The California Community College (CCC) system serves a large student body, diverse in backgrounds, experiences, and educational goals. This report uses data from the CCC system's records to measure variation in achievement across the state's Strong Workforce Regions. We consider a range of achievement measures, including initial enrollments,…

Parental involvement plays a significant role in students' social and academic outcomes. Nevertheless, systemic ways of gathering parental views have not been used or highlighted in the policy arena or the literature. Using data from the first major statewide survey of parents in California, drawn from the California School Parent Survey (N =…

Federal school finance policy over the past 30 years has focused on resource allocation within school districts. Regulations require equal staffing across schools, particularly Title I schools, which are designated based on the percent of low-income students enrolled. The requirement to equalize staffing levels creates a loophole where, even with…

Education Code §44393 (f) requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Commission) to report to the Legislature annually regarding the California Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program. The requirements of the report are specified in Education Code §44393 and must include the following: (1) The number of classified school…

Hiring presents an important opportunity for districts to find educators with values and beliefs that align with district goals. Yet beliefs about how to best address persistent challenges like inequality are difficult to measure. We use administrative data from over 10,000 applications to certificated positions in an urban California school…

The Student Success and Support Program (SSSP) in the California Community College (CCC) system changed the matriculation process in 2012. New students entering the system were required to receive support services in the form of initial assessment, initial orientation, counseling and advising, educational planning, academic probation, and…

In dual enrollment programs, high school students can take college courses and earn both high school and college credit--but in the past, dual enrollment had been used mostly by high-achieving students. In 2016, the California Legislature passed a law that expanded access to students who had been underserved in higher education. The resulting…

California has long been a destination of opportunity--and challenge--for Black Californians. Known for its innovation and economic prosperity, California's higher education institutions play a critical role for social and economic mobility for Black residents. In "The State of Higher Education for Black Californians," published in…

In 2018, in response to the proposed elimination of physics at a predominately Hispanic and socioeconomically disadvantaged (SED) high school, the Northern California/Nevada chapter of the AAPT investigated school demographics and their effect on physics offerings in public high schools in our region. As access was a key issue, the focus was on…

Despite ongoing efforts to improve retention and engagement of Black Males in postsecondary education, there remain significant differences in academic achievement compared to other racial demographics. This qualitative research study examines the effectiveness of a "Culturally Strategic Mentoring" (CSM) approach that provides Black…

Increased attention to police brutality and violence against people of color has elevated scrutiny of campus police. Students have critiqued the inequitable treatment of students of color on their campuses by campus police. In doing so, the students are critiquing racial inequity in the campus climate. The California Community Colleges…

The United States experienced the Great Recession between 2007 and 2009 and many cities, suburbs, and communities are still suffering from its legacy. Yet, little is known about whether or not the crisis led to increases in student mobility, particularly for minority households. This study analyzed data from a large urban district located in San…

Children's books support children's development, but many factors influence interest in engaging with books, including book physical features. Additionally, the lack of diverse children's books makes it difficult to determine whether racial characters influence children's book preferences. This study utilized a forced-choice selection task to…

This exploratory study examined the leadership education potential of sexual assault prevention training via a prevention approach that expressly constructs bystander education as a leadership issue. Evaluation of the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program offers a practical application of a leadership education approach through a feminist…

As the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, digital connectivity is critical to student learning. Gaps in digital access--including reliable access to internet and a digital device--are a driving force in the educational inequities evident during distance learning. In this report, the authors use data on a sample of California households with children…