One in four students missed at least one day of school every other week on average in 2022, with only moderate improvement occurring in the following two years, according to NWEA’s July brief “Chronic absenteeism: A continued impediment to academic recovery.” Students in high-poverty districts were absent even more often.
Category: Achievement
New research identifies fragmented systems as a key barrier to student achievement
A new report from the Center for MH in Schools & Student/Learning Supports at UCLA finds that current efforts to address barriers to learning and teaching, while valuable, won’t provide lasting progress until policymakers adopt student and learning support systems that are unified, comprehensive and equitable.
College readiness, access and value in California
A trio of fact sheets released by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) in April give a snapshot of college readiness, access and value in the state.
Research provides recommendations to improve outcomes for youth served in alternative education settings
California’s alternative education system — particularly its Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS) schools — is a vital but often overlooked pathway for historically marginalized and vulnerable students. A recent report from the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools analyzes 2022–23 data from 894 DASS schools, representing 150,009 students, to evaluate the effectiveness of these settings.
Recommendations to improve reclassification for EL students
A May brief by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), “Accelerating English Learner Progress by Improving Reclassification,” offers five research-backed recommendations to improve the reclassification process and support student achievement.
New PACE report takes deep dive into early outcomes of Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives
With the Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Program, which aims to address persistent inequities in higher education and workforce participation through the development of regional intersegmental partnerships statewide, reaching its end, a new report from Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) examines the outcomes of one of the programs key partnerships.
Benefits of redshirting kindergarteners don’t last long, brief finds
Between 2017 and 2025, roughly 5 percent of kindergartners were redshirted per year on average with a peak of 6.4 percent in fall 2021 during the pandemic, according to NWEA’s March brief “Should kindergartners be redshirted? Costs likely outweigh academic benefits.”
Strategies to avoid and implement to scale instructional improvement
A local educational agency’s structures and processes are key components in effectively uplifting and scaling instructional changes in schools, according to Policy Analysis for California Education’s (PACE) practice brief “How Districts Scale Instructional Improvement That Lasts.”
Aligning math pathways from high school to college
The report Aligned by Design: How cross-system math alignment can improve students’ pathways from high school to college offers recommendations that states can consider to improve the effectiveness of math pathways for learners.
GAO report explores challenges and tips for exiting comprehensive support
The federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on March 12 examining the national landscape of school improvement and strategies that helped schools exit comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) and the challenges they faced. Under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, states are required to measure the performance of their public schools. They must also identify three categories of low-performing schools for support and improvement, including those that need CSI — representing the lowest-performing schools in the nation.











