About Our Research

One place where we think it’s important to drive change for our students and the state is through state and systems policy. Through such mechanisms as the budget, data collection and use, and the development of transfer policies, the state and our public education systems play important roles in both K-12 and higher education. EdInsights creates bodies of knowledge about key issues relevant to  within and across education systems, including students’ experiences in California’s public colleges and universities and the need for policy changes to help institutions better serve all students. Our qualitative and quantitative research is enriched by a deep understanding of relevant context, including student perspectives.

Our projects focus on issues such as:

STATEWIDE STUDENT DATA SYSTEM:

As a follow-up to our series demonstrating the need for a longitudinal student data system in California, we are tracking California’s efforts to design and build a Cradle to Career data system. This work is funded by the Lumina Foundation.

POSTSECONDARY STUDENT SUCCESS:

We are studying the progress and success of recent cohorts of students in the California Community Colleges, with an eye toward identifying “bright spots”—those colleges that have higher rates of progress and success among  —as a step toward identifying institutional policies and practices that support underserved student populations.

For more examples of our policy research, please see our Reports and Briefs.