Programs

  • Program 1 [2020]

    In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, LPI is translating research into evidence-based policy and practice solutions. We published a report that provides an overarching framework that focuses on how policymakers and educators can support equitable, effective teaching and learning regardless of the medium through which that takes place. This framework provides research, state and local examples, and policy recommendations in 10 key areas that speak both to transforming learning and to closing opportunity and achievement gaps. It illustrates how policymakers and educators can: 1. Close the digital divide 2. Strengthen distance and blended learning 3. Assess what students need 4. Ensure supports for social and emotional learning 5. Redesign schools for stronger relationships 6. Emphasize authentic, culturally responsive learning 7. Provide expanded learning time 8. Establish community schools and wraparound supports 9. Prepare educators for reinventing school 10. Leverage more adequate and equitable school funding In the area of Educator Quality, LPI continued its work leading the Educator Preparation Laboratory, which launched in 2019 in partnership with Bank Street Graduate School of Education. The Lab is focused on providing research to support the improvement of educator preparation across the country. Our educator quality work continues to grow its program of study to inform the broader goal of ensuring that all schools and districts are led by quality leaders. We released the results of two national surveys of school leaders and undertook a deep review of the literature on effective principal preparation and in-service professional development. We continued our work tracking the educator workforce in California. In the area of Early Childhood Learning, LPI has been bringing our work on sustaining and strengthening access to high-quality and diverse early learning experiences to national audiences. At the end of May, the ECE team published a blog, Healthy Child Development Depends on Quality Child CareAnd So Does the Economy, as part of LPI's learning in the time of COVID-19 blog series. We continued studies on effective coaching strategies for the early childhood workforce and assessments for pre-k students. In July, the ECE team helped to lead virtual sessions as part of National Conference of State Legislatures' (NCSL) State Policy and Research for Early Education (SPREE) working group summer summit that included 17 state legislators, including education committee chairs. In these sessions we shared information from several LPI reports, including our study of state preschool implementation, review of preschool literature, and study of innovative models of teacher preparation. In the area of Equitable Resources and Education, LPI continues to work with state-facing professional associations to provide research on equitable approaches to school finance. The work this year has included studies on the impact of COVID-19 on state budgets and the costs associated with reopening schools safely. In the area of Whole Child Education, LPI has continued a number of projects focused on performance assessment, including a national initiative to reimagine college admissions and advisement using authentic student work and a national collaboration of states developing stronger science assessments. The Whole Child Education team has also produced a blog series and research brief related to community schools, which illustrate how these institutions advance a range of whole child educational practices and can be supported through partnerships and infrastructure. An LPI-led article on The Implications for Practice of the Science of Learning and Development has been widely disseminated, with 330,000 views to date, and is the basis of an initiative, in collaboration with Turnaround for Children and the Forum for Youth Investment, to develop SoLD-aligned Design Principles for schools and districts, as well as other youth-serving organizations. The goal is to create a toolkit with resources that describe structures and practices that can help transform schools and classrooms into effective, equitable environments that support the development of all learners.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2020 – Dec 31, 2020
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $12.8M

  • Research for Early Childhood Education Access

    In the area of Early Childhood Education, LPI continued to conduct research to inform policymakers' efforts to provide universal access to high-quality early learning. As California expanded its Transitional Kindergarten program to more 4-year-olds, LPI conducted research that projected the need for additional teachers over the next 5 years and published a new brief highlighting how teacher residency programs can help build this workforce. LPI also researched the relationship between attending a higher-tier preschool and children's learning and published its findings in a new report, Preschool Quality and Child Development: How Are Learning Gains Related to Program Ratings? The report focused on three findings: 1) Children in Higher-Tier Programs Showed More Learning and Development Than Those in Lower-Tier Programs, 2) Multilingual Learners, Children With Disabilities, and Children From All Racial/Ethnic Groups Exhibited More Learning and Development in Higher-Tier Programs and 3) Preschool Children Who Are Black, Hispanic/Latino/a, or Multiracial Were Underrepresented in Higher-Tier Programs.In the area of Educator Quality, LPI examined pandemic-related staffing shortages in its report, Teacher Shortages During the Pandemic: How California Districts Are Responding. LPI staff disseminated Understanding Teacher Compensation: A State-by-State Analysis, which provided teacher wage indicators for each state, including starting salaries (with and without cost-of-living adjustments) and a measure of wage competitiveness. LPI continued its work leading the EdPrepLab, which launched in 2019, in partnership with Bank Street Graduate School of Education. EdPrepLab aims to strengthen educator preparation in the United States by developing and sharing expertise within the network and with the wider field, building a thriving community of practice, and fostering well-informed collaboration between preparation programs, school districts, and state and federal policymakers. In the area of Equitable Resources and Access, LPI continued to partner with the National Conference of State Legislatures to support a cohort of 47 state legislators and legislative staff from 17 states who are participating in the Education Finance Fellowship in order to advance adequate and equitable state school finance policies. To inform efforts to foster more equitable and racially just schools, LPI published a new brief, Advancing Integration and Equity Through Magnet Schools, with the evidence on the design, implementation, and sustainability of effective magnet schools. LPI released a new report to bring attention to the needs of California students in foster care, examining enrollment and achievement data and district supports. LPI also published, Building School Communities for Students Living in Deep Poverty, which presents evidence that students living in households of deep poverty are most likely to succeed academically and thrive emotionally in schools that are adequately and equitably funded. Newly available data sets and statistical approaches show that adequate and equitable funding in conjunction with the development of community schools and the adoption of a whole child teaching and learning culture has a direct positive impact on student outcomes and lifelong success. In the area of whole child education, LPI continued its work on community schools both in California and nationally. This work included publishing a brief with examples from New York, New Mexico, and California showing how technical assistance can support the high-quality implementation of community schools. LPI recently published the Whole Child Policy Toolkit to help state policymakers and education leaders advance whole child policy. Produced by LPI with input from more than a dozen Whole Child Policy Table partners, organizations, and experts, the toolkit describes strategies, tools, and resources aligned to a framework of five key whole child policy elements that can enable school, district, and community shifts to meet the needs of every child efficiently, effectively, and, most importantly, equitably.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    Jan 1, 2022 – Dec 31, 2022
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $12.2M