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The More Things Change . . . Education Reforms and School Rank Persistence in California

Thu, April 11, 10:50am to 12:20pm, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Floor: Level 100, Room 112B

Abstract

California implemented substantial reforms to its public education curricula, testing, and funding systems in the 2010s. Increased funding was provided for previously underserved populations, while all schools began to implement new standards and testing metrics. Despite these changes, statistical measures of rank stability through this period of reform show notably little change in school ranks derived from 2003-2022 STAR and CAASPP test scores for grades 3, 4, and 5. Demographic shifts rather than new educational initiatives may explain the few schools that rose from the bottom third to the top third. Prior structural advantages and disadvantages appear to have persisted through the reforms, and disparities were amplified in the return to testing after the Covid-19 pandemic

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