Grass Valley School District (GVSD) partnered with California Education Partners through an initiative to improve literacy instruction. Over three years, GVSD implemented new literacy assessments and phonics practices, emphasizing teacher leadership, data use, and accountability. That shifted the district’s culture toward continuous improvement, enabling districtwide adoption of literacy initiatives and improved student outcomes. This case study highlights the need for stronger systems to build adult capacity and sustain leadership and collaboration.

California’s ambitious investment in Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) reflects a commitment to providing access to UTK for all 4-year-olds in public schools by the 2025–26 academic year. However, the implementation of transitional kindergarten (TK) presents challenges for districts in aligning this new grade coherently with existing grade levels and prekindergarten (PK) options within the context of the mixed-delivery model. This model adds complexity to achieving coherence as students transition from PK or TK to the existing district system.

California’s Transitional Kindergarten (TK) program provides an additional year of schooling within the K–12 system that aims to prepare children for kindergarten. Launched a decade ago with limited eligibility, the program will be expanded to all four-year-olds by 2025–26. Little is known about TK’s longer-term impact—especially among multilingual students and students with disabilities, who might benefit from early identification. Taking stock of TK’s impact so far can help the state expand it successfully.

California's Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) faces challenges as districts prioritize meeting state requirements, hindering focus on quality. To address this, the state can incentivize districts by setting a vision, establishing goals, and measuring progress based on enrollment, implementation features, and student outcomes. It should align resources and support for widespread high-quality UTK implementation, while ensuring public communication of key aspects and outcomes to empower communities to monitor district performance.

As California's elementary schools reopen, attention to healing the school community is crucial. When students return, they will need to reconnect with friends and teachers. Recess provides an ideal opportunity for play and can support healing and prepare students to return to learning. Schools should prioritize providing safe opportunities for play to rebuild the school community and support students' well-being.

The Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) aims to improve early childhood education quality, assuming quality can be measured and ratings correspond to learning outcomes. A review of the California QRIS found weak associations between ratings and outcomes. The report recommends creating better-aligned measures, including teacher qualifications, program observation, and differentiation for age groups, as well as considering work environment and pay. Cutoff scores and comprehensive outcome measures should also be examined.

Over 725,000 California K-12 students received special education services in 2018-19, but the system is not always equipped to serve them. Early screening, identification, and intervention, as well as better transitions, educator support, and mental/physical health services, need improvement. A Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework in schools could address SWDs' needs, but it requires additional resources and policy support to improve educator capacity and collaboration between agencies while systematizing data on SWDs.

Only 10% of eligible infants and toddlers with developmental delays nationwide receive early intervention services, and CA serves fewer children than the national average. This is due to challenges such as spotty screening, tenuous linkages to referral and evaluation, and crossing multiple agencies. Massachusetts has a unified early childhood data system and robust interagency linkages, resulting in a greater percentage of their infant and toddler population served. Implementing a unified data system and interagency streamlining in CA could increase the number of children and families served.

California is failing to identify and serve infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with developmental disabilities compared to national averages. The transition from infant/toddler services to preschool services is hindered by various factors such as the lack of a systematic screening and child tracking system, interagency coordination, and family/staff preparation for transitions. Significant investments are required to improve the state of early education for children with disabilities in California.

This brief outlines the necessary steps to integrate care systems and improve outcomes for California's children. It suggests forming a statewide interagency leadership council and recommends policy reforms to promote collaboration, integration, and service delivery. The goal is to create a "Whole System" approach that integrates child-serving agencies and organizations. A full commitment from the state administration is needed to achieve these solutions at scale.

In the run-up to 2020 elections, where do California voters stand on key education policy issues? This report examines findings and trends from the 2020 PACE/USC Rossier poll. Key findings include rising pessimism about California education and elected officials, continued concern about gun violence in schools and college affordability, and negative opinions about higher education. However, there is substantial support for increased spending, especially on teacher salaries.

The 2018 Getting Down to Facts II research project drew attention to California’s continued need to focus on the achievement gap, strengthen the capacity of educators in support of continuous improvement, and attend to both the adequacy and stability of funding for schools. Based on the nature of the issues and the progress made in 2019, some clear next steps deserve attention as 2020 unfolds.

California Governor Gavin Newsom prioritized early childhood education with new funding. However, sustaining and building on preK progress remains challenging. PreK–3 alignment has shown to be effective in coordinating standards, curricula, instruction, assessments, and professional development. This study examines California’s preK–3 alignment landscape to better understand the challenges and recommends policy implications to prioritize alignment, offer training, and streamline licensing requirements.