In this seminar, USC Assistant Professor Morgan Polikoff reviews the problems with the Academic Performance Index and offers a series of straightforward, concrete suggestions designed to improve the API and the identification of low performing schools in California. The suggestions, which include tracking the achievement of individual students, using multiple years of achievement data, measuring growth and level of student achievement, and accounting for school level and size, are drawn from his research on the design of accountability systems in the state and nationwide.

In this seminar Russell Rumberger from UC-Santa Barbara will present findings from his research on the causes and consequences of dropping out in California as part of the California Dropout Research Project, and from his recent book, Dropping Out, from a national perspective. He will address four facets of California’s dropout crisis: the severity of the problem and whether it’s getting better or worse; the individual and social consequences of dropping out; the reasons why students drop out of school; and changes in policy and educational practice that can help to address the problem.

Income inequality among the families of school-aged children in the US has grown sharply over 40 years. How has rising income inequality affected patterns of educational outcomes? In this seminar Sean Reardon will addresses this question. He will describe trends in the “income-achievement gap.” Evidence shows the association between income and achievement has grown much in recent decades, while the association between race and achievement has held steady or declined. He will then describe trends in the relationship between family income and the quality of colleges in which students enroll.

Demanding more rigorous and complex learning, the 'Common Core' presents special challenges for English learners, who now experience lots of didactic, simple instruction under current accountability systems. This conference, cosponsored by PACE and the Education Writers Association, brings together 30 journalists with four district superintendents and other experts who vividly detailed new classroom practices, early efforts to acquaint teachers, and how Common Core may drive comprehensive efforts to improve California's accountability regime.

Learn about how promising digital tools and resources are now available to help you strengthen teaching and learning in middle grades mathematics, and the policy changes that California must make to take advantage of these new opportunities. In this seminar, policy leaders and experts in education technology will share and discuss what’s becoming possible with the proliferation of digital technologies in California schools.

In this seminar Robert Linquanti discusses how next-generation state assessment and accountability systems can be made more responsive to the needs and strengths of ELs. Linquanti argues that innovation must be grounded in a clear understanding of the EL population, as well as of English language proficiency and its relationship to academic subject matter learning and assessment. He explains how the common core standards “push the envelope” for ELs and educators, and argues that comprehensive assessment systems can and must strengthen teacher pedagogical practice with ELs.

In this seminar, Patricia Gándara, Gary Orfield, and Kimberly King present research findings on a series of reports designed to analyze the impact of fiscal cutbacks on opportunity for higher education in the CSU system. CSUs educate a greater number of Latino and African American students, enroll a much larger undergraduate student body than the University of California system overall, and many CSU students are first-generation college students struggling to get an education in difficult times.

A panel of education researchers and policy experts convened in Washington DC to explore the findings of a new report that makes the case for bold new student testing models that are fairer and more valid than their predecessors. The report, The Road Ahead for State Assessments, was released by the PACE and the Rennie Center for Education Research. Student assessment is a timely topic since most states are currently in the process of adopting the new Common Core State and are considering how to gauge students’ progress toward those standards.

In this seminar Trish Williams and Matt Rosin present new findings from an analysis of longitudinal data on the 7th and 8th grade math and Algebra I CST scores of 70,000 California students. Jennifer O’Day shares lessons and perspectives from CCDR districts on student access and success in algebra and higher level mathematics. The session touches upon the state’s recent adoption of Common Core state standards, and what their implications are especially for 8th grade math.

CA is one of many states facing important decisions on how to assess its students. This conference is an opportunity for policymakers, educators, education researchers, administrators, funders, and community partners to discuss the potential and challenges of performance assessments to support deeper and more rigorous student learning. A panel of leading education researchers, administrators, educators, funders, and community partners will discuss assessment policies and practices that support improved student achievement in CA.

In this seminar, Douglas N. Harris discusses the strengths and weaknesses of value-added assessment, both as a means to assess teachers and as a means to assess schools. Harris identifies the strengths and weaknesses of value-added measures, and discusses the errors that are often made in using and interpreting such measures. As a part of a system including other performance measures, Harris concludes that value-added assessments can be used to support progress in CA schools and classrooms.

EdSource, in collaboration with faculty from Stanford University, has conducted a large-scale study of middle grades practices in California and their relationship to student outcomes on 6th-8th grade CSTs in English Language Arts, Math, and Algebra. The analysis was designed to identify practices and policies that differentiate higher from lower performing schools after controlling for student background. This study of the middle grades is the largest of its kind ever conducted and will be discussed by Trish Williams and Mike Kirst in this seminar.

The CAHSEE has been criticized as being unfair to English Learners, special education students and some racial groups, as well as being ineffective in raising student achievement. Some have called for eliminating passage of the CAHSEE as a graduation requirement for CA students. In this seminar, Julian Betts discusses whether the requirement and funding for intervention is helping or hurting students academically, with a focus on who has been failing the exam, how early we can identify students at risk of failing, and when school districts might intervene to help students at risk of failure.