Report The Basic Skills of Welfare Recipients: Implications for Welfare Reform By Sonya Tafoya, Hans Johnson Apr 1, 1999 The authors of this report use data from the National Adult Literacy Survey to assess the basic skills of adults on welfare and the likelihood that welfare recipients will be able to find and hold full-time jobs. The findings suggest that California will have a more difficult task than most states in moving people from welfare to work and that a substantial portion of welfare recipients may continue to need some form of income support, either because their very low skills make it difficult for them to find employment or because the work they do find is of such low quality and quantity that they are still living in poverty.
Policy Brief Many Welfare Recipients Lack the Basic Skills Needed to Succeed in the Workplace Apr 1, 1999
blog post Local Decisionmaking in California’s Schools By Niu Gao Feb 18, 2015 A survey points to some of the challenges California will have in implementing the new school finance system.
Report Preparing Students for Success in California’s Community Colleges By Hans Johnson, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Olga Rodriguez Nov 9, 2016 Community colleges identify 80 percent of incoming students as underprepared for college-level work. Fewer than half of these students advance to and succeed in a college course (44% in English and 27% in math). Concerns about poor outcomes have led to institutional reforms. This research was supported with funding from The Sutton Family Fund.
Fact Sheet Remedial Education in California’s Colleges and Universities By Olga Rodriguez, Jacob Jackson, Marisol Cuellar Mejia Oct 26, 2017
blog post English Learners and the New State Tests By Laura Hill, Iwunze Ugo Apr 26, 2016 The timing is right to reassess the policy for reclassifying English Learners as proficient in English.
Report Reforming Math Pathways at California’s Community Colleges By Hans Johnson, Olga Rodriguez, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Bonnie Brooks Oct 23, 2017 The goal of developmental education (also known as remedial or basic skills education) is to help students acquire the skills they need to be successful in college courses, but its track record is poor. In fact, it is one of the largest impediments to student success in California’s community colleges. Many students do need additional work to be ready for college, particularly in math. But every year hundreds of thousands of students are deemed underprepared for college and placed into developmental courses from which relatively few emerge. Throughout the state, community colleges are revising assessment and placement procedures to ensure that students who are ready for college are not placed in developmental education. And, given the high failure rates in traditional developmental courses, colleges are also experimenting with alternative curricular approaches.
blog post Guided Pathways in Community College By Olga Rodriguez, Mina Dadgar May 12, 2017 Community colleges have begun to adopt a reform known as "guided pathways" to increase completion rates.
Report Reforming English Pathways at California’s Community Colleges By Hans Johnson, Olga Rodriguez, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Bonnie Brooks Feb 27, 2018 California’s community colleges are in the midst of numerous reforms to improve developmental (also known as remedial or basic skills) education. Developmental education is supposed to help prepare students for college work, but it has long been an obstacle to student success: most students in developmental courses never go on to complete a college-level course in English or math.
