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 Computer Science in California’s K–12 Schools By Niu Gao Oct 26, 2016 The effort to expand computer science education in K–12 schools entails a number of challenges and opportunities.
blog post More Money, More Challenges for K-12 Schools By Paul Warren Jun 18, 2015 The 2015-16 budget agreement between the legislative leadership and governor provides substantial additional funding for the new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which allows the state to implement the formula more quickly.
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 K–12 Education and the New State Budget By Radhika Mehlotra Jul 15, 2019 Spending on K-12 education in California reaches a new high, though some key long-term funding issues remain.
blog post Tackling Food Insecurity among K–12 Students during COVID-19 By Caroline Danielson, Niu Gao May 28, 2020 With schools closed due to the pandemic, local school districts are working with the state to help provide meals for eligible students.
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 K–12 Enrollment Declines Vary across Districts By Julien Lafortune, Emmanuel Prunty Jun 16, 2021 Public school enrollment in California declined by nearly 3% between 2019–20 and 2020–21. Drops in enrollment vary across school districts, though there is little evidence that the size of the decline is related to reopening, demographics, or other district-level factors.
blog post What’s Next for California’s K–12 Enrollment? By Julien Lafortune, Emmanuel Prunty, Vicki Hsieh Dec 9, 2021 The statewide decline in K–12 enrollment is projected to accelerate over the next decade, though with significant variation across counties.