Briefs

February 5, 2018 | 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.

February 2, 2018 | 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.

January 23, 2018 | 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.

January 18, 2018 | 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.

December 14, 2017 | Education policymakers working to address the impacts of growing economic and racial inequality on students often look to community schools as an effective approach for supporting students and their families in communities facing concentrated poverty. This brief and related report synthesizes findings from 143 rigorous research studies and finds that community schools can improve outcomes for all students, especially those facing lack of access to high-quality schools and out-of-school barriers to learning.

August 16, 2017 | Without changes in current policies, U.S. teacher shortages are projected to grow in the coming years. Teacher turnover is an important source of these shortages. About 8% of teachers leave the profession each year, two-thirds of them for reasons other than retirement. Another 8% shift to different schools each year. In addition to aggravating teacher shortages, high turnover rates lower student achievement and are costly for schools. This brief examines turnover trends and causes and concludes that policies to stem teacher turnover should target compensation, teacher preparation and support, and teaching conditions.

June 13, 2017 | Principals are essential to improving student achievement and narrowing persistent achievement gaps. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides opportunities for states to use federal funds to invest in developing and supporting effective school leaders, such as supporting their recruitment, preparation, and training using the optional state set-aside under Title II. This brief summarizes the evidence about the importance of principals, describes research-based practices in leadership development, and outlines promising, evidence-based investments from submitted and draft ESSA state plans.

June 13, 2017 | Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states are using a new approach to accountability based on multiple indicators of educational opportunity and performance and can decide how to use these measures to identify schools for intervention and support and to encourage systems of continuous improvement. The decision rule approach can encourage greater attention to each of the measures, offer more transparency about how school performance factors into identification, and support more strategic interventions than those informed only by a single rating, ranking, or grade. This brief describes five options for using decision rules that are designed to meet ESSA’s requirements and support states' use of systems that encourage continuous improvement across all schools.

June 5, 2017 | Community schools, which feature integrated student supports, expanded learning time, family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership, can be a successful strategy for improving schools under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). That’s the conclusion of this research review, based on an analysis of over 100 studies. This brief, published jointly by the Learning Policy Institute and the National Education Policy Center, discusses the four key features of community schools and offers guidance to support school, district, and state leaders as they consider or implement a community school intervention strategy in schools targeted for comprehensive support.

June 5, 2017 | Well-designed and implemented professional development is an essential component of a comprehensive system of teaching and learning that supports students to develop the knowledge, skills, and competencies they need to thrive in the 21st century. This brief outlines key components of effective professional development and offers rich descriptions of model programs to inform education leaders and policymakers seeking to leverage professional development to improve student learning.