blog post Video: Californians and Education By Mary Severance Apr 19, 2024 Researchers Deja Thomas and Dean Bonner discuss key findings from the latest PPIC Statewide Survey, which examines Californians’ views on the quality of K–12 public education, school funding and resources, and state officials’ handling of the K–12 system.
blog post California’s Cradle-to-Career Data System Hits Major Milestone By Iwunze Ugo Apr 2, 2024 The California Cradle-to-Career (C2C) Data System is an ambitious effort to strengthen the education pipeline by linking educational, social services, and workforce data from a range of state agencies. The C2C system recently received its first annual submission—more than a billion data points—from partnering agencies.
blog post Learning Recovery for Homeless Students Lags behind Other High-Need Groups By Brett Guinan, Julien Lafortune Mar 13, 2024 In the last in a series on K–12 students who have experienced homelessness, we look at how these youth are faring academically. While learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic affected all student groups, students experiencing homeless are falling behind other high-need learners as California emerges from the pandemic.
blog post Student Homelessness Reaches 10% or Higher in Some Counties By Brett Guinan, Julien Lafortune Mar 5, 2024 Student homelessness is most concentrated on the central and north coasts and in the Sierra region, while living arrangements for homeless students differ widely across counties. This is the second in a series on homelessness among California K–12 students.
blog post Student Homelessness Rises to Pre-Pandemic Levels By Brett Guinan, Julien Lafortune Feb 26, 2024 Nearly a quarter million K–12 students in California experienced homelessness at some point during the 2022–23 school year. After three years of declines, the state's homeless student population has returned to pre-COVID levels.
blog post Testimony: California’s K–12 Digital Divide Has Narrowed, but Access Gaps Persist By Niu Gao Feb 21, 2024 At an Assembly Education Committee hearing on addressing students’ post-pandemic needs, PPIC senior fellow Niu Gao discussed the role that federal, state, and local efforts have played in increasing digital connectivity and outlined key challenges that remain.
blog post Chronic Absenteeism in K–12 Schools Remains Troublingly High By Emmanuel Prunty, Laura Hill Feb 20, 2024 The rate of chronic absenteeism in California schools declined slightly during the 2022-23 school year but is still double what it was prior to the pandemic. Districts that have conducted student outreach in partnership with community organizations have had promising results in bringing down absenteeism.
blog post Learning Recovery Is Uneven for Urban and Rural School Districts By Saayili Budhiraja, Thomas Pearson, Emmanuel Prunty, Niu Gao Feb 14, 2024 Half of California's K–12 students are enrolled in urban or rural districts. Compared to the rest of the state, these districts have seen a slower pace of recovery from pandemic learning loss.
blog post 2023 Year in Review By Tani Cantil-Sakauye Dec 14, 2023 President and CEO Tani Cantil-Sakauye reflects on how PPIC has contributed to the policy conversation this past year and highlights the importance of nonpartisan, actionable research in addressing key challenges facing our state.
blog post Wildfire Smoke Is a Threat to Children’s Health By Shalini Mustala Dec 6, 2023 The average number of days per year with heavy smoke in California's air has been rising, especially in the Central Valley, Sacramento region, and far north. This poses a particular health risk for children, who are more likely to be exposed to wildfire smoke and more susceptible to its effects.
