LPI report highlights districts closing opportunity gaps and their strategies

Many districts in California have struggled to adequately support underserved student groups through changes in curriculum, school funding and student assessments in the last five years, but a recent report from the Learning Policy Institute found more than one hundred districts bucking that trend. They […]

California sets record for high school sports participation while football continues decline

Participation in high school sports in California set an all-time high for the seventh straight year in 2018–19, though the most popular sport, football, continued its trend of seeing substantial decreases in participation. The results indicate that many of California’s student athletes who left football […]

New study finds high-need students see both benefits and pitfalls from LCFF

Six years after California policymakers enacted the Local Control Funding Formula for K-12 public schools, the goal of providing additional resources to high-need districts is being met. A new study, however, suggests several hurdles still need to be addressed to ensure all students receive the […]

Obesity rate remains high for California’s fifth-graders, racial disparities prominent

Showing only marginal improvement from years prior, 40.5 percent of California fifth-graders were overweight or obese in 2018, according to new data from the Kidsdata program of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. Research has long shown that the physical health of students significantly […]

Report finds increased funding and access but low standards for California pre-K programs

California increased its early childhood education funding and enrollment in 2017–18, but fell below the national average for meeting minimum quality standards, according to “The State of Preschool 2018” annual report from the National Institute for Early Education Research. The pre-K programs — composed of […]

Data illustrate need for greater focus on California’s homeless students

In the 2016-17 school year, 4.2 percent of California’s public school students were identified as homeless, according to a new report from Education Leads Home. The state’s homeless student population that year of 262,935 marks a 4.16 percent increase from the 2012-13 school year. Researchers […]

Report highlights lack of personal finance instruction in California schools

Can students in your district explain the difference between APR and AGI? What about a FICO score? Compound interest? Amortization? For students to be college and career ready, knowledge of personal finance is becoming increasingly important. Yet, a recent report from Center for Financial Literacy […]

Teacher shortage continues, experienced teachers in demand

A new report from the Learning Policy Institute cites that about 90 percent of teacher vacancies are due to teachers leaving the profession, and posits that a national teacher shortage could be alleviated by improving retention. Further, by retaining experienced teachers, school districts could also […]