Welcome, Tom Dee!
The Gardner Center warmly welcomed Professor Tom Dee as faculty director in September at the start of the 2018-19 academic year. At the same time, we thanked Professor Shelley Goldman, our faculty director for the past two years, for her leadership and friendship. We congratulate her on her new appointment as Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the Graduate School of Education! Shelley remains on our Faculty Advisory Committee.
Where Data Lead, Success Follows: Rural California Districts Band Together to Focus on College Readiness
Humboldt County's postsecondary education options include a two-year college and a four-year university, both part of the state system. But in 2016, just 32% of high school graduates met requirements for entrance to California's four-year college system, compared with 45% statewide. The county's Post-Secondary Strengthening Collaborative is trying to change all that.
New Research: The California Alternative Education Initiative
The Gardner Center is a leader in conducting research and descriptive studies of California's growing alternative schools. Today, we convene the California Advisory Taskforce on Alternative Schools. Led by Deputy Director Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, the Taskforce includes district and county administrators and school leaders who are experts in alternative education. Taskforce members advise the California Department of Education on developing a robust state school accountability system. The goal: to incentivize school improvement and promote better outcomes for youth in alternative school settings.

Recently, we released two snapshots for alternative school enrollments in five urban unified school districts: Long Beach, Los Angeles, Fresno, Oakland, and San Francisco.
Deborah Stipek Interviews Founding Director Milbrey McLaughlin
"It's not a culture of poverty but a poverty of opportunity. Rather than trying to fix a kid, think about the opportunities that are available."
Join Our Team: Quantitative Research Associate
We are seeking a research associate! This person will work alongside community partners to conduct policy-relevant youth development research. An advanced degree, five years experience, and familiarity with the California K-12 education context and English language learners is preferred.
Four Key Conditions for Linking Data Across Organizations
In the latest installment of Gardner Perspectives , Senior Research Associate Hadar Baharav writes of four key conditions to successfully link individual-level data across many organizations. These include coalescing around a shared vision, ensuring organizational capacity, coping with data constraints, and collecting quality data.