Report Accountability for California’s Alternative Schools By Paul Warren May 31, 2016 About 12 percent of all California high school seniors attend an alternative school, but far fewer than half graduate. To improve outcomes and promote the success of at-risk students, the state needs a new approach to measuring alternative school performance.
blog post Divided Views on Charter Schools and School Choice By Alyssa Dykman May 7, 2019 As state legislators consider a package of bills to increase oversight of charter schools, Californians’ views on charters are divided, with differences across regions and demographic groups.
blog post Calculating High School Graduation Rates By Paul Warren Jan 19, 2016 One of the lesser known provisions of the new federal education law might force California to revise the way it deals with graduation rates at alternative high schools.
blog post Accountability Reports Leave Some Students Out By Paul Warren Jun 2, 2017 The state’s new school accountability "dashboards” leave some students out.
Report Charter Schools and California’s Local Control Funding Formula By Iwunze Ugo, Laura Hill Sep 21, 2017 Over the two decades since their inception, charter schools have become a significant part of the California public school system. Quasi-independent, but publicly funded, these schools educate about 10 percent of the state’s students.
Report Factors and Future Projections for K–12 Declining Enrollment By Julien Lafortune, Emmanuel Prunty Dec 11, 2023 Over the past five years, enrollment has fallen in nearly three-quarters of California school districts, and the trend is expected to continue into the next decade. Faster declines could bring pressure to close schools, along with concerns about the students and neighborhoods bearing the costs of downsizing.
Occasional Paper, Report Funding Formulas for California Schools: Simulations and Supporting Data By Jon Sonstelie, Ray Reinhard, Heather Rose, Ria Sengupta Bhatt Jan 23, 2008 California’s school finance system is long overdue for fundamental reform. The authors of this paper simulate an alternative school finance system recently proposed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley (Bersin, Kirst, and Liu). They conclude that the proposed system provides a good starting point for the kind of reform effort the state needs to undertake. This paper briefly reviews student needs and district costs throughout California and then discusses the results and implications of the simulation models. Further Analysis Data Reconciliation Request the School Finance Model
blog post Who Stands to Gain from Changes in School Enrollment Funding? By Julien Lafortune, Joseph Herrera Jan 31, 2022 The state legislature is considering a change in how California K–12 schools are funded. Examining how attendance varies across districts—and how this relates to student demographics—sheds light on which districts might see the largest funding increases.
