In August 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that all schools would be on distance learning if their county COVID-19 cases were too high. However, one district, Lucerne Valley Unified, wanted to get their elementary students back to in-person instruction and not experience a considerable amount of learning loss. So, the district…

Many students face unique and significant obstacles as they pursue postsecondary degrees, including the navigation of two complex systems: higher education and financial aid. Given the importance and complexity of the issues, multiple stakeholders, including philanthropists and researchers, have dedicated resources to understanding and improving…

The landscape of K-12 education funding in the United States is exceptionally complex. When it comes to funding an equitable, high-quality education for English Learners (ELs), discussions often focus on federal funds under Title III of the "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA)--an important source of funding for many aspects of ELs'…

This policy brief explores kindergarten readiness observation and its benefits to local and state level stakeholders; highlights efforts by California counties and other states to measure school readiness; and makes recommendations for moving toward statewide use of kindergarten readiness observation tools. Key points include: (1) Early efforts to…

Recent advances in science have underscored how critical children's first five years of life are to their later success in school and life. It has also been recently recognized that early childhood interventions, particularly those that combine child-focused educational activities with parent-child relationship building, can positively influence…