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Teacher leaders in California are collaborating to lead sustainable professional development for implementation of new student standards within their districts. This statewide effort, the Instructional Leadership Corps, has been in place for the last 4 years and participant feedback has been overwhelmingly positive about the experience. This study describes how teacher-led learning can motivate shifts in practice, enhance teachers’ professionalism and efficacy, and create supportive systems and strategic relationships that can sustain change.

California students, families, educators, and policymakers are at the center of one of the most ambitious, equity-focused education reforms in the country. Changes include a bold, new approach to equitable funding, a more holistic vision of student and school success, and community engagement in decision making. This study analyzes the impact of the reforms on opportunities and outcomes, and identifies the challenges ahead for California.

In 2013, California adopted its Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which has shifted billions of dollars to districts serving high-need students, created a multiple-measure accountability system, and provided all districts with broad flexibility to develop spending plans aligned to local priorities and needs. This report examines LCFF and related reforms—the decade-plus effort leading to their passage and the impact on culture, practice, opportunities, and outcomes—and explores next steps to sustain and deepen improvement. Read the report or brief >

Research on early learning programs in the 1960s and 1970s revealed enormous benefits for children that lasted into adulthood, sparking investment in preschool programs, but two evaluations of large preschool programs that yielded mixed results created confusion about the wisdom of such investments. A review of rigorous and more recent research into the impact of preschool clarifies that students who attend high-quality preschool programs reap benefits that can last throughout their lives.

Research on early learning programs in the 1960s and 1970s revealed longlasting benefits, sparking investment in preschool programs. However, recent evaluations of two large preschool programs found mixed results, creating confusion about whether preschool programs can support student success. This report reviews these two studies and others in depth, and finds that when participants are compared to very similar students who did not attend preschool, the benefits of participation are typically found to be substantial.