This brief examines a three-year pilot of the California Collaborative for Education Excellence’s Intensive Assistance Model in five districts. It finds stronger educator collaboration and promising school-level gains, though achievement effects were not statistically significant and districtwide scaling remained uneven. The brief recommends sustained instructional coaching, protected teacher collaboration time, and a sharper focus on core academic outcomes to build district capacity and support lasting improvements in teaching and learning.

This brief draws on Getting Down to Facts III to recommend three priorities for strengthening California’s education system: clear student goals, reliable instructional support for every district, and stronger, more affordable teacher preparation. It calls for aligned policy and funding, reduced compliance burdens, sustained support for improving teaching, and expanded four-year preparation pathways to help promising reforms reach more classrooms.

This brief examines the first phase of California’s Community Schools Partnership Program. It finds that unclear roles, limited statewide guidance, and a lack of shared measures made it difficult to coordinate support and assess progress. As California commits $1 billion in ongoing funding, the brief calls for clearer responsibilities, quality standards developed with practitioners and communities, and stronger evidence to guide statewide certification.

This brief examines how schools shape math course-taking among California high school students. It finds that 12th-grade math enrollment has declined in about two thirds of high schools in recent years, with differences tied to school size and student demographics. Students in smaller schools and in schools serving higher shares of socioeconomically disadvantaged students are less likely to take advanced math courses. The findings highlight how variation in course offerings and access contributes to unequal opportunities in math preparation for college.

This brief examines how changes in foster youth classification status relate to student absenteeism and discipline in four California CORE districts. Drawing on longitudinal data, it finds that entering foster care is associated with reduced absenteeism but increased exclusionary discipline, while exiting foster care is linked to increased absenteeism with no significant change in disciplinary risk. These findings highlight critical transition points where targeted supports and stronger policy alignment can improve educational stability and outcomes for youth in foster care.

In October 2023, the California Department of Education released test scores for all students in Grades 3–8 and 11 for the 2022–23 school year. These results represent an opportunity to analyze whether and to what extent student learning has rebounded after the dramatic declines in scores resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures. Despite marginal improvements from 2021–22, student cohorts in 2022–23 remain very far behind prepandemic levels.

Declining student enrollment is leading to a loss of revenue in many California school districts. To address ongoing budget shortfalls, many districts have consolidated or shuttered schools,and others are contemplating doing so. A new report and working paper, summarized in this brief, explore the racial dimensions of school closures and how to address them.

Newcomers represent a large and understudied subgroup of students in California. The Oakland Unified School District has been disaggregating data on newcomer status for the last 7 years, providing a basis for analyzing graduation outcomes for newcomer compared to non-newcomer students. The data highlight the variance in outcomes based on program placement and design. Drawing from analysis of Oakland Unified’s data and practices, the authors make programmatic recommendations for districts with newcomer students.

Oakland International High School, winner of the 2017 National Community School Award, supports its recently arrived immigrant students by integrating academic, social, mental health,and material supports into the school day and beyond. Its community school model incorporates a Wellness Center, a tiered system of support and engagement, external partnerships, specialized staffing, and a collaborative culture of continuous improvement that promotes agency and belonging for both students and staff.

This study highlights the collaborative efforts undertaken to create a temporary school called Futuro Brillante in San Diego County, California, to provide educational services for more than 3,000 unaccompanied undocumented minors who had newly arrived in the U.S. The study describes the compelling trajectory of the school’s development, its multisector community partnerships, its core facilitating organizational conditions, and the key curriculum strategies that facilitated the school’s success.

This brief outlines findings from a study that examines the English proficiency levels and growth of newcomer English learner students in comparison to their non-newcomer peers. It was found that while newcomer students tend to have lower initial English proficiency levels, their English proficiency develops quickly. There is, however, wide variation in newcomer English level and growth patterns, and schools play an important role in fostering growth. Additionally, newcomers enter school at earlier stages of English proficiency than non-newcomer English learner peers.

This study explores the impact of reclassification on social-emotional learning skills (SEL) of English learners (ELs) in grades 4 to 8. Using a regression discontinuity design, the study found that reclassification improved academic self-efficacy by 0.2 standard deviations for students near the cutoff threshold. The results suggest that reclassification can positively influence the academic beliefs of ELs and the authors provide recommendations for districts to create practices that foster such positive beliefs.

California high schools face challenges in expanding computer science (CS) programs due to staffing issues, curricular capacity, school accountability pressure, and equitable access to CS coursework. This report discusses potential solutions based on research for each challenge.

An analysis of Learning Continuity and Attendance Plans (LCPs) developed by local educational agencies in California during the 2020-21 academic year showed variations in practices across districts, particularly between urban and rural areas. While districts planned to provide technology, assess student learning, and offer tiered levels of support, broader opportunities for reform and implementation accountability in education policymaking are needed post-pandemic.

Community schools are gaining attention as a promising solution for students from low-income families who have suffered economic trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers are investing in their expansion, and effective use of data will be crucial. This report discusses findings of a research project led by the Los Angeles County Office of Education and the USC Center on Education, Policy, Equity, and Governance and provides recommendations for implementing a data system to address community-specific needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all students; however, its impact has been particularly devastating for students of color, students from low-income families, English learners, and other marginalized children and youth. As transmission rates decline and vaccination rates increase in California, many are eager to return to normalcy, but we must all recognize that even the prepandemic normal was not working for all students. The 2021–22 school year, therefore, constitutes a critical opportunity for schools to offer students, families, and educators a restorative restart.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant negative effect on the oral reading fluency (ORF) of US students in grades 2-3 in over 100 school districts, with students falling 30% behind expectations. While there was some recovery in the fall, it was insufficient to make up for the spring losses. The impact is particularly inequitable, with lower achieving schools being hit harder, and 10% of students not being assessed. Addressing accumulated learning losses and supporting struggling students is necessary.

The partnership between schools and expanded learning programs is crucial to build equitable support systems for children and their families. California's school reopening guidance encourages coordination between these entities to meet the students' needs during the pandemic. This brief provides key principles for building successful partnerships informed by insights from California leaders and practitioners. It is part of a series on how expanded learning programs can support students during pandemic recovery.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

We use data from the 2020 PACE/USC Rossier annual voter poll to report on California voters’ attitudes towards educational equity policy initiatives, specifically: (a) increasing the number of public school teachers of color in California and (b) requiring all high school students in California to complete an ethnic studies course. A majority of voters supported these initiatives. Respondents showed higher levels of support for increasing the number of teachers of color when informed about the positive academic impact this would likely have for students of color. Support varied depending on...

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.