Governor Newsom’s proposed 20-21 state budget directs $3.8 billion in new revenue towards public schools. However, it is not enough. The California School Board Association reports that California ranks 38th nationally in school funding, $2,475 per student below the national...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is leading the crowded Democratic primary field in California, according to a new poll from the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education/PACE.

When then-Governor Jerry Brown signed the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) into law in 2013, California’s leaders were hopeful that this legislation would set high expectations for flexibility, transparency, and equity within school districts. In a new report, “English Language...

Research shows that preK–3 alignment—coordinating preK–3 standards, curricula, instructional practices, assessments and professional development—can narrow achievement gaps by helping children sustain the gains they made in preschool, but many California districts say they are struggling to support alignment efforts.

School climate and student engagement surveys can tell us a good deal about important contributors to student success. They can illuminate students’ sense of belonging at school and their sense of themselves as learners. They can shed light on bullying...

Local officials have begun reevaluating how much their communities are getting for their single biggest expense: the degree-certified competence of public school teachers and administrators. Does every school system really need a credentialed curriculum director, when any good teacher should...

More than 20 years ago, Proposition 227 was passed in California, requiring that all public schools teach curriculum in English and providing only a year of special instruction to English learner students in the hope of quickly producing assimilated and...

Due to statewide teacher shortages, many of California’s approximately 800,000 special education students are being taught by teachers who haven’t completed teacher preparation programs or have received only partial training.

Recent survey results show that while more California county office of education leaders are understanding and accepting of the new roles of COEs in the Statewide System of Support, the state must further build out and enhance the system to...

As he was campaigning for governor, Gavin Newsom made some enormous promises for the youngest Californians and their families — universal preschool, affordable, high-quality child care, six months of paid family leave. And he’s delivered — on the first few...

California has earmarked nearly $200 million over the last four years to address the state’s persistent teacher shortage, but it is not enough, according to new studies that are part of “Getting Down to Facts II,” a research project focused...

Like their state counterparts, state boards must both respond to crises and plan ahead. A focus on creating the best possible learning for all will help educators, students, and families emerge from this crisis on a stronger footing. This issue of...

The Policy Analysis for California Education Policy Research Panel on Special Education has released a series of policy briefs summarizing key findings from the project Organizing Schools to Serve Students with Disabilities.Distinguished Professor George Farkas's article - "Achievement Gaps and...

High school seniors around the country are feeling apathetic toward their classes during their final semester, which often carries over and negatively affects their freshman year of college. The epidemic, commonly known as “senioritis,” is the topic of a recent...

This is one of the most exciting, daunting and critically important moments in California’s education policy history. We are all in uncharted territory. Policymakers and educators at all levels of the system are wrestling with the virtually simultaneous implementation of...

Senioritis. Senior slump. The Year of the Zombies. Forget preparing for the rigors of college. The final year of high school is for sleeping in, flipping burgers, hanging out with pals, surfing, partying, fighting with your girlfriend, making up with...

You can hardly open a newspaper or major magazine today without finding a story about another incarnation or overhaul of teacher evaluation. But underlying nearly all these detailed descriptions of state and local programs is a near-unanimous and long-standing assumption...

So what’s the alternative? If narrow, test-based evaluation of teachers is unfair, unreliable, and has negative effects on kids, classrooms, and curricula, what’s a better approach? By demonizing teachers and unions, and sharply polarizing the education debate, the corporate reform...

On the football field, a talented quarterback often calls the option play, holding off on the decision to run or pass to the last possible moment. This gives him time to survey the field and choose the best option for...

This fourth and final brief in the California Collaborative on District Reform series examines how the Fresno–Long Beach Learning Partnership uses data to inform work across and within the districts. The Partnership is a collaboration that aims to improve student...

The Fresno–Long Beach Learning Partnership is a joint effort of the third and fourth largest districts in California to pursue common goals, measure student outcomes, share professional knowledge, learn from each other, and support each other’s progress. This groundbreaking relationship...

The Commission on Teacher Credentialing and Policy Analysis for California Education co-sponsored a one day conference looking at preparing effective school leaders on September 25, 2009. This was a free, one day seminar for researchers, the policy community, district and...

The authors of this study employ longitudinal student data to gauge the effect of California's exit exam (CAHSEE, taken in 10th grade) on student persistence (as measured by the percentage of students remaining in school in their original district at...

Graduation rates for low-achieving minority students and girls have fallen nearly 20 percentage points since California implemented a law requiring high school students to pass exit exams in order to graduate, according to a new Stanford study. The new study...