In 2021, California committed to making transitional kindergarten (TK)--a school-based preschool program initially designed for older 4-year-olds--available for all 4-year-olds by 2025-26. As TK becomes universal, California will need to greatly expand the early learning workforce. This brief provides estimates of how many TK teachers California…

In 2021, California made major new investments to advance its commitment to early childhood education through universal preschool. One important investment was extending state funding for transitional kindergarten (TK), previously just for older 4-year-olds, to all 4-year-olds by 2025-26. To ensure the quality of new preschool investments,…

Researchers use data from the RAND American Mathematics Educator Study surveys of public school principals and teachers to investigate three school structures--referred to as "school opportunity structures" throughout this report--that may affect kindergarten through 8th grade (K-8) students' mathematics learning. These structures are…

This guide aims to support state education agencies and early education partners develop coherent, research-based policy by guiding thinking, discussion, data collection, and gap analyses of current practices and policies that can lead to more intentional decision making relative to young Dual Language Learners (DLL) and English Learners (EL).…

Gridley Unified School District serves just over 2,000 students across five schools in a small rural town in the upper Sacramento Valley. The median annual household income in Gridley is just over 60% of the state average. Gridley Unified is one of seven districts studied by researchers at the Learning Policy Institute in a mixed-methods study…

Purpose: The purpose of this ethnographic research was to study the culture and experiences of elementary administrators who were coached in the blended coaching model. This study used a qualitative ethnographic design to explore the context and processes of the coaching experience of elementary administrators that enhanced transformational…

Teacher education struggles with the challenge of preparing and retaining high-quality teachers who can work effectively with all students. While educator preparation is a strong correlate of student achievement, traditional university-based programmes are not available to all potential teachers. This manuscript describes CalStateTEACH, an online…

With the adoption by most states of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English language arts and literacy and for mathematics (CCSS Initiative, 2010a, 2010b) comes major changes in public education that will affect instructional practice, curriculum, and assessment across the nation. Heritage, Walqui, and Linquanti (2015) argued that the…

Afterschool programs have increasingly gained attention as settings that can help enrich students' science learning. Even though science is widely included in afterschool activities, sites often lack adequate materials and staff know-how to implement quality science. To address this need, this article examines afterschool science in light of the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify school counselors' specific training needs in order to provide leadership and consultation for effective interventions for students with Asperger syndrome. The study examined school counselors' level of knowledge, skill, and training in working with students with Asperger syndrome and their…

On August 14, 2010, the "Los Angeles Times" published the results of a statistical analysis of student test data to provide information about elementary schools and teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The analysis, covering the period from 2003 to 2009, was put forward as an evaluation of the effects of schools…

Teacher effectiveness is typically measured by traditional teacher qualification standards, such as experience, education, and scores on licensure examinations. RAND researchers found no evidence that these standards have a substantial effect on student achievement in Los Angeles public elementary, middle, and high schools. Alternative measures of…

Recently, the federal government has pressured states to add student growth data as a part of the evaluation system. State legislatures in New York and Colorado have passed legislation to revamp teacher and principal evaluation to include student growth data. Numerous researchers acknowledged the critical impact of school principals on student…

According to the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, states are required "...to ensure that poor and minority children are not taught at higher rates than other children by inexperienced, unqualified, or out-of-field teachers..." Although the NCLB law and State Education Agencies (SEAs) currently offer very clear definitions of…

This study describes how staff qualifications, decisions on staffing procedures, and professional development opportunities support the recruitment and retention of quality staff members. Four high-functioning programs were identified. Qualitative procedures and instruments were designed to capture staff and parents' academic perspectives about…