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For the 2017-18 school year, 80% of California districts reported shortages of qualified teachers and 82% reported hiring underprepared teachers, according to an LPI survey completed by 25 California school districts. Those districts collectively serve a quarter of the state’s students and include urban, suburban, and rural areas. This brief examines how districts experienced teacher supply in the fall of 2017.

This study of California’s recent major school finance reform, the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), is among the first to provide evidence of LCFF’s impacts on student outcomes. We found that LCFF-induced increases in school spending led to significant increases in high school graduation rates and academic achievement, particularly among children from low-income families. The evidence suggests that money targeted to students’ needs can make a significant difference in student outcomes and can narrow achievement gaps.

This brief provides California policymakers with recommendations on how to improve access to high-quality early childhood education (ECE) for all children. It is based on a report that examines the ECE practices in 10 counties that vary by region, population density, and child care affordability. The report upon which this brief is based describes the landscape of ECE at the local level as it is shaped by federal and state policies, illuminates challenges that counties face in providing access to high-quality programs, and highlights promising practices.

There is overwhelming evidence that children’s early years, from birth through preschool, are a crucial time for their development, and that high-quality early learning opportunities support children’s school readiness, promote later life success, and yield a return of up to $7 for every $1 invested. Providing access to high-quality ECE for all children in California will require a comprehensive approach to turning an uncoordinated set of underfunded programs into a true system of supports for children, families, and providers. A complement to LPI’s earlier report Understanding California’s Early Care and Education System, this report examines the challenges California’s counties face in providing ECE and provides recommendations for improving access to high-quality ECE for all children.

This edition of the Reimagining College Access newsletter contains information on the Recognition Task Force, Technology Tool Task Force, Leading Places Network Task Force, and a feature story on Big Picture Education Australia.

This brief describes performance assessments and their value for guiding and evaluating high school students' learning, as well as informing colleges and universities about what students know and can do. It explores state and local policies that support the use of such assessments, along with emerging higher education efforts to incorporate them in college admission, placement, and advising. It discusses steps that can help ensure that performance assessments are high-quality, rigorous, and well understood and that can facilitate the use of these assessments in higher education decisions.