An analysis of recently released Smarter Balanced Assessment System (SBAC) test scores shows very modest improvements in 2024 in students’ proficiency at meeting state standards for English language arts and mathematics. However, the rate of improvement is too slow to erase declines from the pandemic. Substantial gaps across student subgroups persist, with disproportionate impacts on the performance of students of color, disadvantaged students, and English learners (ELs). Also of concern is a pattern showing that overall proficiency in mathematics declines as students progress through school, indicating that they may not be prepared for postsecondary success.
A new brief by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) outlines the strategies used in partnership with California Education Partners (Ed Partners) aimed at improving student outcomes. Over the past four-years, 48 districts participated in an Ed Partners’ collaboration with...
Over a three-year period beginning in 2020, Grass Valley School District, located in Nevada County, was able to implement strategies that improved literacy instruction and outcomes for students. Policy Analysis for California Education’s (PACE) brief “Building Momentum One Step at...
California school districts would receive $2.5 billion through a small cost-of-living increase, plus additional funding to train math and reading coaches, expand summer and after-school programs, and help launch the state’s Master Plan for Career Education in the proposed 2025-26...
Leaders in the Oakland Unified School District are putting off a vote on school closures as it deals with a massive projected budget deficit for next year. Parents, students, and community members voiced their outrage Wednesday night over the idea...
Are California’s stubborn failings in teaching basic subjects such as math and reading, which the educational establishment hopes no one will notice, fixable? Two recent projects to improve academic skills indicate that learning can be improved with sustained effort that...
For Napa Valley Unified, the largest school district in Napa County, budget pressures are a constant concern. Over the past few years, the district has made tough choices and shut down four schools to avoid fiscal emergency. It has consistently...
After ending my fourth term as president of the California State Board of Education in 2019, I have begun to reflect, in my sixth decade of education policy, about what I did right and what I should have done differently...
Community college bachelor’s degree programs can provide a concrete pathway to socioeconomic mobility, while helping achieve the dream of completing a bachelor’s degree for students who have not been served by any other public college sector, especially among populations who...
Marin schools improved in several state metrics over the past year, especially student absences, according to new data. Chronic absenteeism declined in almost all of Marin’s K-8 school districts. Statewide, the percentage of all K-8 students who were absent for...
While an essential and very important part of USC Rossier’s mission is to prepare the next generation of education practitioners, leaders and scholars, we do so much more. Unlike many other academic schools or departments, a school of education is...
While schools in the Bay Area and across the state are seeing more students graduate and attend class, academic performance among students remains stagnant nearly five years after the pandemic. That’s according to new data from the California Department of...
The Los Angeles Unified School District showed strong gains in newly released state metrics and reached a record graduation rate, but overall academic performance fell well short of state learning goals. The latest release of state data indicated positive trends...
Among his campaign promises, Trump has vowed to dismantle the Department of Education, stating his intention to shift control of education back to the states. Additionally, he has proposed withholding funding from schools that recognize transgender students and deporting undocumented...
California’s public school students are continuing to rebound from the pandemic, with more showing up for class, more graduating and fewer misbehaving at school, according to new data released today. The California School Dashboard, a color-coded snapshot of how students...
In my years reporting on community colleges, I never knew that 29 campuses offer bachelor’s degrees (at the time of writing this). My goal — as a first-generation Latina student — is to receive a degree at one of the...
PACE co-founder Michael W. Kirst, former president of the California Board of Education (1977–1981 and 2011–2019), highlights in a new PACE commentary findings from his Learning Policy Institute report Standards-Based Education Reforms: Looking Back to Looking Forward, which analyzes the evolution of standards-based reforms in the United States. Kirst issues a call to action: California needs a strategic and tactical roadmap to improve instructional capacity in classrooms statewide. The commentary offers four recommendations: return the CDE to its former role of providing technical assistance on how to implement subject matter standards; strengthen COEs for effective capacity building; reorient the district role to focus on instructional capacity; and design the roadmap for targeted district support. Without a unified strategy, California risks more uneven progress. A comprehensive, coordinated approach is essential to equipping educators with the tools they need to deliver equitable, standards-aligned instruction to all students.
With president-elect Donald Trump putting together his cabinet at a record pace, one of his most recent picks is for secretary of Education. Linda McMahon, who led the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term, has been chosen--but has minimal...
On November 6, 2024, the UC Berkeley School of Education (BSE) gathered esteemed guests, including faculty, family, alumni and local education leaders, to honor former Berkeley School of Education (BSE) interim dean and passionate civil rights and educational equity advocate...
Across the nation, school board meetings have become increasingly contentious in recent years, with parents and community members expressing frustration and anger over a variety of issues. From critical race theory (CRT) to book bans, these meetings have become a...
When the superintendent in San Francisco Unified proposed closing schools recently, parents launched a prolonged — and successful — protest. The uproar may have died down for now, but the issue is likely to erupt at school boards across the...
Education has never been a top priority of President-elect Donald Trump’s, but that doesn’t mean schools — or students — will be immune from Trump’s agenda in the next four years, education experts say. Trump may slash school funding, cut civil...
Daisy Gonzales, the new Executive Director of the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC), is no stranger to navigating crises. From her upbringing as a foster youth, juggling school while moving homes, to managing the Assembly Budget Committee during the recession...
The re-election of former President Donald Trump is certain to bring a period of conflict,tension and litigation between his White House and California’s political and education leaders whose policies and values the president-elect castigates. It also could potentially have major...
I dreamed of following in my mother’s footsteps to become a teacher. We would spend our Augusts decorating her classrooms with cheesy quotes and fun colors. During the year, she would grade assignments and share her elementary school students’ funny...
