Because states typically fund districts based on student counts, districts reporting shrinking enrollment worry about shrinking dollars as well. The seemingly obvious quick fix is for states to hold districts financially harmless for some or all of their enrollment loss. But states have many factors to weigh when deciding whether or how to go down…

Across the landscape of higher education, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused fundamental changes at a variety of scales. To understand which aspects of higher education instruction at the departmental (meso-scale) level were most and least impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, chairs of geoscience departments at public higher education institutions in…

When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the federal government responded by expanding the country's safety-net programs, including through stimulus payments. There were also significant federal policy changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest food assistance program in the United States. Benefit amounts were increased,…

The leadership experiences of district intern program leaders in California play an important role in addressing the teacher shortage and diversifying the teaching workforce. However, limited information about their experiences exists in the empirical literature. Additionally, due to the recency of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is limited…

These are the appendices for the report, "Strengthening California's Transfer Pathway." California's higher education system depends heavily on community colleges. California enrolls a much larger share of recent high school graduates in community colleges than other states--but is near the bottom when it comes to enrolling in four-year…

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center reports on the shifting transfer landscape during COVID-19 in a rapid response report series titled "COVID-19 Transfer Mobility, and Progress." Commissioned by the Research Center, this special journalist's report offers insights into how some colleges were able to grow their transfer…

Using rich administrative data from the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office that tracks each student longitudinally, this analysis examines how the onset of the pandemic affected student enrollment duration. Data are disaggregated by student characteristics and college campuses in order to understand variable impacts and equity…

The purpose of this study was to establish historical enrollment trends, student demographics, and home-based pedagogies of nonclassroom-based schools in California in an effort to gain insights into lesser-known homeschooling practices. According to the United States Department of Education, in 2016, homeschooling had progressively increased to…

"Voting with Their Feet: A State-level Analysis of Public Charter School and District Public School Enrollment Trends" shows hundreds of thousands of families switched to charter schools during the first full school year of the pandemic. During the 2020-21 school year, charter school enrollment grew 7%, the largest increase in half a…

Hold-harmless provisions in state aid formulas are meant to restrict declines in revenues for school districts. They may take several forms, including limits on the changes in state aid from year to year, supplemental funding for districts with declining enrollment, alternatives for calculating the state aid amount, or use of past enrollments in…

California's higher education system depends heavily on community colleges. California enrolls a much larger share of recent high school graduates in community colleges than other states--but is near the bottom when it comes to enrolling in four-year colleges and universities. Transferring to four-year institutions thus plays a vital role in…

The 10th biennial Community College League of California's (League) "CEO Tenure and Retention Study" for California Community Colleges (CCC) includes data from the League's updated companion "CEO Tenure and Retention Dashboard" available on the League Website. This 10th edition of the League's CEO Tenure and Retention Study…

Policy makers in California intend to provide free preschool to all 4-year-olds solely within public schools by 2026, becoming the nation's second largest single pre-K program in the United States after Head Start. This initiative builds on the state's existing Transitional Kindergarten (TK) option that has served a modest share of 4-year-olds…

In March of 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic fundamentally altered almost all aspects of daily life as people around the world grappled with a public health emergency, as well as unprecedented economic and social consequences. COVID-19's impact on schools, colleges, and universities was far-reaching, forcing institutions to rethink their…

Food insecurity is widespread among college students in the United States. Food benefits delivered through the CalFresh program, California's version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), can reduce hunger by helping students pay for groceries, but may not reach all eligible students. To date, higher education systems…