In a reflection on her first year as PACE's Executive Director, Lupita Cortez Alcalá highlights the organization’s role in connecting rigorous research with California education policy. PACE's work helped inform two major legislative changes: AB 181, restructuring state education governance, and AB 2555, establishing more consistent and equitable English learner reclassification practices. Through its partnership with Stanford’s SCALE Initiative on Getting Down to Facts III, PACE also helped disseminate 55 technical reports and 22 policy briefs examining critical challenges facing California schools. Alongside research on literacy, mathematics, special education, and other priorities, PACE expanded opportunities for dialogue among researchers, policymakers, educators, and communities. Looking ahead to major leadership transitions and further governance reforms in 2027, Alcalá emphasizes PACE’s commitment to independent, nonpartisan research and collaborative, evidence-informed policymaking for improving opportunities and outcomes for California students.
For school districts facing enrollment declines and mounting budget pressures, closing schools seems like an obvious – if often contentious – way to get finances back on track. But new research from Stanford suggests the reality is not so open-and-shut...
In a step toward giving math the attention early literacy has gotten, the Legislature on Monday approved a bill that would require schools to assess the math capabilities of all students in kindergarten through second grade each year, beginning in...
Students returning to school may not have noticed it. As the years pass, they hang out with the same friends or play on the same sports teams. But something’s been changing. There are fewer students. While charter school enrollment in...
School closures—commonly touted as a financially responsible strategy to right-size cash-strapped districts—often do not improve districts’ financial standing, according to a new study out of California. Even worse: Any money actually saved from closing a school building is largely offset...
It’s not often you see over 900 diverse organizations across California all agree on something. But when a problem affecting our kids’ education has existed for over a century with little progress towards fixing it, it brings people together to...
On May 7, 2026, the SCALE initiative at Stanford announced the release of Getting Down to Facts III, a trove of new research about California's education systems. It wasn't a surprise — this is the third time that Stanford has...
USC Rossier Professor of Education Policy discusses strategies for engaging local stakeholders, her experience as a researcher and how COVID-19 will impact funding for education.
