Patricia Gándara, a professor of education at the University of California, Davis, is a new co-director of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), an independent policy research center founded in 1983 as a joint venture between the schools of education...
Among the less noticed fallout from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma is the need for tens of thousands of K–12 schoolchildren to suddenly change schools. Some of the new schools are near the children's home schools; others are far away...
With more teachers entering the profession as interns, California has reduced the number of under-prepared teachers by half. However, the vast majority of intern teachers are assigned to low achieving schools serving poor and minority students, according to a new...
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...
This annual report provides an update on California’s teacher development and teacher quality policies; discusses trends in the supply of and demand for teachers; examines data on novice, underprepared, out of field teachers; and investigates the local policies and decisions...
Most teachers are ill-prepared to meet the needs of the children struggling to learn English in California's public schools, according to a new study by researchers at the UC Davis. And as the number of English learners increases, they say...
This report is based on a survey of more than 5,000 California teachers that examined their experiences, challenges, and professional development needs in teaching English language learner students. The report presents background on the issues facing teachers of English language...
As teachers and principals throughout California and the country struggle to satisfy the increasing demands of the federal No Child Left Behind law, education experts and school officials say they are paying increasing attention to the middle-of-the-road students who have...
Students, parents, and K–12 educators are not receiving clear messages about the skills that high school students need to enter and succeed in college. U.S. high school students now have higher aspirations for college than ever before. During the last...
As a co-founder in 1983 of PACE, Policy Analysis for California Education, I want to make clear that the report on state test trends by Bruce Fuller, highlighted in his Education Week Commentary (“Are "Are Test Scores Really Rising?” Oct...
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, signed into law by President Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, was a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the central federal law in pre-collegiate education. The ESEA, first enacted in...
For children and teachers across America, it's rather bad news. Education is now the No. 2 preoccupation of voters, running just behind worries over jobs, according to recent polls. So a political catfight has suddenly broken out between President Bush...
President Bush likes to say diversity is America’s greatest strength. But when it comes to schools seeking a passing grade under the landmark education law he championed, a diverse student body can be a school district’s greatest liability, according to...
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...
This report, produced by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd, provides the latest available data and analysis of California’s teaching workforce and examines the preparation, induction, and professional development of teachers. The report also examines...
A growing body of literature suggests that high school curriculum, especially during the senior year, is greatly lacking in academic intensity. A recent report from the National Commission on the High School Senior Year indicates that students find the last...
California has spent billions of dollars to reduce class sizes in elementary grades, but studies have yet to reveal evidence the effort is improving student achievement. The state commissioned a consortium of research groups to spend four years monitoring the...
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...
High school seniors have slacked off for as long as anyone can remember. "Senior slump" isn't news, but education Professor Michael W. Kirst's explanation and proposed solutions for it are. It's where he lays the blame for students who goof...
Authored by Stanford education professor Michael W. Kirst, this 24-page report is the latest in the "Perspectives in Public Policy: Connecting High Education and the Public School" series, published by The Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) and The National Center...
Halfway through the school year, money from California's new $66 7 million test-based awards program hasn't yet made it into either school budgets or educators' bank accounts. The effort to implement the high-profile rewards program-believed to be the largest of...
A state lawmaker said Tuesday that she will ask for an investigation into a statistical anomaly that allows school scores on the Academic Performance Index to go down even if all the groups of students within the school improved their...
For years, the College of Education has made outreach to lawmakers and educational leaders a priority. But earlier this year, the college took an important step forward in its outreach efforts when it established the Education Policy Center at Michigan...
I want to thank Stephanie Stassel for her story on the Los Angeles County Child Care Needs Assessment report. I am one of the family child-care providers serving on the Los Angeles County Child Care Planning Committee that prepared this...
California lawmakers should give teachers and schools a chance to make sense of recent changes to the state education system rather than piling on new initiatives, argues a report released last week by a respected think tank. The legislature has...