Fellowship will create a platform that will help shape educational equity in California CALIFORNIA – Today, The Education Trust–West, an advocacy organization for educational justice and the high academic achievement for all California students, announces the selection of its first cohort of Senior Equity Fellows. Comprised of public policy…

Ryan J. Smith, Executive Director of The Education Trust-West, issued the following statement in response to the release of California's statewide Smarter Balanced assessment scores: “California’s current direction in education is not moving us forward” says Ryan J. Smith, Executive Director of The Education Trust–West…

Ryan J. Smith, Executive Director of The Education Trust–West, issued the following statement on the submission of California's ESSA plan: Last Wednesday, the California State Board of Education approved the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan, despite serious shortcomings that could jeopardize the promise of…

On September 15th, 250 educators, administrators, and other advocates from nearly 60 schools, districts, and higher education institutions throughout the state gathered for an amazing day of learning, sharing, and strengthening their commitment to equity at our Ed Equity Forum 2017: Ensuring College & Career Readiness for Students of Color…

Ryan J. Smith, Executive Director of The Education Trust – West, issued the following statement on the rescinding of DACA: “Today’s DACA Decision is Unconscionable” says Ryan J. Smith, Executive Director of Ed Trust–West “Today’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program is…

Policy Briefing Sponsored by the Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color Please join us for a briefing about supporting the needs of California’s young men of color for Opportunity Youth Reengagement Month. The event will feature the Education Trust – West’s latest…

California’s young men of color continue to face troubling academic disparities and persistent discrimination on their path to and through higher education, finds our new report, Hear My Voice: Strengthening the College Pipeline for Young Men of Color in California. The first Ed Trust–West report examining the…

For the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) to fulfill its promise of closing opportunity and achievement gaps, stakeholders – especially those advocating for English Learners, foster youth and low-income students – must actively engage in the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) process. In order to support advocates in this…

Today we rightly celebrate the milestone Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision issued on May 17th, 1954 striking down school segregation. Yet today also marks another anniversary – the annual issuing of statements reminding us that, decades later, we still have not closed the gaps in access and…

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Undocumented Students in California: What You Should Know, provides a quick and accessible snapshot of our state’s undocumented student population. The resource highlights key demographic data on undocumented students in California, policies affecting immigrant students as well as opportunities and challenges to support these students.  We share common…

California’s Local Control Funding Formula promised to give more resources to the students who need the most: English learners, foster youth, and low-income students. So, how well is California’s new education funding system delivering on that promise? The Education Trust–West’s report, The Steep Road…

(OAKLAND, CA) A few years into California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), school district funding is more equitable but access gaps persist according to The Steep Road to Resource Equity in California Education: The Local Control Funding Formula After Three Years, a new research study by The Education…

We appreciate the time and energy the California Department of Education has put into developing the California School Dashboard pilot as a meaningful first step. But today’s release of the dashboard pilot also makes one thing clear – more work is needed to give parents, students, educators, administrators, and…

Join Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (C.O.P.E.), the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF), the South Stockton Schools Initiative, and Youth Together, in partnership with Ed Trust–West, for equity and accountability community teach-in events throughout the state. From the current political climate to California’s…

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Dr. John B. King, Jr. to Serve as President of the Education Trust – National David V. Britt, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Education Trust, announced today that John B. King, Jr., who served as Secretary of Education under President Barack Obama, has been unanimously selected by the…

By Ryan J. Smith This post is part of the Black Futures Month blog series brought to you by The Huffington Post and the Black Lives Matter Network. Each day in February, look for a new post exploring cultural and political issues affecting the Black community and examining the…

The most sacred responsibility of the U.S. Secretary of Education is to use the full range of tools at his or her disposal to protect and advance opportunity and achievement for low-income students, students of color, English learners, and students with disabilities. Yet in her confirmation hearing…

