In 2024, WestEd partnered with Sobrato Philanthropies to conduct a strategic and economic analysis of English Learner programs in the state of California. The study sought to define the scale of economic challenges and explore underlying conditions impacting the costs of implementing English Learner programs in California in alignment with best…

Policy development is fundamentally a process of negotiation. Legislation or other regulatory guidance often requires the support of a range of stakeholders to actually become policy. The resulting policy is therefore a compilation of interests, all partially represented in a final product that sufficiently satisfies enough key stakeholders to…

In the January 2019-20 State Budget Proposal, Governor Gavin Newsom introduced a K-12 education spending plan with an all-time high of $80.7 billion dollars. The budget proposal makes significant investments in the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), special education, state preschool, and partial relief for pension liabilities. In addition, it…

More than 5 years after the passage of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), California school districts continue to develop and refine strategies to act on the opportunities and expectations associated with the state's school finance system. A new project called the LCFF Test Kitchen has enabled three school districts to make progress by…

Research increasingly highlights the significant benefits of multilingual instructional programs for English Learners. Yet, these programs remain relatively rare across California. Regional and local practitioners play an essential role in driving meaningful change by implementing strategies that enhance these programs--ultimately improving the…

This report presents the results of a thorough study conducted by American Institutes for Research (AIR) to investigate the cost of providing an "adequate" education to California students attending public elementary, middle, and high schools. The study addresses the following question: "What is the cost of providing all California…

This document contains the following nine appendixes of the main report, "What Does It Cost to Educate California's Students? A Professional Judgment Approach. Technical Report. Getting Down to Facts II": (1) Professional Judgement Panel General Instructions; (2) Professional Judgement Panel. Task Instructions; (3) School Resource…

A discussion of the state of American community colleges analyzes their principal functions, describes and analyzes current criticisms of the system, and evaluates trends in finance, governance, and administration. Trends in the California system are examined. (Author/MSE)

This report presents the results of the professional judgment component of a seven month project undertaken by American Institutes for Research (AIR) to answer the following question: What is the cost of providing all California public school students with access to the California content standards, thereby achieving appropriate levels of…

Results of two web-based surveys, one completed by students and one completed by faculty, staff and managers in Fall 2004, which were designed to provide information to assist with ongoing discussions surrounding the future of Distance Education at each of the colleges in the Los Rios Community College District-American River College, Cosumnes…

This report on the current status of state advisory councils on adult education contains data concerning the 1975 and 1980 status of state councils in the 50 states. It consists of an introduction, four sections, and an appendix. Provided in the introduction are some conclusions of a 1975 survey on state advisory councils on adult education as…