Press Releases

Statement of Learning Policy Institute President Linda Darling-Hammond on California Governor Jerry Brown’s Proposed Budget for Special Education | As a leading national institute conducting and communicating research to improve education policy and practice, LPI applauds Governor Jerry Brown’s proposal in this year’s budget summary to study special education funding in the service of improving special education in California. As state leaders explore strategies for funding reform, we hope they will attend to the state’s urgent need to build a supply of high-quality teachers.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes a number of important requirements and opportunities to advance equity in U.S. education. A new report by the Learning Policy Institute, Equity and ESSA: Leveraging Educational Opportunity Through the Every Student Succeeds Act, outlines the equity implications of ESSA and discusses ways in which the federal government, states, districts, and schools can promote equity for underserved children and youth. The report was released in conjunction with a briefing on Capitol Hill.

A Fall 2016 survey of California school districts reveals that the state’s teacher shortage has reached alarming levels, with 75% of surveyed districts indicating there are too few qualified teachers to fill their teaching vacancies. Teacher shortages leave districts with high rates of vacancies and force them to rely on underprepared teachers and substitutes, increase class sizes, and assign teachers outside of their areas of training. To better address shortages, particularly in high-need fields and schools, the state and districts will need to develop a variety of evidence-based strategies that can be targeted to meet the needs of different communities.

Seizing on a shift in policy momentum, advances in research, and growing public support for a well-rounded education, the Aspen Institute today announced the National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development. The Commission will advance a new vision for what constitutes success in schools: the full integration of social, emotional, and academic development to ensure every student is prepared to thrive in school and in life.

According to a new research analysis released by the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), the nation is staring at a serious teacher deficit that is only going to get worse unless steps are taken now to address it. The analysis, A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand and Shortages in the U.S., is accompanied by three related policy briefs and an interactive map that rates each state on various factors affecting teacher supply and demand.

On July 14, Linda Darling-Hammond, President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) during the hearing "ESSA Implementation: Perspectives from Education Stakeholders on Proposed Regulations." In her remarks, Dr. Darling-Hammond stressed that ESSA regulations must support accountability that leads to equity and improvement by providing transparency and clarity for action.

The Road to High-Quality Early Learning: Lessons from the States describes and analyzes how four states—Michigan, North Carolina, Washington, and West Virginia—have built high-quality early education systems at scale and identifies key takeaways for policymakers, educators, and others looking to expand and deepen access to high-quality preschool.

Teachers, on average, increase their effectiveness as they gain experience, and this improvement continues in the second and often third decade of their careers. This is a key finding from a comprehensive review of 30 studies analyzing the effect of teaching experience on student outcomes.

States are seeking remedies to the shortage of teachers and the increasing need to recruit and retain teachers in underserved rural and urban communities and in specific subject areas. Forgivable loans and service scholarships are two promising solutions, especially given the high level of student debt.

Two new reports, published jointly by the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE), provide timely research and evidence-based examples for educators and policymakers looking to leverage ESSA to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for all children.