blog post Video: Improving Outcomes for English Learners By Mary Severance Jun 5, 2018 Recent K‒12 reforms change how California funds, assesses, and holds districts accountable for English Learner students, currently about 21% of the public school population.
Report K–12 Reforms and California’s English Learner Achievement Gap By Laura Hill May 30, 2018 English Learner (EL) students have been a key part of California’s K–12 system for decades. They currently make up about 21 percent of the public school population. English Learner status is meant to be temporary, and indeed, reclassified English Learners (those who are deemed English proficient) are among the best-performing students in the state. But students who remain ELs for longer periods generally have poor outcomes.
blog post California Is Different By Mark Baldassare Nov 16, 2016 The voters have spoken and the awkward result is a conflicting policy agenda for the state government and federal government.
blog post How Can California Increase Voter Turnout? By Linda Strean Jun 10, 2014 Days after a California primary that may set a record for low voter turnout, election experts gathered to take stock: What happened last week and how can the state engage more Californians in elections?
blog post Helping English Learners Succeed By David Lesher May 12, 2014 At a recent event, PPIC researchers Laura Hill and Julian Betts addressed the way English Learners are reclassified as proficient in English in California. It is the focus of their latest report.
Report California’s English Learner Students By Laura Hill Sep 6, 2012 English Learner (EL) students in California’s schools are numerous and diverse, and they lag behind their native-English-speaking peers. Closing the achievement gap for EL students has been a long-standing goal for California educators, and there are some signs of success. Now that EL funding and curriculum issues are receiving a fresh level of scrutiny from decisionmakers in Sacramento, it is important to assess our understanding of this diverse group, highlight the opportunities to improve policies around demonstrating mastery of English, calibrate funding formulas involving EL students, and implement new curriculum standards thoughtfully.
Report Are There Winners and Losers? Race, Ethnicity, and California’s Initiative Process By Zoltan L. Hajnal, Hugh Louch Oct 1, 2001 California’s reliance on direct democracy has raised concerns about the role of race and ethnicity in the initiative process.Critics point to initiatives on restricting bilingual education, ending affirmative action, and cutting services to illegal immigrants as a sign that the white electoral majority is using direct democracy to target the state’s growing nonwhite population. This study analyzes voting patterns over the last 20 years to determine how often voters from each racial and ethnic group end up on the winning side of the initiative vote. It also measures the degree to which the interests of white and nonwhite voters differed and the level of unity within each group. The study concludes that nonwhite voters, especially Latinos, fared poorly compared to whites only when race or ethnicity itself was an important part of an initiative.
