California is synonymous with innovation. Over decades and across sectors, California has been a leader—from tech start-ups to agricultural advances and environmental solutions. In the private sector, companies race to market with their ideas in order to capitalize on ingenuity.California...

California’s public schools live—or die—by the numbers. They are utterly dependent on how much money the state budget allocates each year under Proposition 98, a formula adopted by voters in 1988 that only a few wonks in and around the...

A recent issue brief by UCLA researchers found that community college bachelor’s degree programs may positively affect the Latino community. The California state legislature passed a law in 2014 titled Senate Bill 850 that permitted community colleges to initiate baccalaureate...

After years of cash windfalls, California schools are bracing for a stretch of austerity that could jeopardize students’ already precarious recovery from the pandemic. An end to billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds, declining enrollment, staff raises, hiring...

There are big racial and socioeconomic disparities in dual enrollment participation across California, according to a new study by researchers at UC Davis and PACE. Across grade levels, Asian students were the most likely to take dual enrollment classes, followed...

Every state is experiencing a significant increase in high and extreme levels of chronic absenteeism across schools and districts, according to a nationwide analysis of 2021–22 federal data released Jan. 31 by Attendance Works and Johns Hopkins’ Everyone Graduates Center...

A new study about California’s dual-enrollment programs shows promise in closing equity gaps when providing early access to the programs as high school freshmen. The analysis affirms previous studies regarding uneven participation in dual enrollment based on race, socioeconomics and...

A Contra Costa County school district says it’s fully embracing artificial intelligence, but understands there’s still a lot of unknowns when it comes to the emerging technology.“I think I would step back and recognize that not all districts are embracing...

California high schools can increase the number of students completing college prep courses if they raise awareness and support student success, according to panelists at EdSource’s roundtable, Keeping options open: Why most students aren’t eligible to apply to California’s public...

Closing or consolidating neighborhood schools is a painful decision that no school district or community ever wishes to face, but increasingly it may be on the table due to declining enrollment trends and budgetary pressures. In this episode, host Jason...

Preparation for college and a career is important to economic prosperity. How college and career readiness in schools is defined varies across the state. The College/Career Indicator, adopted by the State Board of Education, integrates eight pathways that demonstrate a...

The collaborative—a combination of superintendents, education politics scholars, and leaders of organizations that train superintendents—aims to establish a shared understanding of the superintendent’s political role and equip district leaders with the skills to confidently navigate political issues that arise, rather...

Community college bachelor’s programs may play a major role in closing the higher education gap for Latino students, according to a report UCLA published Tuesday. Since 2014, only a handful of California’s community colleges have been approved to offer two-year...

As California continues its push to expand access to transitional kindergarten, ensuring high-quality TK programming will require better data on early education, according to researchers at Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). In January, PACE released a research report identifying...

While the vast majority of students in California—86% of seniors in 2023—graduate from high school, most—56% in 2023—do not complete their A-G requirements, according to an EdSource analysis of data from the California Department of Education. EdSource’s analysis found that...

When the state published last year’s batch of post-pandemic school data, alarm bells went off. It was our first glimpse into where kids stood after years of virtual learning, and it was bleak. The data showed that student performance on...

Michael Kirst joins Lisa on this week’s episode of “They Are Waiting for Us.” Dr. Kirst brings over six decades of invaluable expertise and insight, having served as the longest-running President of the California State Board of Education. In addition...

A Hayward elementary school struggling to boost low test scores and dismal student attendance is spending $250,000 in federal money for an organization called Woke Kindergarten to train teachers to confront white supremacy, disrupt racism and oppression and remove those...

Chronic absenteeism has risen dramatically in our country. A close look at 2021-22 school year data reveals that every state in the country is experiencing a substantial increase in the number of schools and districts with high and extreme levels...

Dedicated mentorship, training for potential superintendents, and trust-building are some of the solutions to curb the growing number of superintendents in California who are leaving the job, according to panelists at Tuesday’s EdSource roundtable discussion, “Superintendents are quitting: What can...

People doing jobs once considered non-controversial — public health workers, librarians, election workers, school board officers — are increasingly bullied online, threatened and swept into the vortex of partisan vitriol. Public officials face an alarming rise in “swatting,” a dangerous...

Teachers, who too often are left to work in isolation and lack instructional support or clear expectations, are struggling to help students rebound academically and personally post-pandemic. Policy Analysis for California Education’s (PACE) December report What Does It Take to...

More than a year after California community colleges received $650 million in state COVID-19 relief money, schools have spent less than 20% of it. Colleges say they desperately need the money, but that they are reluctant to spend it because...