BACKGROUND

According to scores on the National Assessment for Educational progress (NAEP), the achievement of California students is increasing slowly.  Nonetheless, California students lag the nation in all major ethnic and socioeconomic subgroups. Only an estimated 71 percent of all ninth graders in California complete high school within four years, and Latino and African American students have even lower rates (60 and 57 percent, respectively). Despite some of the highest standards for student achievement in the nation, California spends less money per pupil than many other states. At the same time, the number of disadvantaged students poses additional challenges: one quarter of the state's public school students are English learners and almost 20 percent live below the federal poverty line; both percentages are projected to increase.

The ultimate goal of our investments in strengthening California's K-12 schools is to improve student achievement and attainment. We track progress toward the ultimate goal with three indicators: (1) the percent of students scoring at the basic and proficient levels in math and language arts on the NAEP at fourth and eighth grades, (2) the percent of students passing the state's High School Exit Exam, and (3) the percent of students graduating high school on time.

As outlined in the logic model below, we invest in four types of activities: (1) high-quality research and data analysis on California's schools and students; (2) dissemination to translate research and information for a variety of audiences; (3) public education and engagement to create pressure for reform; and (4) policy design and technical assistance for policymakers. This portfolio of grants aims to improve state policy through the following intermediate outcomes: reforming the school finance system, building better education data systems, improving teacher quality, and better serving the neediest students.

Unfortunately, California's governance and political systems constitute major barriers to policy reform. First, the governance structure for education is fragmented and dysfunctional, leaving no single actor or body with the ability to exert leadership effectively. Second, the loss of institutional memory and policy expertise resulting from term limits yields a legislature with a short-term focus. Last, serious constraints on the ability of the state and local governments to raise revenues hinder genuine reform attempts. Even with these barriers, we remain optimistic that state education policy can be reformed in positive ways.

                 
California K-12 Education Reform

INPUTS/ACTIVITIES	INTERMEDIATE OUTCOMES	ULTIMATE OUTCOMES
Development and Analysis of Data Dissemination and Communication Public Education and Engagement Technical Assistance to Policymakers on Policy Design	Improve state policy in the following ways: Reform school finance Build better education data systems Improve teacher quality Better serve neediest students	Improve achievement and attainment of California students, as measured by: % basic and proficient on state math and language arts NAEP tests % passing HS Exit Exam % graduating HS on time

PROGRESS IN 2007

We took a significant step forward in 2007 toward the goal of improving the K-12 school finance system with the release of the Stanford "Getting Down to Facts" research on school finance and governance in California. This $3 million research effort was officially requested by a bipartisan group of top policymakers - including the Governor's Committee on Education Excellence and Democratic leaders in the legislature and the State Department of Education - and was supported by four foundations (Hewlett, Gates, Irvine, and Stuart). The research release was extensively covered by local, state, and even national news outlets. One key finding is that new funding must be coupled with major structural reforms of the education finance system in order to have a substantial impact on student achievement. Neither strategy lone will accomplish much. By insider accounts, the Stanford research has eased the partisan polarization on education funding and helped open a window of opportunity for thoughtful, comprehensive reforms. During the press briefing for the research studies, the governor announced plans to make 2008 the "Year of Education Reform" in California. This promise has been repeated extensively by the media, by policymakers, and by the governor's staff, creating high expectations for action in 2008.

To take advantage of the opportunity for reform in 2008, a comprehensive vision and specific plan must be put forward aggressively. The reform plan should be informed by the Stanford research; include a timeline for implementing and sequencing reforms over a number of years; identify multiple mechanisms for achieving needed policy changes (administrative order, regulation, litigation, legislation, and/or ballot initiative); and, ideally, be championed by the governor and other top state policymakers. A number of our grantees are hard at work to make this happen.

We have four specific goals for this next phase of work:

1. Translate the Stanford and related research into actionable policy recommendations
2. Grow a bipartisan coalition to advocate for reform
3. Develop a network of high-profile, individual champions as spokespeople
4. Launch a communications strategy to create public pressure and accountability for policymakers to take action.

NOTE ON LOBBYING: Some of the Program goals for improving educational outcomes in California can be achieved only through legislative change. Although this is reflected in the discussion of progress and in future plans for our California work described on this website, the staff is fully aware of the stringent tax law prohibitions on the Foundation's "lobbying" or funding "lobbying." All projects involving advocacy, public policy, government regulation, or legislation are, and will continue to be, structured and, when necessary, monitored to ensure (1) that no prohibited lobbying as defined by the IRS is involved and (2) that any lobbying carried out by a grantee cannot be attributed to the Foundation's funding. Staff have access to legal counsel to assist them as needed with compliance with these rules.


Education Grantees - To see a list of all organizations that received a grant from the Education Program this year or in previous years, click here.

Grantee Publications