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.
Fact Sheet College Readiness in California By Iwunze Ugo, Laura Hill Dec 4, 2023 More Californians are graduating from high school, but many graduates are underprepared for higher education and there are racial/ethnic and income disparities. Closing these gaps will require sustained efforts across the state's K–12 system.
Fact Sheet Financing California’s Public Schools By Julien Lafortune Nov 29, 2023 K–12 funding has been at record-high levels in recent years, and California’s per student spending is now slightly above the national average. Spending is higher for low-income students, English Learners, and foster youth. However, enrollment declines, rising costs, and the expiration of pandemic funding pose fiscal challenges for school districts.
Report Assessing Transitional Kindergarten’s Impact on Elementary School Trajectories By Julien Lafortune, Laura Hill Oct 23, 2023 California’s Transitional Kindergarten (TK) program provides an early year of schooling within the K–12 system. Launched a decade ago with limited eligibility, TK will soon be open to all four-year-olds. Taking stock of the program’s impact so far—especially among multilingual and special education students—can help TK expansion succeed.
Fact Sheet Student Achievement on California’s K–12 Assessments By Iwunze Ugo, Emmanuel Prunty Jun 27, 2023 The results from California’s 2022 Smarter Balanced Assessments suggest that pandemic disruptions to K–12 education reversed nearly six years of academic progress. Declines in proficiency were widespread, but there was substantial variation across grade levels and demographic groups.
blog post Public School Enrollment Declines Vary across Grade Levels By Julien Lafortune, Emmanuel Prunty May 4, 2023 California’s public school enrollment decreased slightly in 2022–23 and has now fallen for six years in a row. While the latest enrollment levels in grades 2 through 12 were close to projections, enrollment in earlier grades fell short.
blog post Implications of Chronic Absenteeism for Student Learning By Laura Hill, Emmanuel Prunty Apr 4, 2023 Chronic absenteeism among California’s K–12 students increased dramatically during the pandemic. Schools with larger increases in absenteeism saw steeper declines in student performance on state tests, especially in math.
