Effective data use is crucial for continuous improvement, but there is confusion about how it differs from data use for other purposes. This report explains what data are most useful for continuous improvement and presents a case study of how the CORE data collaborative uses a multiple-measures approach to support decision-making.

This study examines the properties of California's CORE Districts' SEL survey, which measures social-emotional learning in students. The survey was given to over 400,000 students in grades 3-12. The study uses both classical test theory and item response theory frameworks to analyze the data and make recommendations for modeling and scaling SEL survey data. Policy implications are discussed for educators, administrators, policy makers, and other stakeholders.

This study explores ten "outlier schools" in California's CORE districts that have strong social-emotional learning outcomes. The brief and infographic summarize the various practices found in these schools and the common implementation challenges faced. The findings offer lessons that can help other schools and districts implement social-emotional learning at scale.

States and school districts across the U.S. are seeking to expand their definition of student success to include social-emotional learning. The CORE Districts, a collaborative of California districts that has developed a system of school accountability and continuous improvement that includes measures of social-emotional skills based on student self-reports, exemplify this trend. In this case study, we provide an overview of CORE's School Quality Improvement System, which was implemented in the 2015–16 school year across six districts serving roughly one million students.

Child poverty in California limits educational success for disadvantaged children, but schools struggle to identify effective solutions. Colombia's Escuela Nueva model has successfully educated marginalized rural children since 1975, raising academic and non-cognitive outcomes in tens of thousands of schools worldwide. This brief describes how Escuela Nueva works and discusses how California's schools might implement core aspects of the model to better serve disadvantaged students.

Many parts of California, particularly rural and desert areas, are often overlooked by policymakers and researchers, despite the growing number of students attending school there. The Antelope Valley region has seen steady increases in student enrollment, particularly of Hispanic/Latino(a) and African American students, English learners, and foster youth. This report highlights the needs of the Antelope Valley Union High School District and its feeder districts, and calls for greater focus on supporting high-needs populations outside of urban centers.

California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) aims to improve educational equity by providing additional funds to districts with disadvantaged students. Districts are required to engage with their communities and develop Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs) to identify priorities and allocate funds. However, there are concerns about the quality of LCAPs, lack of stakeholder involvement, and limited transparency. To improve the effectiveness of LCFF, districts must ensure meaningful stakeholder engagement and use data to guide decision-making.

The Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) in California and the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) encourage local control in school accountability. The CORE waiver districts have implemented an innovative measurement system and supports for school and district improvement, providing an opportunity to learn from the enactment of a system supported by accountability policy in this new era. This report examines the early implementation and effects of the CORE reform and seeks to inform the ongoing efforts within CORE and future accountability policy in other states and districts.

California and the US are undergoing a cultural shift in school accountability policies towards locally-determined measures of school performance. Lessons can be learned from the CORE districts, which developed an innovative accountability system, emphasizing support over sanctions, and utilizing multiple measures of school quality. The CORE districts' measurement system and collaboration hold promise for improving local systems, but efforts to build capacity remain a work in progress.

This article examines the use of student test score data to measure the effects of school principals on student achievement. Multiple models are developed and compared using data from a large urban school district, with results showing the importance of model choice for accurately assessing principal effects. The most conceptually unappealing models that over-attribute school effects to principals align more closely with nontest measures than do approaches that more convincingly separate the effect of the principal from the effects of other school inputs.

This paper examines the impact of pupil mobility in urban districts like Los Angeles, where families are encouraged to switch schools due to the growth of mixed-markets of charter, magnet, and pilot schools. African American and White students are more likely to exit their schools, while overcrowding in low-income Latino neighborhoods leads to higher exit rates. Charter and magnet school students exit less. The district's commitment to relieve overcrowding leads to Latino students moving to newly built schools. The opening of new high schools reduced pupil mobility.