Postsecondary education and career training is increasingly important, with growing polarization of the labor market and forecasts for increasingly skilled workers to meet the needs of the US economy, particularly in California. Additionally, gaps between various student groups in educational access and attainment continue to persist despite…

Policymakers have long sought to raise expectations for students through standards-based reform. I examine the extent to which the Common Core State Content Standards (CC) affected student achievement and the size of achievement gaps. I merge together data on preparation for and implementation of the CC with the National Assessment of Educational…

U.S. education has experienced many waves of reform in responding to rapid changes in knowledge, technologies, and the economy. It is now widely accepted that, to succeed in the future, all young people must have the opportunity to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and communication competencies--often referred to as…

In May and June 2015, the ninth annual "Education Next" survey was administered to a nationally representative sample of some 4,000 respondents, including oversamples of roughly 700 teachers, 700 African Americans, and 700 Hispanics. The 2015 survey posed many new questions exploring opinion on curricular and other issues that have never…

Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) has been nationally recognized as a consistently high-functioning district for more than 2 decades. The district educates approximately 72,200 students, from preschool to high school, in its 86 schools. Almost 90% are students of color, with 57% Latino/a and 12% African American, while 65% are from…

Education Funders Research Initiative (EdFunders), a project of Philanthropy New York, is supported by a group of diverse funding organizations that have pursued an array of education reform strategies. EdFunders have come together to engage New Yorkers and focus leaders on new research into how to best prepare students for college and…

An honest look at public education in Michigan reveals both hopeful and dismal news. While their state has taken a few bold steps in the past year to improve their education system, their students still lag far behind their peers nationally, and the performance gaps between them -- across income level and race -- are both alarming and persistent.…