publications
Community engagement remains one of the most challenging expectations of California’s Local Control  Funding Formula, so much so that state leaders have funded an initiative to support regional networks focused on engagement.…
Evidence from the 2019 PACE/USC Rossier Voter Poll
Late in 2018, the California Department of Education rolled out an updated version of the California School Dashboard. This revision altered the look and feel of the Dashboard and added new indicators based on newly available data. This brief…
Evidence to Inform Policy
Governor Newsom’s first Budget Proposal increases funding for education in California. There are areas of substantive overlap in the Budget Proposal and research findings from the Getting Down to Facts II (GDTFII) research project, released in…
Views from the 2019 PACE/USC Rossier Poll
With a new Governor, State Superintendent, and Legislators in Sacramento and a diminished federal role in education, there is an opportunity for California’s leaders to take stock of recent educational reforms and make necessary improvements.…