For years California has been a leader in public education. In 1999, the state implemented some of the strongest content standards in the country through its main accountability metric, the Academic Performance Index (API). The state has also signed onto the Common Core State Standards, taking important steps to ensure its students are college-…

Data-based decision making has been the mantra of the school reform movement since the late 1980s, but California does not yet have an effective system for collecting and using vital school information. California has taken a number of steps to address this shortcoming. These include the Public School Accountability Act of 1999 and Senate bills…

State policymakers are increasingly focused on closing the achievement gap and preparing all students to succeed in school and in life. However, college and career readiness begins long before students enter high school or even a classroom. Differences in children's abilities appear as early as the first year of life, and research has shown that…

This paper provides local educators and policy makers with information about educational indicators and their use. It opens by briefly tracing the history of the educational indicators movement in the United States and then addresses four critical issues or questions about indicators and their use: What is an indicator and an indicator system? How…

If the world of after-school programs is to be made more coherent, that process will occur mostly (and is being attempted mostly) at the city level. This brief document analyzes the tasks, questions, and challenges associated with what can be described as system-building in the after-school field, focusing on city level efforts. [This report was…

Although communities are making progress in establishing comprehensive systems for serving youth, they still face challenges. Enabling conditions that have allowed innovative youth councils to develop systems of youth development, education, and employment include: (1) youth opportunity grants; (2) established intermediary organizations; (3)…