Research
As 2026 begins, a new fact sheet published by the Public Policy Institute of California on California’s K-12 student population provides insights that can help inform local educational agencies on statewide trends.
Timely, personalized communication alongside support with financial aid and complex enrollment tasks, trusted relationships and summer advising can meaningfully increase college enrollment and persistence, particularly for low-income and first-generation students, according to a new report.
Young adults are staying in school longer and achieving higher levels of education, according to The Economic Milestones of Young Californians, a recent report from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).
Afterschool Alliance’s latest report in its America After 3PM series, Lost Opportunity: Afterschool in Demand, But Out of Reach for Many, offers information on the experiences and needs of children and families between 3 and 6 p.m. when the school day is done but many parents are still finishing their work day.
While it may not be surprising that students do not perform as well academically when classroom temperatures climb, recent research from NWEA suggests math is more impacted by higher temperatures than reading, especially among students in high-poverty schools. Analyzing results from its MAP Growth assessment […]
California School Boards: Navigating Democracy in Divided Times provides a glimpse at how trustees see their role, how they are handling recent and ongoing periods of contention as well as what is needed to “ensure the promise of robust, locally governed public education systems.”
Two recent nationally representative RAND Corporation surveys show that student views of cellphone bans may be softening as more schools move to restrict access to devices during the school day. “The debate over cellphone policies in schools reveals a complex balancing act between ensuring school […]
Some progress has been made in addressing the national bus driver shortage but K-12 schools are still impacted, according to an analysis by the Economy Policy Institute.
Open enrollment, a policy widely supported by parents, allows students to transfer to K-12 public schools outside of their residentially assigned campus if space is available. In practice, this can allow students to find the right educational setting for them to thrive.
In the first major study on basic aid since California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) was enacted in 2013, researchers determined that 139 districts, which serve 5.5 percent of the state’s TK-12 students, benefit from growing funding advantages.
