Report The Central Valley at a Crossroads: Migration and Its Implications By Joseph Hayes, Hans Johnson Nov 16, 2004 Tremendous population growth, much of it fueled by domestic and international migration, has already begun to transform large parts of the Central Valley. Although this influx of migrants is posing new environmental, economic, social, and political challenges, little is known about it or its effects on the region. In The Central Valley at a Crossroads: Migration and Its Implications, Hans Johnson and Joseph Hayes find that the valley’s migration patterns are remarkably complex and vary over time, by subregion, and according to the type of migration. They also find that each subregion has pursued policy strategies to address its specific challenges. Finally, they predict that migration patterns will continue to alter the entire valley’s character and profile for the foreseeable future.
Report Educating California: Choices for the Future By Hans Johnson Jun 2, 2009 The bad news is that California is facing a "skills gap” - a shortage of college graduates - that threatens its economic future. But the good news is that modest improvements in college enrollment, community college transfers, and the college completion rate, particularly in the California State University system, could help to narrow that gap substantially. These improvements will not only help California’s young adults succeed in an increasingly high-skill economy but will also benefit the state by increasing tax revenues and allowing for greater economic growth.
California Counts, Report Educational Resources and Outcomes in California, by Race and Ethnicity By Deborah Reed Feb 23, 2005 Examines family and school resources, student outcomes, and public policy initiatives affecting California’s students from early childhood through university. Describes several factors potentially contributing to racial and ethnic gaps in college completion.
Report Does School Choice Work? Effects on Student Integration and Achievement By Julian Betts, Andrew C. Zau, Lorien A. Rice, Y. Emily Tang Aug 30, 2006 Public school choice programs in San Diego—the nation’s eighth-largest school district—are extremely popular, especially among non-white communities; many San Diego families who apply for these programs are turned away each year. San Diego's experience stands against the backdrop of a national debate about choice—with proponents arguing such programs will create better schools and accountability, and opponents countering that they could stratify and resegregate a system premised on educational equality. Researchers examined the selection of students for choice programs and their movements through the school system and found that such programs do seem to have helped to integrate San Diego’s student bodies, not only along racial-ethnic lines but also in terms of students' parental education levels. But evidence that choice programs also boost academic achievement is less clear. With some exceptions—elevated math achievement for students in magnet high schools — those who won lotteries that allowed them to attend choice programs did about the same on standardized tests as non-winners one to three years later.
Report Business Location Decisions and Employment Dynamics in California By David Neumark, Jed Kolko Nov 5, 2007 Much recent debate about the state’s economy has focused on the narrow issue of whether California businesses are moving to other states—taking jobs with them. In this report, PPIC researchers Jed Kolko and David Neumark examine the broader patterns of employment dynamics—the ways in which jobs and businesses move into, around, and out of the state— to provide a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the California economy.
Report From Blueprint to Reality: San Diego’s Education Reforms By Julian Betts, Andrew C. Zau, Kevin King Oct 5, 2005 During the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 school years, the San Diego Unified School District introduced a focused set of reforms to improve San Diego students’ reading and literacy skills called the Blueprint for Student Success. The changes the district implemented included new teaching materials, double- and even triple-length English classes where necessary, additional teacher training, and more classroom time for reading practice and instruction. This report presents the first student-level evaluation of that effort and shows that the Blueprint reforms in large part accomplished what they set out to do: reading scores at elementary and middle-school level improved among students who participated in Blueprint activities, and achievement gaps among different racial and ethnic, language, and socioeconomic groups narrowed.
California Economic Policy, Report Day Labor in the Golden State By Arturo Gonzalez Jul 25, 2007 Situated on busy street corners and in front of home improvement stores, day labor markets are highly visible. Yet little is known about day laborers themselves—their demographic characteristics, economic outcomes, or working conditions. Using data from the National Day Labor Survey, this report examines the day labor population and looks at the ways local governments are responding to the presence of day labor markets in their communities.
Report Evaluating the Effects of California’s Corrections Realignment on Public Safety By Steven Raphael, Magnus Lofstrom, Joan Petersilia Aug 30, 2012 California has launched ambitious plans to change its corrections system. If all goes well, the state will become an important example of how to reduce the prison population and maintain public safety. This report provides guidelines on how to monitor the effects of realignment in such areas as recidivism, sentencing, and costs.
California Counts, Report Can California Import Enough College Graduates to Meet Workforce Needs? By Deborah Reed, Hans Johnson May 23, 2007 Economic projections for California indicate a continuation of the trend toward a more highly skilled economy. But projections of educational attainment for the future population tend to predict a wide gap between the levels of skills the population is likely to possess and the level of skills the economy is likely to need. This issue of California Counts assesses whether California will be able to attract enough college graduates from other states and other countries to close that gap. The authors conclude that because of the sheer numbers of migrants required and other factors, it is unlikely that migration alone will solve the problem.
California Counts, Report Who’s In Prison? The Changing Demographics of Incarceration By Amanda Bailey, Joseph Hayes Aug 9, 2006 This issue of California Counts examines in detail the new demographics of California’s prisons. Since 1990, the number of prisoners in California has risen three times faster than the state's overall adult population, to almost 168,000 prisoners in 2005. Researchers also found that adults younger than 25 account for a declining segment of the prison population while the share of adults 50 and older has nearly tripled, and that the state’s San Joaquin Valley and Inland Empire regions contribute disproportionately to the inmate population.
