California's K-12 funding and instructional policies for English learners (ELs) have changed significantly over the past 2 decades. The major policy shifts held the potential to change student learning outcome patterns for ELs. As a first step in identifying the potential impacts of these policy shifts, this report describes changes over time in…

A substantial and growing body of research suggests that strong school leadership is critical for shaping productive learning environments, supporting high-quality teachers and teaching, and influencing student outcomes. But what characteristics contribute to high-quality principal preparation programs and learning experiences? And to what extent…

In 2021, California committed to providing universal prekindergarten (UPK) for all 4-year-olds and income-eligible 3-year-olds by 2025-26. UPK includes several early learning programs, including transitional kindergarten (TK), the California State Preschool Program (CSPP), Head Start, and expanded learning opportunities to provide full-day early…

This report, one of a series of state policy studies produced by the Learning Policy Institute in collaboration with the Council of Chief State School Officers, examines teacher licensure and preparation program approval systems in West Virginia. This study was designed to assess how these systems are advancing the preparation of a well-qualified…

Research shows that socioeconomically, racially, and ethnically integrated schools can have important benefits for student learning. While much research has focused on the benefits of integrated K-12 settings, emerging evidence indicates that the benefit of school- and classroom-level diversity may also be significant in early childhood education…

High-quality teacher preparation is a critical building block of an effective and stable teacher workforce. In California, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) currently oversees teacher preparation programs (TPPs) at more than 100 institutions, and these programs graduate more than 10,000 teacher candidates per year. Over the past…

The Learning Policy Institute (LPI) conducted research in New Mexico to provide state leaders and stakeholders a research perspective on the challenges facing education and to identify evidence- based ways that state policy can address them. This report complements the main report, "Improving Education the New Mexico Way: An Evidence-Based…

For more than a year, the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) conducted research in New Mexico, including interviews, site visits, document review, and new analyses of data provided by the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED). The purpose of the study was to provide New Mexico leaders a research perspective on the challenges facing education…

California's K-12 funding and instructional policies for English learners (ELs) have changed significantly over the past 2 decades, including new requirements for instructional materials specific to ELs statewide and a new school funding system that funds ELs at a higher rate. These major policy shifts held the potential to change student learning…

It is the nation's collective responsibility--including the federal government's--to ensure that all young people have equal access to a high-quality, world-class education. This goal has never been more important than in today's fast-growing knowledge economy that is coupled with increasing rates of poverty as more and more families are left…

California will need a stable, high-quality teacher workforce to weather the COVID-19 crisis and support student learning in the coming years. However, persistent and worsening teacher shortages threaten the state's ability to meet that need. Teacher shortages, which are often most acute in high-need fields and high-need schools, more severely…

High-quality early childhood education (ECE) begins with well-prepared, highly qualified educators. This brief offers practitioners and policymakers an opportunity to learn from promising programs that recruit and prepare racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse cohorts of educators to teach in programs serving children birth…

Teacher shortages have been worsening in California since 2015. Growth in teacher demand as the economy has improved has collided with steep declines in the supply of new teachers, leading to significant increases in the hiring of underprepared teachers, especially in districts serving high-need students. Shortages are most severe in special…

This brief summarizes a 2019 study of educator supply, demand, and quality in North Carolina conducted by the Learning Policy Institute in collaboration with the Education Policy Initiative at Carolina and WestEd. That study supported the state's ongoing efforts to meet the standard set in the North Carolina Supreme Court's decision in…

This brief summarizes lessons from "positive outlier" districts in California that have excelled at helping African American, Latino/a, and White students achieve at high levels on new assessments of academic standards in English language arts and mathematics, after accounting for students' socioeconomic status. Drawing on case studies…