In partnership with the National Charter School Resource Center (NCSRC), the National Association for Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) has been conducting authorizer assessments over the past six years. However, the correlation between high-quality authorization practices and charter school impact has largely been unexplored. This report uses a…

School suspension rates have been rising since the early 1970s, especially for children of color. One body of research has demonstrated that suspension from school is harmful to students, as it increases the risk of retention and school dropout. Another has demonstrated that school dropouts impose huge social costs on their states and localities,…

The goal of college preparation programs is to help students, particularly underrepresented students of color, to enroll and succeed in college. While many programs focus on strengthening students' math and reading skills, familiarizing them with college entrance exams, and demystifying the college admissions process, there are few guidelines for…

The California State Department of Education collects racial and ethnic data on public school staff and students in California in October of each year through the California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS). This report presents a summary of the data for the State and for each county. The following characteristics are noted: (1) of the 4.5…

Little has been done to understand how student demographics shape school employment practices. Using statistical data on Black, Hispanic, and Anglo teachers employed in California public schools, this study concludes that minority student growth rates, interacting with school segregation, are significant predictors of minority teacher employment…

Before there can be an understanding of politics, policy, and action in education, there must be an understanding of the value systems of policymakers. Policymakers, in their talk, in their choices of symbols and metaphors, in their choices of strategies for dealing with conflict, reveal their own needs, their role orientations, their group…