Based on in-depth site visits and featuring real world examples of high-performing schools, high-quality professional development, and innovative classroom practices, Unlocking Learning:Science as a Lever for English Learner Equity, lays out a blueprint for increasing access and achievement in science for California’s 1.37…

In November of 2016, the U.S. Department of Education issued final regulations to implement provisions of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) regarding school accountability, data reporting, and state plans. These final rules balance state flexibility with the need for clarity as California continues its work designing a…

In 2014 the passage of Proposition 47 brought additional funding to California public schools, with the explicit purpose of supporting vulnerable students, keeping them in school and out of the school-to-prison pipeline. Coupled with LCFF and other investments that districts make to reduce chronic absenteeism and engage…

The results on California's Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced assessments give us a look at how our schools and districts are doing as they prepare students for college and career. The good news in this year's results is that we see some improvement across the board – overall…

Three years after the California Legislature invested nearly $13 billion into schools through the Local Control Funding Formula, it’s still unclear where those dollars are going. That’s the conclusion of The Education Trust–West's new report, which reviews the second-year Local Control and Accountability Plans…

Looking to communicate district budget information to your stakeholders? …

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a test that monitors how student achievement changes over time and across states.  NAEP has been administered in states since 1990, though not all 50 states began to consistently take NAEP until 2003. Newly released results for California show that across…

"Black Minds Matter: Supporting the Educational Success of Black Children in California,” examines how the nearly 1 million Black youth in California are faring from preschool through college and reveals the distressing disparities that newly released state and national data show persist at all levels of their educational journey…

Throughout California educators are implementing new standards that are designed to better prepare students for college and career - yet schools are also dealing with a teacher shortage. Our new report, “The STEM Teacher Drought: Cracks and Disparities in California’s Math and Science Teacher Pipeline”, examines the shortage of…

Equity & the New Accountability System: What's at Stake for Black, Brown, and Poor Students? = …

The Education Trust – West Applauds Governor Brown for Nominating Feliza Licon-Ortiz to the State Board of Education OAKLAND, CA (April 13, 2015) Ryan J. Smith, on behalf of The Education Trust—West, issued the following statement in response to Governor Brown’s recent nominations to the State Board of…

Join us for a webinar on Wednesday, April 22nd from 1:30 – 2:30pm to discuss: What does the current debate around accountability mean for equity in education? What are the proposals on the table for California's new accountability system? How would the different accountability measures, like the LCFF…

School districts urged to increase participation OAKLAND, CA (February 24, 2015) – After jumps in college financial aid application rates among California’s high school seniors from 2012 to 2013, completion rates of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Cal Grant remained relatively unchanged for the Class of…

California’s Landmark Local Control Funding Formula dramatically changed the way the state funds its school districts, directing greater resources to districts serving large numbers of low-income students, English learners, and students in foster care. LCFF also shifted substantially more control over spending decisions to school districts and…

Showing early indicators of increased graduation rates and college readiness among students of color and low-income students, Linked Learning has the potential to be even more impactful when integrated with Common Core and other new California standards. This report examines promising strategies being employed at nine California school…

California’s landmark Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) dramatically changed the way the state funds its school districts, directing greater resources to districts serving large numbers of low-income students, English learners, and students in foster care. LCFF also shifted substantially more control to school districts and communities. A…

Every California school district, county office of education, and charter school must have a 3-year Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP. How does your district plan to spend its state funding and serve all students? Do you have a plan to share? LCAP Watch is a repository…

California, a state rich in cultural and linguistic diversity, serves 1.4 million English learners—more than any other state in the country and accounting for almost one-third of English learners in the entire U.S. Too often, these students face insufficient academic supports, ill-prepared teachers, and…

The Education Trust—West releases initial findings from a two-year study examining innovative teacher evaluation systems in a new report titled, Beyond Satisfactory: Redefining Teacher Support and Evaluation to Improve Teaching and Learning. The report reveals that teachers and administrators generally experience the evaluation process as an objective…