Policy Resources

• Public Opinion Poll Results Cite High School Improvement as Priority Issue
  Results of a national bipartisan public opinion poll released by the Alliance for Excellent Education indicate that Americans across party lines think that high schools are greatly in need of improvement. Improving the public high school quality through reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is a voting issue for over eight in ten voters.
• Transforming the High School Experience: How New York City’s New Small Schools Are Boosting Student Achievement and Graduation Rates
  This 2010 MDRC study finds that compared to students in other kinds of high schools, students enrolled in innovative smaller schools of their choice are more likely by the end of 9th grade to be on track to graduate in four years and ultimately to graduate from high school on time.
• Final AB2648 Report Released (PDF, 1.03 MB)
  On May 12, the California Department of Education released the AB 2648 Multiple Pathways Report, which explores the feasibility of establishing and expanding additional pathways in California.
• Preparing Students for College and Career: Linked Learning in California (PDF, 394 KB)
  This Issue Brief by the Alliance for Excellent Education summarizes the Linked Learning approach and outlines promising models, implementation challenges, growing support for the approach, and implications for federal policy. Read more about an AEE Linked Learning policy briefing in Washington D.C.
• Reforming Education in California: A Guide for Candidates and Citizens (PDF, 4.4 MB)
  In this policy brief, Policy Analysis for California Education recommends using Linked Learning to prepare students for college and careers as one of four recommendations for creating a lasting effect on education reform in California.
• Career Academies: A Proven Strategy to Prepare High School Students for College and Careers (PDF, 266 KB)
  This paper outlines quantitative evidence showing the success of students who participated in Career Academies, one model for implementing Linked Learning pathways. It includes information on academic performance, high school completion, enrollment in postsecondary education, and employment after high school.
• ConnectEd Comments on the AB2648 feasibility study for implementing Linked Learning (PDF, 428 KB)
  In this 18-page document, ConnectEd offers detailed comments and suggestions to strengthen the AB2648 report draft, which explores the feasibility of expanding Linked Learning in California.
• The Economic Benefits from Halving the Dropout Rate
  The Alliance for Excellent Education provides one-page summaries of the economic benefits to certain cities and nationally when the high school drop-out rate is reduced by half. Five California cities (Fresno, Los Angeles-Long Beach, Sacramento, San Francisco-Oakland, San Jose) and a national summary are included.
• Universal Access to a Quality Education: Research and Recommendations for the Elimination of Curricular Stratification (PDF, 332 KB)
  This December 2009 policy brief on curricular tracking provides information from case studies of a school, district, and nation that abolished tracking, provided a common challenging curriculum, and improved achievement. The brief provides recommendations for policy makers to support implementation of such changes.
• Work-Based Learning in California: Opportunities and Models for Expansion (PDF, 427 KB)
  This WestEd report examines work-based learning in California, detailing implementation strategies and opportunities for expanding the approach to engage more students.
• The Status of the Teaching Profession - 2009 (PDF, 2.03 MB)
  In chapters 4 and 5 of this report, the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning outlines the skills and knowledge teachers need to succeed in redesigned schools and the preparation and ongoing professional development needed to support their work.
• Evidence from California Partnership Academies: One Model of Pathways (PDF, 231 KB)
  This 4–page document describes three key pieces of evidence supporting adoption of the Linked Learning approach.
• California's Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs: Meeting the Demands of a 21st Century Economy (PDF, 1.2 MB)
  This Workforce Alliance report states that for California to meet its full economic potential it must prepare a sufficient number of middle-skill workers who hold more than a high school diploma and less than a bachelor's degree. Workforce development investments have not kept pace with demand for these workers.
• Multiple Pathways Feasibility Study
  Website with information on the feasibility study for establishing and expanding Linked Learning (formerly multiple pathways) in California that WestEd is conducting for AB2648.
• Governance Matters
  Designed for school board members, this report is a synthesis of the findings of the High School Reform Task Force of the California School Board Association.
• Career Technical Education: Creating Options for High School Success (PDF, 717 KB)
  In this report, the Little Hoover Commission explains the results of their study of career technical education (CTE) and their recommendations on how to keep CTE effective.
• ACSA Career Technical Education Position Paper (PDF, 75 KB)
  This position paper by the Association of California School Administrators provides policy recommendations for developing adequately funded and integrated CTE programs that can be used to address the achievement gap and dropout crisis.
• Multiple Pathways and State Policy: Toward Education and Training Beyond High School (PDF, 46 KB)
  This paper by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education looks at the social and economic challenges in increasing higher education access.
• Supporting High Quality Career and Technical Education through Federal and State Policy (PDF, 227 KB)
  The American Youth Policy Forum outlines ways in which state and federal policy can support a greater role for CTE in education reform.
• Assembly Bill 2648 (PDF, 78 KB)
  This bill requires California's Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop a report that assesses the feasibility of expanding Linked Learning programs in California.
• Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE)
  A non-partisan organization that works to develop a long-term strategy for policy reform and improvement in California’s education system.
• Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning
  The Center of the Future of Teaching and Learning is a public, not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening teacher development policy and practice.
• UCLA - IDEA
  The Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access at UCLA seeks to make high quality public schooling and successful college participation routine occurrence in low income neighborhoods of color.
• Expanding Pathways: Transforming High School Education in California (PDF, 1.05 MB)
  This policy paper defines Linked Learning, offers evidence for its effectiveness, and outlines policy and implementation recommendations for expanding high quality programs in California.  ConnectEd hopes the paper will spark ideas and discussion about how to move from its general policy recommendations to more specific programmatic and legislative ideas for expanding pathways.
• Multiple Perspectives on Multiple Pathways: Preparing California’s Youth for College, Career, and Civic Responsibility
  Jeannie Oakes and Marisa Saunders, UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education & Access (UCLA/IDEA), 2007
  This collection of 15 papers presents the results of a collaboration between UCLA and scholars throughout California to study Linked Learning (formerly multiple pathways). In addition to identifying the promise and challenges of Linked Learning, the UCLA studies provide a solid policy agenda and set of recommendations.
• Transforming Today’s Education for Tomorrow’s Economy: New Directions for Career and Technical Education in California (PDF, 107 KB)
  Gary Hoachlander
  One of California’s significant public policy challenges is preparing its young people for lasting success in their educational, career, and civic pursuits. This policy brief provides twelve policy strategies for ending the separation between career and technical education (CTE) and mainstream academics, creating comprehensive Linked Learning pathways to provide a more engaging and relevant educational experience that prepares students for both postsecondary education and career, not one or the other.