On March 8–10, EPIC researchers Ross Anderson, Michael Thier, and Paul Beach presented at the 41st annual conference of the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) in Denver, Colorado.…
In 2014, the California Education Policy Fund (CEPF), with support from the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, awarded EPIC a 2-year contract to work with…
This policy brief from EPIC discusses the United State’s bias toward college-going as the gold standard and how to counteract that singular mode of thinking. EPIC outlines why definitions of K–12 success should balance an emphasis on each C (college and career). EPIC also shows the related pitfalls of districts failing to attend to the issues that are most salient for their communities. To avoid those dangers, EPIC recommends democratizing postsecondary pathway access to ensure equity, localizing districts’ definitions of success to suit community needs, and personalizing educational experiences so students can become ready on their own terms.
This policy brief reviews promising practices from California districts as well as insights from research on multiple measures to provide recommendations that improve how California districts generate, present, and use data in their Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs).
In this policy brief, EPIC recommends that college and career readiness serve as the “North Star” in California’s recently reformed accountability system. A district seeking to use its Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) to promote a college- and career-going culture should take the following steps:
• Adopt, modify, or generate a consistent and shared definition of college and career readiness.
• Evaluate the current LCAP for alignment to that definition.
• Revise the LCAP to align with college and career readiness as its new North Star.
By following these steps, district leaders will help ensure that the goals and actions outlined in their LCAP describe a coherent system instead of a collection of eight competing priorities.
It’s been a year since our founder David Conley transitioned from his role as CEO of EPIC, but he’s still a visionary leader for much of our work. His newest…
MetaCognition_IB_PolicyPaper.pdf (902 downloads) This policy paper presents findings from a wide range of literature on metacognition in primary and secondary education. To help make the abstract explicit for school leaders…
Last week, PBS News Hour ran a weeklong series looking at innovations across the country that help more young people find their way through to a higher education degree or…
This white paper considers college admission exams—specifically the SAT® and ACT®—as potential measures to be included in California’s college and career indicator. The paper begins by presenting a brief overview of the two exams, their respective histories, and their current applications to other state accountability systems. Next, the SAT and ACT are evaluated against the framework being used for all five categories of potential college and career preparedness measures. This white paper concludes with a summary that identifies major strengths, weaknesses, and trade-offs.
This white paper considers advanced coursework—specifically Advanced Placement® (AP) or International Baccalaureate® (IB) Diploma Programme course-taking (participation) and/or exam scores—as measures of college and career preparedness. It begins by presenting a brief overview of the two programs, their respective histories, and their current applications in other states’ accountability systems. Next, the programs are evaluated against the framework being used for all five categories of potential college and career preparedness measures.
