Newcomers represent a large and understudied subgroup of students in California. The Oakland Unified School District has been disaggregating data on newcomer status for the last 7 years, providing a basis for analyzing graduation outcomes for newcomer compared to non-newcomer students. The data highlight the variance in outcomes based on program…

This study investigates community college skills builders--students who enroll for a short time, take courses concentrated in career and technical education (CTE), are highly successful in their coursework, but typically leave college without a postsecondary credential. Drawing on administrative data from Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, and California,…

During the 2020-2021 school year, the Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) examined two hubs leading continuous improvement networks focused on increasing the rate at which students are on track to graduate high school positioned for postsecondary success. Both hubs offered: (1) coaching, with expectation of monthly meetings; (2)…

California requires each school district to belong to a Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) for special education planning and governance. The California Department of Education (CDE) and the State Board of Education (SBE) are interested in the impact on the surrounding small and midsized districts when large districts become single-district…

Policymakers and practitioners are increasingly interested in students' deeper learning skills, or the interpersonal and intrapersonal skills students need to succeed in school, careers, and civic life. This article presents evidence about whether the concept of deeper learning--applied across a variety of approaches--has potential merit as a…

President Barak Obama set a national agenda to increase the number of higher education degrees completed in the United States. Moore, Shulock, and Jensen reported that the U.S. is projected to produce 48 million new undergraduates between the years 2005 to 2025. Additionally. Moore, Shulock, and Jensen reported that due to their population,…

This study provides an overview and a snapshot of new student orientation (NSO) and new student e-orientation (NSEO) programs, with a focus on the content and feature analysis of the NSEOs. It offers an overview of currently available NSO programs of 100 randomly selected community colleges from a master list of nearly 900 community colleges in…

Enrollment increased slightly at both the California State University and University of California systems in fall 2020, but the effects of the pandemic on enrollment in the California Community College system are mostly unknown and might differ substantially from the effects on 4-year colleges. This paper provides the first analysis of how the…

Despite increases in college enrollment, college completion rates have not kept up, at both 2-year and 4-year institutions. In California specifically, the 6-year graduation or transfer rate for students at 2-year institutions was only 48%. In response to the idea that students arrive at college unprepared, driving these low college success rates,…

This document contains the technical appendices for the report "Targeted K-12 Funding and Student Outcomes: Evaluating the Local Control Funding Formula." Appendices include: (1) Data Sources and Sample Construction; (2) Estimating Effects on Student Outcomes; (3) Estimating Targeting Using School Site Spending Data; and (4) Supplemental…

This report looks at graduation rates for Latino students and the completion or graduation rate gap between Latino and White students at four-year colleges and universities across the country. Data come from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. The bulk of this analysis focuses on 613 public and nonprofit private nonspecialized…

California has great wealth but also one of the highest poverty rates in the nation. The ability of Californians to move up the income ladder often depends on acquiring the education and skills needed for higher-paying jobs. But despite the state's increasingly knowledge-based economy, too few Californians are earning a college degree. This report…

Higher education could be one of California's most effective tools for combating economic and social inequities. College graduates experience large wage gains and their jobs offer more benefits than those of workers without bachelor's degrees. College graduates are also relatively insulated from recessions--including the current downturn--and…

This dissertation examines the role that external factors play in students' educational attainment and success. The first two chapters examine the role of school quality. Chapter 1 examines how the timing of school quality impacts human capital formation, and Chapter 2 examines whether schools provide equal quality to all students within the…

The California Department of Education (CDE) released statewide chronic absence data in December 2017 via DataQuest, an interactive data portal. To better understand chronic absence at the school level, Attendance Works collaborated with the Center for Regional Change at UC Davis and Children Now to analyze the data available from DataQuest and…