Welcome!
No front page content has been created yet.
Follow the User Guide to start building your site.
Follow the User Guide to start building your site.
Informing Policy, Improving Practice for California Students
Toward a Stronger Next Generation of California Education
California is at an inflection point in education. Over the past two decades, the state has built stronger foundations through more equitable school funding, stronger standards and assessments, expanded early childhood education, improved data systems, and investments in community schools, early literacy, and the educator workforce. Yet California now faces a different question: whether those stronger foundations can support a public education system prepared for a very different future. Work is changing quickly, student engagement and well-being remain fragile after the pandemic, and federal commitments to civil rights, student welfare, and accountability have become less certain.
What the Research Shows
Across 55 studies, this body of work examines the conditions, practices, and systems that drive impact. The findings provide a rigorous evidence base to inform decision-making at the state, district, and school levels.
Technical Report
Redesigning Special Education: Leveraging Technology for Flexibility, Equity, and Inclusive Designs for Learning
This report explores how technology could support more flexible, inclusive, and responsive special education systems. It emphasizes that technology is most promising when paired with strong guidance, educator support, equity protections, and attention to students’ rights.
Research Brief
Improving Instruction in California: Capacity, Coherence, and State Support
This brief explores how California can strengthen instructional improvement by building educator capacity, improving system coherence, and providing more effective state support for schools and districts.
Technical Report
Paraeducators in California: Current Trends and Recommendations for Policy
This report examines California’s growing paraeducator workforce, which is increasingly central to student support. It identifies ways to strengthen training, role clarity, compensation, professional support, and career pathways.
Technical Report
Supporting Immigrant-Origin Students in California’s Schools
This report examines immigrant-origin students’ educational experiences in California schools. It highlights the preparation, policies, and supports educators need to serve students and families of immigrant backgrounds well.
Technical Report
Material Hardship, Emotional Distress, and Early Learning Supports Among California Families with Young Children: Evidence from the RAPID California Voices Survey
This report uses the RAPID California Voices Survey to examine the lives of families with young children. It connects material hardship, emotional well-being, and early learning supports to broader questions about how California can support children before they enter school.
Technical Report
Imagining the Educational Futures for Black Children in California
This report centers Black families’ aspirations for their children’s education. It describes schools that affirm identity, cultivate curiosity and dignity, and expand students’ sense of what is possible.