The PPIC Statewide Survey was inaugurated in 1998 to provide a way for Californians to express their views on important public policy issues. The survey provides timely, relevant, nonpartisan information on Californians' political, social, and economic opinions. It seeks to inform and improve state policymaking, raise awareness, and encourage…

This document presents the technical appendices that accompany the full report, "Determining College Readiness in California's Community Colleges: A Survey of Assessment and Placement Policies." The appendices include: (1) Survey Design and Administration; and (2) Survey Instrument. [This report was written with research support from…

In this article, a group of inservice providers and beginning researchers describe their experiences in learning to conduct evaluation research on a long-term school-university partnership program. We offer the practical lessons we learned in how to undertake such a study, and we share the immediate and powerful effects that the process of…

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate that regression-discontinuity designs arrive at biased estimates when attributes related to outcomes predict heaping in the running variable. After showing that our usual diagnostics are poorly suited to identifying this type of problem, we provide alternatives. We also demonstrate how the…

This paper illustrates how information collected through interviews can develop a richer understanding of the assignment mechanism, which can result in more plausible causal effect estimates from observational studies and provides a roadmap for sensitivity analysis. Focusing on the issue of assignment to algebra in 8th grade, the author shows how…

Improvements in motor sequence performance have been observed after a delay involving sleep. This finding has been taken as evidence for an active sleep consolidation process that enhances subsequent performance. In a review of this literature, however, the authors observed 4 aspects of data analyses and experimental design that could lead to…

A growing number of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) who display complex learning needs present challenges to educators who struggle to meet their educational needs. Teaching is stressful and additional instructional challenges may increase teacher vulnerability to burnout, leading to a greater likelihood of attrition. Increasing…

The central purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between distribution of teaching talent and geographic location of local school districts of California. School districts were assigned to one of four geographic categories (urban, suburban, rural, or small urban centers). Each category's teaching talent was assessed on six measures…

This report describes the comprehensive evaluation study of the California State Preschool Program which involved elementary school children in educationally disadvantaged areas throughout California. Various test scores of approximately 6000 children in kindergarten, first, and second grade who had previously participated for at least a year in…

Learning communities are a popular strategy that community colleges nationwide have embraced in support of developmental students. In a learning community, a cohort of students takes two or more courses linked by integrated themes and assignments that are developed through ongoing faculty collaboration. While the number of learning community…

Strengthening Pre-collegiate Education in Community Colleges (SPECC) was organized by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in partnership with The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to increase student learning in developmental--or basic skills--classes. However, their concern was not just the success of students in classes…

In the fall of 2005, CPEC staff convened an Accountability Technical Advisory Committee (ATAC) with representatives from the public and private university systems, the community college system, the Department of Education, and education researchers. The purpose of this committee was to obtain feedback regarding the Commission's online data…

Background: Teacher education programs in the State of California are increasingly held accountable for the assessment of teacher candidates' competencies and performance. One salient assessment tool is the utilization of portfolios in teacher education programs (Wolf, 1989; 1991). Among the newest and most innovative templates of portfolios in…

A feasibility plan is presented for a California comprehensive student information study that would identify factors affecting students' progress through California's entire educational system. The feasibility plan identifies: (1) potential improvements, (2) the study design required to achieve them, (3) the cost of implementing the design,…

This report summarizes the design strategy and preliminary conclusions from the first year of a study that attempted to identify educational factors that produce the differences in student achievement between unusually high-performing schools and unusually low-performing schools of similar socioeconomic characteristics. The sample included 21…