Reports

December 4, 2024 | About 40% of California's K-12 students are English learners (ELs) and receive EL services until reaching proficiency, usually within 5–7 years. However, some students retain the EL status longer. California recently reconfigured its dashboard to better understand what additional supports these students will need to reach their educational potential.

October 31, 2024 | This report analyzes the evolution and effectiveness of standards-based reforms in U.S. education beginning with increased federal involvement through the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act to more recent reforms, and explores the role of state governments in implementing systemic reforms aimed at aligning educational issues to enhance student outcomes.

October 31, 2024 | Studies link positive school climate to teacher outcomes such as retention and student outcomes, including increased academic achievement and attendance, higher graduation rates, improved behavior. As a result, more schools and districts are collecting and using climate data to improve school environments and inform policy and practice.

October 17, 2024 | Since the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, state assessments have prioritized easily generated, comparable scores, often at the expense of teaching and learning. States looking to improve assessments can draw from those that have redesigned systems to align with research on student learning and student-centered instruction.

September 17, 2024 | A number of schools have been effective at rejecting the factory model and redesigning their systems to create safe environments with opportunities for exciting and rigorous academic work. Their successes have ideas in common, offering 10 important lessons for other schools.

August 26, 2024 | There has been a significant decline in school attendance since the onset of the pandemic. This is concerning since chronically absent students are more likely to fall behind academically, disengage socially, and drop out of school. Community schools are a promising strategy to mitigate chronic absenteeism and its underlying causes.

August 15, 2024 | Recognizing the importance of school leaders to teachers and students, California revised its standards guiding induction for administrators. The 2-year model includes coaching, PD, and assessments. An analysis of survey data and case studies provides policy recommendations to strengthen programs, better address administrator needs, and improve accessibility.

August 2, 2024 | Teacher residencies offer a strategy to simultaneously improve the quality of preparation and provide a long-term solution to teacher shortages. This examination of the teacher residency model looks to recent efforts in 12 states that shed light on how to fund and grow residencies.

July 29, 2024 | In the past 20 years, California policy around instruction, funding, and support of English learners has significantly changed. These shifts—from more rigorous teacher preparation to increased funding and the introduction of transitional kindergarten—have likely impacted students’ academic achievements, English proficiency, and other outcomes over time.

July 9, 2024 | California’s ambitious commitment in 2021 to expand universal PreK for all 4-year-olds and income-eligible 3-year-olds by 2025–26 is making progress. Evidence provides insights into implementation related to service delivery models, facilities and transportation, instruction and assessment, supporting student needs, workforce development, and technical assistance needs.