Student mobility, or non-promotional school changes, is a widespread problem that harms students' educational achievement. This report examines the incidence, consequences, and causes of mobility among California students and schools, drawing on surveys of students, parents, and schools, interviews with mobile students and their parents, and interviews with school administrators, counselors, and teachers. The report summarizes the findings on the causes and consequences of mobility and offers strategies for reducing needless mobility and mitigating its harmful effects.

Public education in the US is widely criticized and everyone wants to reform it, but there's no consensus on the best strategy for improvement. This report focuses on school choice, a reform avenue gaining steam in California and the US, to explore policies and institutional changes that can boost children's learning.

The report provides local and state-level policymakers with data on the current capacity of the childcare system and indicators of future growth in family demand. It includes county-level aggregates, new data on job-related income, and estimates for families earning less than 75% of California's median income. It also adds new data on the size of the childcare workforce in each county, revealing disparities in the availability of childcare services and the number of local residents depending on the industry for their livelihood.

Public education receives criticism from various stakeholders. Despite satisfaction with local elementary schools, overall quality concerns prevail. There is no consensus on the best approach to improve schools. PACE report investigates school choice, which is a reform strategy gaining popularity in California and beyond.

This report challenges the belief that public schools are ineffective due to a lack of accountability for producing high academic achievement. Some argue that private management is necessary for improvement, but this report seeks to analyze the range of responses that schools have to accountability and determine whether market forces are necessary for improvement.

California's childcare system lacks planning capacity and data on supply and demand. The Child Care Indicators 1998 report provides early indicators of supply and demand for all zip codes statewide, but zip codes may not reflect local residents' own definition of their community. Public funding for childcare and preschool programs will double in California between 1996 and 1999, but targeting new funding to areas with the greatest need remains a challenge.

Bilingual education implementation varies by district due to discourse and policies. Four issues affecting implementation are teacher recruitment, "ghettoization" of bilingual education, race relations, and community consensus. National debates impact local administrative actions, defining bilingual education practice. The report analyzed four California school districts to show the impact of these four issues on program design.

This report presents the results of a study investigating the impact of charter schools on school districts, how they responded, and whether they experienced systemic change due to charter laws. The study focused on eight US states and the District of Columbia and included case studies of 25 affected school districts. The research was funded by The Saint Paul Foundation and conducted in 1997, six years into the charter school experiment. PACE hosted the study.

In 1996, CA launched a $1 billion class size reduction (CSR) initiative to improve early literacy. The initiative provides $800 per student to schools reducing class size to 20 or fewer in first, second, and/or third grade, and kindergarten. CSR was funded due to a state revenue surplus and the belief that smaller classes would enhance early literacy. CA ranked second to last in national reading tests in 1994, and class sizes averaged around 28.6 students per K-3 classroom. While educators and the public show enthusiasm, the success of CSR in enhancing academic achievement is yet to be seen.

In 1998, the PACE research center surveyed low-income and blue-collar parents to help streamline the process of finding childcare, in response to the state's welfare reform legislation. The survey included 300 in-depth interviews and covered topics such as employment, searching for childcare, interim childcare, and perceptions of care quality. The report addresses the policy problem and how parents perceive their limited childcare options.

Public education quality has long been debated, worrying parents, activists, and politicians. Recent polls show it is a top concern in California and the US. Politicians and activists propose school reform, and a new election season has begun. PACE and the Field Institute surveyed 1,003 Californians in February to assess their views on education quality, trusted reformers, and evaluating major proposals. The report details key findings.

This volume presents the results of a PACE survey conducted by The Field Institute among 1,003 California adults via random digit dialing. Statistical weights were developed to match the sample of California adults interviewed to known parameters of the adult population. Estimates of sampling error from results based on the overall adult public sample are +/- 3 percentage points. Other possible sources of error include differences in question wording, sequencing, or undetected errors or omissions in sampling, interviewing, or data processing. The study professionals minimized such errors.

This report highlights the unequal distribution of preschool and childcare opportunities in California. Despite spending $1.2 billion annually, half of preschool-age children live in households with working mothers, with enrollment dependent on income and location. Counties vary greatly in their supply, with affluent parents more likely to find preschool or childcare slots. Latino children are hit hardest, even in counties with ample supply, with supply in predominantly Latino areas half that of low-income Black or Anglo communities.

