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 How Have California School Districts Used the Emergency Connectivity Fund? By Joseph Hayes, Niu Gao Dec 4, 2023 The state's school districts have received about $859 million from the federal Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), which supports access to internet connectivity and digital devices. Most of these funds have gone to districts with large proportions of Black, Latino, or low-income students, and the ECF dollars have been used more for connectivity than for devices.
blog post Remote Work Is Here to Stay By Deja Thomas Nov 29, 2023 More than three years after the pandemic forced a major shift to remote work, more than six in ten employed adults in California say they prefer either fully remote work or some sort of hybrid arrangement. At the same time, opportunities for remote work vary widely across demographic groups and the state's regions.
Fact Sheet Poverty in California By Sarah Bohn, Caroline Danielson, Sara Kimberlin, Patricia Malagon Oct 18, 2023 With the end of many pandemic relief programs, poverty rates—especially for children—have gone up in the last two years.
Fact Sheet Crime Trends in California By Magnus Lofstrom, Brandon Martin Oct 17, 2023 Violent crime in California has ticked up in recent years, with a pronounced increase in incidents involving guns since 2019. Property crime has also risen steadily statewide, and rates now stand slightly above pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
blog post Video: Californians and Their Government By Vicki Hsieh Oct 6, 2023 PPIC researchers Deja Thomas and Dean Bonner discuss key findings from our latest statewide survey, which examines Californians’ views on mental health, economic conditions, the state’s March 2024 primary election, and other topics.
blog post Did Pandemic Aid Narrow the Digital Divide? By Darriya Starr, Joseph Hayes, Niu Gao Sep 18, 2023 As part of a multifaceted package of pandemic assistance, the federal government in 2021 allocated nearly $7 billion to help schools and libraries expand access to digital devices and internet connectivity. We examine what this has meant for digital equity among California students.
blog post Video: Bridging California’s Digital Divide By Vicki Hsieh Jul 27, 2023 How can unprecedented public investments in broadband be leveraged to close the digital divide? PPIC convened a series of three expert panels to explore how California can ensure equity in internet access as well as in the use of digital connectivity.
