When California children were stuck at home in distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and schools reopened unevenly across the state, raising equity concerns, frustrated parents demanded action from Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond. But unlike other states, where...

Most newcomer students enter school with very low or beginning English language proficiency (ELP), but their language skills can develop rapidly under the right conditions, according to the first in a new series of briefs by Policy Analysis for California...

Distance learning in the COVID-19 context provides a unique challenge in that, in many cases, neither families nor educators chose to engage in this model of instruction, it is an opportunity provided due to circumstances beyond our control. It is...

When California’s schools reopened their classrooms at the beginning of this school year, educators were confronted by a critical question: Where did all the students go? Since the beginning of the pandemic, California public schools have lost more than 4%...

Within the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic – which began to shut down much of the United States in March 2020 — California community college total enrollment decreased by 14%, according to a report from the UC Davis...

School districts are facing the greatest educational challenge of the last 100 years — reversing pandemic-induced learning loss among tens of millions of students. It is a moment that demands innovative programs that will be sustained over time and lead...

The first standardized school testing since the pandemic has confirmed what parents knew all along – Covid shutdowns and remote learning hurt student performance and wiped out years of improvement. Repairing the damage won’t be easy. “Pandemic learning loss” presents...

UC Davis Graduate School of Education Professors Michal Kurlaender and Paco Martorell will lead a team of researchers recently awarded $3 million to assess pandemic recovery inside community colleges. The U.S. Department of Education-awarded grant will support three years of...

In a powerful indication of how students suffered academically during the COVID pandemic, test scores plummeted across the nation in math and fell significantly in reading in 2022, and California students also performed dramatically worse this year on the state’s...

Local educational agencies statewide planned to provide technology, assess student learning, implement tiered levels of support and prioritize services for special student populations during the 2020–21 school year, but methods of doing so largely varied across districts, according to recent...

Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, Associate Professor at UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School, is a co-author—with Jacob Kirksey, Assistant Professor at Texas Tech University and Gevirtz School alumnus—of the Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) brief “Effects of Immigration Enforcement on Students in...

Recently released test scores from some of California’s largest school districts — representing more than 1 million students — offer a preview of what’s likely to be steep drops in reading and math scores statewide in the wake of Covid...

A study of the Alisal Union School District found its exemplary community engagement practices  and collaboration with parents resulted in an outstanding response to students’ needs when the pandemic hit. In “Crisis Response in California School Districts: Leadership, Partnership, and...

The headlines on the effects of COVID on kids could hardly be gloomier. Students are “far, far behind,” argued Harvard professor Tom Kane in The Atlantic. The New York Times described how kids will need “at least three years” to...

National reading and math test scores of 9-year-olds released Thursday revealed alarming trends about the extent of the pandemic’s negative effect on learning, with scores showing the steepest declines in decades and the biggest drops among children who were already...

Over a quarter of California parents moved their children to a new school during the pandemic, with most saying they wanted a different experience for their child, were dissatisfied with Covid protocols and learning and mental health supports. Charter schools...

The University of Southern California Rossier School of Education published its annual poll Tuesday of parents and voters on a range of education issues, including threats of gun violence, college affordability and book censorship. The five-author poll, including 2,000 California...

Teacher shortages, waning enrollment and growing civil unrest: these are but a few of the challenges facing school districts today. A new study examining the first 14 months of the pandemic provides insights into the origins of these current challenges...

Strong relationships among leadership and stakeholders helped districts navigate challenges caused by COVID-19, the politicization of the pandemic and divided political beliefs, according to a new report from the Policy Analysis for California Education. Conducted during the first 14 months...

Under a third of schools are utilizing federal COVID relief funds to improve school facilities and air quality, says a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While some schools and districts prioritized investments in portable or...

Community Schools are a time whose idea has come, a solution that was waiting for the perfect storm–and the perfect storm is here. In this final installment, we’ll look at the lessons learned from the community schools movement. What can...