To help lay the groundwork for reforming California's faltering school system, more than 30 researchers nationwide have launched the largest independent investigation ever of how the state governs and finances education. Stanford Associate Professor of Education Susanna Loeb, an economist...

Previous research has demonstrated that attending center care is associated with cognitive benefits for young children. However, little is known about the ideal age for children to enter such care or the "right" amount of time, both weekly and yearly...

While many state pre–K programs have been launched with the aim of producing the same educational and social benefits of a few small, high-quality demonstration child-development programs. Read the Policy Analysis for California Education study, “How to Expand and Improve...

Charter schools face many of the same problems as public schools, including insufficient funding and a lack of resources for serving needy students, a report released last week concludes. The report, “Charter Schools and Inequality: National Disparities in Funding, Teacher...

An extensive study has found an urgent need for more licensed child care throughout Los Angeles County--and revealed that only a handful of in-home programs and day-care centers are accredited, suggesting some children may not be receiving the brain-stimulating experiences...

Thousands of Bay Area children who used to play after school are spending their afternoons at pricey tutoring centers that are springing up like fast-food franchises. Parents are spending $2,000 to $4,000 a year to buy their children extra academic...

But most people who work with problem kids say there are more relevant statistics. According to the child advocacy group Children Now, more kids than ever are growing up in poverty in California—1 in 5; 1 out of 3 kids...

California policymakers have not responded to the changing needs of the state’s children, leaving many at risk of slipping through gaps in a fragmented social-services system, according to a new report by a group of independent researchers.

Although most California...

What is it like to be a child in California? Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), an independent, university-based research center, has undertaken the first comprehensive overview of that question in “The Conditions of Children in California,” to be released...