January 9, 2020

New efforts to make school spending in California more transparent 

State board makes it easier to follow the money; two bills would impose even stricter reporting requirements.

John Fensterwald

August 8, 2019

Smaller classes, more novice teachers: the 'tradeoff‘ for low-income California schools

A new study overcomes challenges from a lack of transparency to compare schools' spending under the Local Control Funding Formula.

John Fensterwald

November 14, 2018

New California coalition agrees on next steps to improve schools, student achievement

The Alliance for Continuous Improvement releases a "GPS" guide that calls for improving on sweeping changes already in place: new education standards, a more equitable funding system and higher expectations for student success.

John Fensterwald

July 10, 2018

Pressure builds to change how California measures student progress on state tests

Student advocacy groups and academics are seeking to adopt a model other states use to calculate the impact of students’ test score growth, but state staff urge patience.

John Fensterwald And Mikhail Zinshteyn

December 27, 2017

Federal government finds flaws in California’s plan to improve lowest-performing schools

Is state board exercising flexibility or violating the Every Student Succeeds Act?

John Fensterwald

November 6, 2017

Stagnant California test scores pose problem; state board may rejigger how to rate districts

State may change color configurations on the school dashboard to reduce the number of districts and student subgroups requiring county assistance.

John Fensterwald

July 17, 2017

State board, advocacy groups fundamentally disagree over plan for complying with federal education law

Is the state's bare-bones response to the Every Student Succeeds Act a shrewd tactic or a missed opportunity?

John Fensterwald

March 2, 2017

School, parent groups urge state board to give more weight to high school tests

The coalition believes the new school dashboard minimizes the importance of 11th-grade Smarter Balanced results.

John Fensterwald

July 11, 2016

How to decipher the state's proposed school and district report cards

The state board hopes parents and the public will embrace a multi-colored dashboard.

John Fensterwald

October 2, 2014

State introduces tools for school change

With districts working this fall to put into action their first locally created school accountability plans, the California Department of Education rolled out a new online resource center on Thursday designed to help schools change.

Jane Meredith Adams

December 20, 2013

Two-week delay in posting spending regs for K-12 funding formula

John Fensterwald

December 13, 2013

Draft of local accountability plan – key piece of funding formula – open for comment

John Fensterwald