African Americans and Latinos historically have lower educational attainment, achievement, and wages compared to whites. Narrowing education gaps between minorities and whites should narrow wage gaps. This report analyzes whether California's education gap improvement between minorities and whites led to a parallel reduction in wage gaps. The report finds that the educational attainment and achievement of California's minority youth improved significantly from the 1970s to 1988.

This study traces California's curriculum-related reforms in mathematics and science during the 1990s, examining the role of the California Department of Education and the state's shifting political and policy context. It analyzes the perceptions of state officials, experts, and the public and how they influenced state policy changes. The authors raise questions about problems associated with curriculum policy in California and presents policy recommendations mentioned during interviews and document analysis. The study does not assess the impact of curriculum on school practice.

The PACE report commissioned by the University of California aims to enhance university participation by disadvantaged and underrepresented students. It reviews evaluations of current outreach programs, identifies effective practices, and makes recommendations for program improvement and evaluation methods. The report analyzes the effectiveness of college preparation programs and suggests essential principles for program design. It also examines how to improve evaluations of outreach programs and the implications for policy decisions on future outreach efforts.

The 1975 Rodda Act, also known as the Education Employment Relations Act, allowed California public school teachers to collectively bargain for employment terms. Similar laws exist in 37 states based on the National Labor Relations Act. This paper advocates for transforming education labor relations to position teachers and unions as leaders in creating a 21st century education institution. The authors hope to inform discussions on improving education quality for California's 5.2 million public school students.

Phase III of the California Cares report sought to analyze preliminary recommendations and involve the childcare and development community to redesign policies. Work groups and field representatives discussed proposals for improving services, with over 80 contributors. The project studied nine critical policy restructuring questions and Part Two of the report includes reports from eight tasks and summary information.

Phase III of the California Cares report aimed to redesign childcare and development policy, with input from the community and representatives from three agencies. Work groups and traditional research projects were conducted to study nine questions deemed critical to policy restructuring. Part II of the report includes working papers for all tasks except state governance, which is included in Phase III.

The California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) was created in 1991 to replace its predecessor and align California's testing system with state curricular frameworks, measure attainment of content through performance-based assessment, and provide individual student assessment. However, objections from various groups led to its discontinuation. CLAS serves as an example of the difficulties in implementing authentic forms of assessment and the politics involved in testing policy reform in the United States.

A 1996 statewide poll by PACE surveyed Californians on their views and expectations for public schools, informing policy discussions. Results revealed four broad themes and their relevance to ongoing education policy discussions, such as redesigning statewide assessments, reforming traditional school governance, providing public funds for private schools, and complex issues of local control. PACE believes public perceptions should be considered in policy discussions, although education policy should not be solely based on public opinion polls.

New curriculum manuals have been created to address the expanding field of school-age childcare, including Kids' Time: A School-Age Care Program Guide. Other widely-recognized materials include Just Kids, Preparing for Mass Disasters, and A Guide for Training and Recruiting Child Care Providers to Serve Young Children with Disabilities. The benefits of childcare include fully-employed parents, self-sufficient families, and children who succeed in school due to the aid of childcare programs. Reducing Exceptional Stress and Trauma, a guide on coping with violence, will be published this year.

The California Cares Project, conducted by PACE for the California Department of Education, Social Services & Office of Child Development & Education, culminates in this report. The project was initiated in response to AB 2184, which sought to consolidate all childcare and development programs to streamline the system. The report is divided into two parts: Part I analyzes current obstacles to a seamless system and Part II presents a conceptual model and decision procedure for program and funding allocation and governance. Phase III will refine recommendations and work towards implementation.

The California Department of Education, Social Services, and Governor's Office of Child Development and Education selected PACE to analyze issues and options for improving California's childcare system. PACE will produce a report with optional approaches for improving access, quality, and funding of childcare services, including alternative systems and policy models. Phase I includes analysis of childcare issues and programs, literature reviews, and experiences of other urban states. This report summarizes Phase I's work.

This is the ninth edition of Conditions of Education in California. In this volume, PACE has compiled information on current critical issues in state education policy and presented them within the context of major policy developments. "Evolving Context" introduces the current issues in the state and sets the stage for the remaining chapters, which are Assessment and Achievement, Finance, Teachers and Teaching, Integrated Children's Services, Child Care and Development Services, and School-to-Work.