"Robustness of a state’s policy might matter as much as the existence of the policy itself.... states with comprehensive early literacy policies experience improved student outcomes, whereas states with less robust early literacy policies are less likely to show gains." www.rand.org/pubs/researc...

We need to prioritize evidence above politics. The evidence shows if kids aren't taught phonics and phonemic awareness, many don't learn to read. This is not a local control issue; it doesn't say that kids don't need to be taught broad language skills. Evidence matters! edsource.org/2025/no-comp...

JOB POSTING: PACE is looking for a new research associate. The research focuses on strengthening state policies and structures that support PK–12 education systems, with an emphasis on producing actionable insights. Come join a small, dynamic team in California. edpolicyinca.org/careers/educ...

This is interesting work, given prior research on the importance of clinical placements. @cedr.bsky.social, could you say more about what surprised you?

Things that bring me joy. My old man puppy running on a dog beach. Look at the sand he kicked up.

Excited to be part of this study on CTE pathways!

Reading over my morning cup of coffee and pondering: If we don't like declines in student test scores (NAEP and others) and are concerned about the rising gaps between top- and low-performing students, what are the causes? And how could they be addressed? www.the74million.org/article/acro...

@edpolicyinca.bsky.social is looking to hire a new executive director! We are seeking a visionary and strategic leader committed to improving education policy in California. Please share this with your networks or contact me for more information. edpolicyinca.org/pace-executi...

Our 3 year collaboration with Grass Valley School District supported approaches with an emphasis on teacher leadership, internal accountability, and strategic data use. Through first piloting in a few classrooms then scaling across the district, student performances improved.

A new commentary from PACE by @agallagheredpolicy.bsky.social offers an in-depth, evaluative analysis of 2024 Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) test scores, showing modest improvements but little progress in recovering from postpandemic declines. edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/mod... (1/4)

Really nice article on multiple ways to think about the question of whether ESSER was a success. Hint: depending on how you define success you get a different answer. www.the74million.org/article/esse...

I had a great conversation last week on AI in education with Glenn Kleiman, hosted by Brent Ducker and Carrie Holmberg from the Center for Innovation and Applied Technology. Here's the recording (and a synopsis www.sjsu.edu/iaepcenter/d...): sjsu.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Page...

"Illinois is one of the few states that track data like this..." makes me think of our state report card grades. These data need to be more transparent and readily available. crpe.org/transparent-....

What percentage of students are you willing to falsely accuse of cheating with AI? There is a trade-off between false accusations and detection rates for AI. At a 10% false positive rate, detectors find 80% or less of AI content. At a 1% rate most find 60% or less. Don’t trust AI detectors!

And this doesn't count women like me, who got a Ph.D. and never even applied for a faculty position. I had watched the way women faculty were treated at my doctoral-granting university and decided I would take my Ph.D. and do research outside of the academy.

As we think about getting a stronger teacher workforce, we need to be thoughtful about pathways to the profession, including substitute teachers (who are normally not considered as a source of future credentialed teachers). Great work by Hannah Kistler and colleagues! edworkingpapers.com/ai24-1089

I love my job at @edpolicyinca.bsky.social because I get to do research and then inform educational decision-makers in California. I'm excited to see the intersection between two things I've worked on discussed in this article in CalMatters: calmatters.org/commentary/2...

Case study of one model for supporting districts to build capacity to improve instruction (@caedpartners.bsky.social). Is anyone else doing research on intermediaries supporting districts to build improvement systems? Would love to connect and analyze across cases. edpolicyinca.org/publications...

We often hear about high-functioning districts. In this case study, we try to catch a district that is early on the path to figuring out how to support instructional improvement. Students learned more-here's how. @caedpartners.bsky.social, @edpolicyinca.bsky.social. edpolicyinca.org/publications...

The latest TIMSS data corroborate other data that suggest the US needs to rethink how we go about education. What would it look like to change how time is used in public schools so that teachers consistently collaborated and built skills to meet students' needs? www.the74million.org/article/four...

Thoughtful commentary on key challenges facing California schools and how prioritizing the greatest needs and choosing solutions with good evidence could create a path forward.

Generative AI is being widely used by educators and students alike, but few districts have robust policies and professional learning for educators. This creates a lot of risks for unknowing violation of Civil Rights, as is outlined in this recent USDOE publication. www.ed.gov/media/docume...

PACE’s @agallagheredpolicy.bsky.social: Attendance is rebounding—yet college readiness recovery remains “anemic.” Nearly half of CA’s high school graduates are ineligible for UC or CSU. “We need a different approach, starting at the state level.” calmatters.org/education/k-... via @calmatters.org

Excited to share Mike Kirst's new PACE commentary on what California needs to do to improve student outcomes: edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/loo...

And here's the underlying data on pandemic spending and student academic outcomes from Edunomics: edunomicslab.org/roi-over-time/

CA districts are on the brink of a fiscal cliff and pandemic recovery in student outcomes is weak (see my forthcoming piece). I want to share this interesting piece on how states could support districts to improve student outcomes while spending less. www.educationnext.org/no-silver-sc...

Very helpful description of CA's public school funding. PACE research confirms that free- and reduced-price lunch is a poor proxy for student need: edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/why...

This! It's why PACE often asks faculty from our partner institutions (Stanford, UC-Berkeley, UC-Davis, UCLA, USC) and elsewhere studying CA education policy to write a commentary--short, succinct, story-version--which we then link to the full manuscript on our website. @edpolicyinca.bsky.social

Interesting paper on short/long-term effects of programs and how much the questions we ask determine our understanding. Also stark data on how and why US spends more on its older generations than our youth, which may be especially relevant in coming years. Happy Friday to me from Bsky!

Just a quick note to those new here, if you think someone's post is worth other people reading, repost it. Liking it does not have the same effect here as on the dead-bird site. There is no algorithm. That's one of the reasons we like it.

As we have known for a while, the fiscal cliff is coming in CA. What types of supports could help districts work smarter if funding isn't around to just work harder?

As we continue to think about how education systems need to respond to ensure effective and ethical use of generative AI, it's good to see this new toolkit out by Digital Promise from USDOE: tech.ed.gov/files/2024/1...