Student achievement in California has not rebounded after the precipitous declines of the COVID-19 pandemic, with English language arts (ELA) and math scores remaining well below prepandemic levels. Student attendance has declined dramatically, and trauma and time away from school have led to mental health challenges, delays in social development, and behavioral issues among students. All too often, teachers work in isolation to create lesson plans and deliver instruction, with little instructional support, limited opportunities for collaboration, and unclear expectations.

Enrollment in California public schools has been declining and is projected to fall even more steeply during the next decade. Because funding for school districts is largely based on average daily attendance rates, a decline in enrollment results in a loss of funding. To address budget shortfalls and align services with student counts, many districts have consolidated or closed schools, or they are contemplating doing so.

This case study identifies promising practices for newcomer education implemented in San Juan Unified School District (SJUSD), one of 12 local educational agencies (LEAs) funded under the California Newcomer Education and Well-Being (CalNEW) project between 2018 and 2021. This report was developed through a partnership between PACE and the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) at Loyola Marymount University (LMU).

Every year, 150k-200k new immigrant students in California need specialized instruction and social services to succeed, but many districts struggle to provide them, resulting in dropouts and poor outcomes. Inaccessible instruction and lack of basic necessities hinder progress. The PACE report recommends developing data, instruction, and social support services to improve newcomer outcomes in California.

This report finds that improving school attendance is crucial, especially with the increase in chronic absence. Data on unexcused absences should be used to create a more preventive, problem-solving, and equitable response to poor attendance. Labeling absences as unexcused affects how students and families are treated and can lead to punitive measures that may not improve attendance. Overuse of the unexcused-absence label could undermine efforts to partner with students and families to improve attendance.

This report discusses the implementation challenges of restorative practices (RPs) in schools, which have the potential to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline and improve school climates. However, schools often struggle with selective adoption, and there is a need to measure the extent to which teachers are using and students are experiencing RPs. The report provides guidance on how to measure RP implementation and why it is essential for achieving the intended impacts, including decreasing discipline, reducing racial disparities, and improving academic achievement.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for English learners (ELs) to receive the services and support they need for academic success. This report highlights how K–12 public school districts planned to support ELs during the pandemic. While many districts communicated plans to assess student progress and provide services for ELs, details on the sufficiency of these plans were lacking. The legislation mandating the plans did not include measures for adherence or monitoring student outcomes, leaving questions about the actual strategies implemented by districts and how ELs were affected.

A report examines two CA districts that have shifted their structures, policies, and culture to improve student outcomes. Both districts worked with California Education Partners to refine their continuous improvement approach and spread practices. PACE identified three key lessons for leading impactful improvement efforts: anchor work in outcome measures, invest in an aligned system of instructional learning, and use cross-role and cross-site structures. These lessons contributed to positive trends for student achievement, empowered practitioners, and built internal capacity for improvement.

At the first anniversary of school closures due to COVID-19, nearly half of the K–12 students in the U.S. were attending schools that were either fully remote or offering hybrid instruction, with more than 70 percent of California students attending schools remotely. For this reason, continued efforts to unpack the effects of COVID-19 on student outcomes are especially important for California students, who may be experiencing larger-than-average effects of continued school closures relative to the nation overall.

The CORE Districts in California conducted a survey to measure K-12 students’ social-emotional well-being during the pandemic. Results indicate that students’ personal and interpersonal well-being rated lower than their learning environments. Interpersonal well-being was most correlated with academic achievement. Home/online learning environment improved, but Grades 5-12 students reported not liking school as much in winter 2020-21. Stakeholders should focus on meeting the pressing needs of each group of students.

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.

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.

This article 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.

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.

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in California was designed to increase flexibility, transparency, and equity in school districts. This report examines how Los Banos Unified School District and Chino Valley Unified School District used the LCFF to serve English Language Learners (ELLs). Both districts used the LCFF to create advocacy spaces and develop internal coherence to benefit ELLs with locally devised mechanisms and structures.

This report summarizes efforts to align California's K-12 and postsecondary education systems to address disparities in educational attainment. Based on district leaders' interviews and quantitative data, the report finds that rigorous academic preparation is crucial to college success, and that participation and performance on college admissions exams are key indicators of college readiness. However, substantial inequality exists across all measures of readiness, and district leaders emphasize the importance of engaging families and the community in supporting postsecondary success.

Given the importance of a college degree for both individual and societal economic prosperity, policymakers and educators are focused on strengthening the path to college beyond college entry. In this report, we synthesize the existing literature on four factors key to educational attainment—aspirations and beliefs, academic preparation, knowledge and information, and fortitude and resilience—and the implications of each.

With a new governor, state superintendent and legislators in Sacramento and a diminished federal role in education, there is an opportunity for California’s leaders to take stock of recent educational reforms and make necessary improvements. There are also a host of new and looming issues in K-12 and higher education. As California’s leaders confront these and other issues, where do California voters, including parents, stand on education and education policy? The newest edition of the USC Rossier/PACE Poll shares voter perspectives on a wide range of education issues.

This report examines the challenges and limitations of using the Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate (ACGR) to measure high school graduation rates in California. Graduation rates serve different policy goals, and the requirements for a high school diploma vary widely. The ACGR does not account for students' characteristics, those who graduate in five or six years, or those who change schools. The report recommends addressing these issues by developing a more comprehensive graduation rate that accounts for different student populations and their paths to graduation.

This report details where California public high school students attend college and how college attendance and destinations vary by county. The report was created to fill the information gap on the college destinations of high school graduates in California. The data set assembled includes three recent cohorts of public high school students matched with college enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse.

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 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.

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.

The use of social-emotional learning (SEL) and school culture/climate (CC) measures is a promising way to understand school performance. SEL and CC measures are reliable, distinguish between schools, and relate to academic and non-academic measures. They can identify areas for improvement within schools, such as subgroup gaps. Incorporating these measures into higher stakes accountability systems requires further research.