event A Conversation with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Jun 21, 2013 About the Program Please join us for a conversation with U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan about improving the nation's education system. Secretary Duncan will talk with PPIC President Mark Baldassare about a variety of critical education issues, including the importance of early learning, the coalition of California school districts seeking a federal waiver from No Child Left Behind, and the future of higher education.
Report California’s Changing K-12 Accountability Program By Paul Warren Jan 17, 2013 California recently joined a number of other states in adopting the Common Core State Standards, which establish new criteria for what students should learn in school. It also joined a consortium of states to develop new tests based on those standards. The new standards are ambitious, and some teachers are concerned they are not prepared to convey the higher-level skills and concepts they contain. The new tests will allow the state to measure gains in each student’s achievement, creating new options for how the state ranks schools. The change will also prompt the state to reassess the value of state tests in high school and its options for holding secondary schools accountable. More changes to the state’s accountability program are likely when Congress reauthorizes the federal education law, and the way the state addresses these current issues will influence the shape of its future accountability program.
