Kids learn to covet three-day weekends from the time they first enter grade school. Labor Day weekend and other random holidays provide the chance to escape school a day early and have more time for leisure activities. Now, a new...
Though far from a majority, an increasing number of Californians say that the state’s public schools have gotten better over the past few years, according to a poll released on Thursday. But it’s not because they are impressed with the...
Carl A. Cohn, a longtime educational leader in California, was named today to be the first director of the California Collaborative on Educational Excellence (CCEE), a newly-formed state agency charged with providing advice and assistance to school districts in achieving...
School districts have adopted the four-day school week to curb budget deficits, particularly in rural regions like Colorado and Wyoming, with around 10 districts in California following suit by 2011. This schedule change raises questions about its impact on academic performance. Longer class periods allow varied teaching methods and teacher planning, possibly improving student morale and behavior. Yet, concerns arise about teacher stress, student retention, and increased fatigue, especially for younger students. Evaluating this shift rigorously is vital, but few studies exist. Using a difference-in-differences regression and data from Colorado’s CSAP, researchers analyzed 4th-grade reading and 5th-grade math scores in districts that switched to a four-day week against those on standard schedules. Over a third of Colorado districts adopted this schedule. The results showed a significant increase in math scores post-switch, and while reading scores also rose, the change wasn’t statistically significant. The findings suggest no harm to student performance and even hint at improved attendance rates, though they apply primarily to smaller, rural districts, warranting caution in applying these findings more broadly.
School districts use a variety of policies to close budget gaps and stave off teacher layoffs and furloughs. More schools are implementing four-day school weeks to reduce overhead and transportation costs. The four-day week requires substantial schedule changes as schools...
County offices of education—which are charged with assisting districts in developing and achieving accountability plans—may have extra work to do in parts of Southern California, the Bay Area, and Sacramento to ensure that extra state funding improves outcomes of high-need...
This January 2015 report from Policy Analysis for California (PACE) provides a detailed outline of how California should establish a new accountability system under LCFF. This new accountability system underscores the need to go beyond a single indicator —for example...
Shortening the school week to four days has a positive impact on elementary school students' academic performance in mathematics, according to researchers at Georgia State University and Montana State University. The study, published in the journal Education, Finance and Policy...
The change in California's kindergarten entry age, moving the cutoff date from December 2 to September 1, brought about transitional kindergarten for affected children born in the transitional period. This impacted both those who delayed entry and those who didn't. Older entrants might show better readiness and learning skills compared to younger peers, a reason why parents often choose to delay their child's entry ("redshirting"). However, the benefits of this additional year might vary based on available activities. The shift also influences non-delayed children due to grade age averages affecting peer dynamics and learning. In a study assessing this change's impact on crime, incarceration rates dropped by 10-13% among those directly and indirectly affected by the entry age policy. While both groups benefitted, the reduction in crime was smaller for those delaying entry, hinting at potential harms from late entry, perhaps due to less learning during the "redshirt" year or lower educational attainment. This emphasizes early education's long-term benefits, supporting transitional kindergarten's role. Yet, caution is needed in generalizing these findings, considering the availability of alternative pre-kindergarten programs today, absent in earlier decades, possibly lessening the negative impacts of delayed entry.
President Obama’s proposal to make community colleges free is a valiant effort to address the rising demand for skilled workers throughout the nation and to improve college access for low-income students. As states consider his proposal, they would be wise...
California’s new accountability system originated in the radical decentralization of power and authority from Sacramento to local schools and their communities brought about by the Legislature’s adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013. Under California’s previous accountability...
The success of sweeping changes in California’s education system may depend on how well a new state agency shoulders the mission of helping struggling schools and school districts, according to a report, released Jan. 20, by Stanford Graduate School of...
During the Great Recession many states made deep cuts to education budgets. Some states have begun to restore funding as the economic recovery has slowly increased revenues. Others have resisted. In Arizona, the state Legislature is asking to delay implementation...
Schools in California are seeing new funding and greater local flexibility in how to use their financial resources. According to a paper released earlier this year by Stanford University's Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE).
USC Rossier assistant professor Morgan Polikoff and co-P.I. Cory Koedel from the University of Missouri-Columbia have received funding from an anonymous source for a project titled “Curriculum Adoptions and Effects on Student Achievement in California,” which will produce a database...
In this seminar, Margaret (Macke) Raymond investigates operator supply in the charter sector in the United States. She examines the performance of individual schools as they opened and grew over their early years. Her analysis expands to consider the likelihood...
A new study that examines the implementation of California’s Local Control Funding Formula revealed that district leaders welcome a need-based local funding model but that they were hindered by a lack of time, information, skills and resources. The report, “Toward...
Now, this is different: The California legislature passed a law, and people actually like it. They are trying hard to implement the spirit of the state’s new finance formula rather than trivialize it with minimum compliance behavior. Such is the...
Education policies often focus on evaluating the effectiveness of interventions without considering their costs. This oversight limits policymakers’ ability to make informed decisions about resource allocation. Understanding intervention costs in relation to their effectiveness is crucial for efficient policymaking. For instance, reducing high school dropout rates, a national priority, could alleviate substantial economic burdens, yet education budgets are limited. Researchers conducted cost-effectiveness analyses on five dropout prevention programs, finding considerable variations in costs and effectiveness. Remedial programs aimed at dropouts were notably more expensive per additional graduate compared to preventative programs, which targeted at-risk students still in school. These findings emphasize the need for cost-effectiveness assessments in educational program evaluations to guide policymaking effectively. Without such analyses, research evidence alone may not provide policymakers with a comprehensive view for decision-making, potentially leading to inefficient resource allocation.
California has taken the first steps down an historic path that fundamentally alters how its public schools are financed, education decisions are made, and traditionally underserved students' needs are met. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), passed with bipartisan legislative...
With the adoption of the Common Core standards by 43 states, the nation’s schools have embarked on one of the most ambitious reform strategies in the post-World War II era. Opposition to the new academic standards, however, has emerged on several...
If you're a public school parent or teacher, you know there have been a lot of changes in California's education system over the past year from new academic standards to a new way of funding schools. Tom Torlakson has been...
California has taken the first steps down an historic path that fundamentally alters how its public schools are financed, education decisions are made, and traditionally underserved students’ needs are met. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), passed with bipartisan legislative...
Research published in the journal Social Problems investigates the impact of residential segregation on educational outcomes among over 2500 youths aged 14 to 26. Findings reveal that higher segregation significantly reduces high school graduation rates for poor and black students, contrasting with no discernible impact on white or affluent youths. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds in less segregated areas showed improved graduation rates. Conversely, segregation didn't affect educational success for privileged students. The study suggests that desegregation could enhance outcomes for disadvantaged groups without impeding the privileged, emphasizing how integrated areas generally achieve higher educational attainment overall. This research highlights the potential of residential integration to uplift disadvantaged students without hampering the success of their more advantaged counterparts.
Thirty years ago most high schools didn’t even have electric typewriters; now a school without computers is an anomaly. Despite the ever-present hardware, 56 percent of California High Schools offer no computer science and only 13 percent of the state’s...
