Reports

July 23, 2025 | New approaches to teacher preparation center on whole-child education and decades of research on how people learn and develop. These emerging principles reimagine educator training to foster strong relationships, rich learning, and supports that help all students thrive.

July 2, 2025 | California State University, Bakersfield, operates a consortium of seven teacher residency programs, each partnering with one or more local education agencies. Researchers examined the Kern Urban Teacher Residency and the Teacher Residency for Rural Education to understand how residency models can be modified to meet the needs of both large urban and small rural districts.

June 30, 2025 | The decisions states make regarding what their assessments look like and what kind of information they produce inevitably shape instruction and students’ learning experiences. Many state leaders are considering how to create instructionally relevant assessments with a positive instructional impact.

June 12, 2025 | California is expanding universal prekindergarten (UPK) to all 4-year-olds and eligible 3-year-olds. Survey data show that local educational agencies have expanded UPK quickly; however, they continue to face challenges related to UPK facilities, staffing, developmentally appropriate practices, resources, and funding, making continued state investment and targeted support critical for success.

June 6, 2025 | Students have more positive and productive math learning experiences in classrooms that provide them with supportive relationships, a strong sense of belonging within the classroom and broader math community, and a firm conviction in their capacity to grow their mathematical abilities through experience and practice.

May 6, 2025 | Teacher residencies offer an approach to address teacher shortages while improving teacher preparation. Through robust financial and educational support, residencies attract diverse candidates who stay in teaching. Five effective California programs yield policy recommendations, including strategies for designing and funding sustainable, affordable programs that support candidates.

March 10, 2025 | Claremont Graduate University’s residency program, which offers 100% online coursework, is built around a social justice approach and a classroom framework that centers relationships and interactions between and among students and teachers. Program participants have diverse academic and socioeconomic backgrounds and include a high proportion of first-generation college graduates.

March 3, 2025 | Alder Teacher Residency has evolved from an in-house program into California’s largest independent, residency-based educator preparation pathway, partnering with 47 local education agencies. With 97% of graduates rating the program effective and 95% securing full-time teaching positions, Alder maintains high standards by prioritizing equity, collaboration, and data-driven improvement.

February 13, 2025 | From strengthening early learning systems and tackling teacher shortages to advancing equitable school finance, LPI staff harness the power of research, collaboration, and communication to build an education system that serves every learner and transforms the ideals of equity and excellence into enduring realities for all.

February 11, 2025 | California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), enacted in 2013, created a simpler and more equitable K-12 education finance system. Research indicates it has helped to improve student outcomes and points to challenges in its fiscal design and opportunities to strengthen it.