Learning Policy Institute

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.