This brief highlights the need and ways to transform—systematically—how schools address the overlapping learning, behavioral, and emotional problems that can interfere with learning and teaching. The aim is to provide a blueprint to enable the state, Local Education Agencies (LEAs), and schools to play a greater role in providing student and learning supports, and to do so in ways that enhance equity of opportunity.

Collaborative networks using continuous improvement principles can accelerate and spread learning. This brief highlights the importance of understanding the benefits of collaboration, building a culture of trust and vulnerability, and engaging in true collaborative work, not just "show and tell." These lessons can help network members work together effectively to improve outcomes for students in changing conditions.

California is the wealthiest state in the US, yet its school funding is insufficient to meet educational goals due to the high cost of living. A series of 12 charts provide an explanation of what is happening, with solutions outlined in the final section of an accompanying report.

California schools' funding had improved, but still fell short of what is necessary to meet the state's goals. Now, schools face three major challenges: declines in student achievement and social-emotional well-being due to COVID-19, increased costs associated with distance learning and school reconfiguration, and the need to tighten budgets. Securing necessary funding will require an enormous and sustained effort from many stakeholders to improve schools and student outcomes and strengthen the economic and social outlook for future generations.

This brief discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student absenteeism and academic and social-emotional outcomes using panel data from California's CORE Districts. Absenteeism has a negative effect on student outcomes, with math being more affected than English language arts, and middle school students suffering more than elementary or high school students. The study also shows that absenteeism negatively impacts social-emotional development, which can have further implications for student outcomes.

This brief outlines Ayer Elementary's journey of continuous improvement since 2016 and how their organizational conditions were tested during the COVID-19 crisis. Despite the challenges, the school invested in improvement practices to strengthen student engagement in distance learning and build staff capacity for when students return to school.

The brief summarizes the PACE report "Enabling Conditions and Capacities for Continuous Improvement," which provides a framework for supporting teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The framework emphasizes the importance of rapid cycles of improvement and the enabling organizational conditions for continuous improvement, including shared purpose, mutual trust, and resources for collaborative work. Examples of this approach in practice can be found in a related PACE brief "Ayer Elementary School's Resilient Conditions for Improvement: Pivoting Amid COVID-19."

Parental engagement is essential to improve academic outcomes for all students, particularly low-income, Black, and Latinx students. Distance learning has intensified the need for parental support, but state policies and tools for engagement are inadequate. Local Educational Agencies can remove barriers to data access and support parent engagement by following three key principles and taking related actions.

This brief discusses how traditional methods of grading have been disrupted due to the pandemic and suggests flexible grading and assessment practices that can support student learning and measure it meaningfully. The goal is to improve both learning and reporting during this time of disruption.

How can schools provide high-quality distance and blended learning during the pandemic? This brief includes a mix of rigorous evidence from extant studies, data from interviews with practitioners who described their learnings from informal experimentation during the spring of 2020, and expert researchers who thought about how to apply research to the current context.

This brief provides questions for parents, educators, and the public to consider when deciding whether to reopen schools or support remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Education and health policy experts summarize what is known in these areas and provide a set of questions to encourage safe, effective, and equitable teaching and learning during every phase of pandemic schooling.

This brief summarizes the current evidence base on multi-tiered trauma-informed practices in schools to prevent, assess, and address trauma in students. Although the effectiveness of trauma-informed approaches is limited, the most compelling evidence comes from the more intensive tiers. Recent guidance on addressing trauma comes from expert and practitioner experiences and recommendations, including adaptations made during distance learning. Schools should establish a system-wide trauma-informed approach that includes care for educators themselves.

Equity has been a key focus of California education policies, which aim to reduce disparities in learning outcomes. The Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) can help identify struggling students and offer support. Pivot Learning's demonstration project with Sanger, Monterey Peninsula, and Lancaster school districts sought to make MTSS implementation more accessible. Lessons learned from Sanger's implementation can guide the state's continued expansion of MTSS.

The brief argues that community school strategies can help address the social and learning impacts of COVID-19, by reforming underlying classroom, school, and district behaviors and systems that prevent student-centered collaboration, partnership, and teaching. The focus should be on student-centered learning, integrated teacher and student supports, collaborative leadership and practice, and the centrality of family and student relationships. The brief encourages all schools to adopt a community school approach, which can serve as a sustainable and successful investment.

On July 17th, 2020, Governor Newsom announced that all K–12 schools in California counties with rising COVID-19 infections would be required to teach remotely. Without a strong focus on improving the quality of remote education at scale, students could lose up to a year’s worth of learning, and as many as 1.1 million students could fail to graduate high school. That academic impact would be felt most acutely by low-income, Black, and Latinx students. California’s leaders must act now to prioritize equity and ensure quality across all of the state’s districts. New policies do establish baseline...

This suite of publications provides 10 recommendations based on the PACE report to help educators and district leaders provide high-quality instruction through distance and blended learning models in the 2020-21 school year. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, research can guide decisions about student learning and engagement. These recommendations can be used as a framework to prioritize quality instruction.

This study used data from California CORE Districts to explore whether changes in students' self-reported social-emotional learning (SEL) predicted changes in academic outcomes and attendance. The findings revealed that within-student changes in SEL were positively associated with improvements in English language arts (ELA) and math achievement, as well as attendance, and were consistent across various student subgroups.

COVID-19 has disrupted California’s education system in fundamental ways. Districts across the state are quickly creating strategies to serve all students, and many are designing their response around the needs of their most vulnerable students. This brief highlights the response of Mother Lode Union School District (MLUSD) to the COVID-19 pandemic, in which district staff and teachers were able to collaborate—despite the unprecedented crisis—to meet student needs.

Self-report surveys are used to track students’ social-emotional development. This large-scale panel survey reveals that self-efficacy, social awareness, and self-management decrease after Grade 6, except for growth mindset. Female students report higher self-management and social awareness but lower self-efficacy than males in middle and high school. Students of color and economically disadvantaged students report lower levels of each construct. Policymakers should consider these trends and use self-reports to target interventions and resources.

COVID-19 school closures may intensify the typical academic "slide" observed in math and reading over the summer break. Schools can consider online summer programs, ramped-up assessment, targeted instruction, and one-to-one tutoring to mitigate learning losses.

Governor Newsom suggested a staggered calendar for the fall to get students back in school. While multi-track calendars have shown slight negative effects on learning, the current situation would have clear learning benefits and help parents and teachers. However, there is no evidence that multi-track calendars can control COVID-19 transmission. Schools should look at evidence from other countries and partner with local communities to test aggressively for the virus if implementing this approach.

This brief discusses how the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (PVUSD) in California is addressing the challenges of COVID-19 through family engagement and instructional access for English learners. The district has a history of serving all students through bilingual programming and a whole-child approach, and over 40% of its population are classified as English learners. PVUSD is a member of the national League of Innovative Schools and is known for its inclusive, data-driven decision-making.