Technical Reports
California Principals: Trends in Supply, Preparation, Distribution, Retention, and Turnover
This report examines principal supply, preparation, distribution, retention, and turnover across California. It highlights how leadership stability and support shape schools’ capacity to sustain improvement.
California’s System of Special Education Staffing
This report analyzes California’s special education workforce needs across teachers, related service providers, and paraeducators. It highlights strategies for improving recruitment, preparation, role design, and retention.
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.
Teacher Certification Policies: Balancing Quality and Access in the Teaching Profession
This report examines California’s teacher certification system and the pathways educators navigate to enter the profession. It identifies ways to make those pathways clearer, more coherent, and better aligned with both quality and access.
Teacher Preparation for English Learners and Bilingual Education in California Schools
This report examines California’s preparation system for teachers of English learners and bilingual classrooms. It highlights regional access, teacher qualifications, and the preparation needed to support multilingual instruction.
The California State Role in Supporting District Capacity for TK-8 Math Improvement
This report examines district capacity to improve instruction in TK–8 mathematics and how current education governance and policies are insufficient to meet district needs. The findings have implications for reorganizing the system of support to create meaningful accountability for district improvement and changing policy approaches to improve focus and coherence.
Trends in California's Teacher Workforce: Understanding Supply, Demand, and Shortages
This report examines California’s teacher supply, demand, and shortages, with attention to where shortages are most acute. It highlights how preparation, retention, and distribution matter for students’ access to fully credentialed teachers and what factors matter for recruiting and retaining a well-prepared, diverse, stable workforce.
Who Stays, Who Leaves: Five-year Retention Patterns by Teacher Entry Pathways
This report follows teachers across their first five years in the profession. It shows how entry pathways, preparation, and school context shape early-career retention and the stability of the teacher workforce.
Academic Gatekeeping of English Learner-Classified Students: The Case of California
This report examines California’s English learner reclassification criteria. It shows how local variation in academic criteria can shape students’ access to academic opportunities.
Multilingual Learners learning English: What can California learn from other states?
This report compares California with other states to identify policy options for supporting multilingual learners. It focuses on teacher expertise, funding, program access, and the structures that make multilingual learner policy more actionable.
Multilingual Learners of English with Disabilities in California: Patterns in Enrollment, Opportunities, Outcomes, and County-Level Variation
This report examines the educational experiences of multilingual learners with disabilities. It highlights enrollment trends, demographic characteristics, and indicators of educational opportunities and outcomes. Implications for identification, reclassification, services, and long-term pathways from elementary school through college are discussed.
Multilingual Learners of English: Progress of California's English Learners and the Resources That Support Their Educational Achievements
This report examines the progress of California’s English learners over time. It connects student outcomes to the resources, staffing, and policies that support stronger multilingual learner trajectories.