Recent ucla_cts items

Rising Numbers, Fading Resources: Students Experiencing Homelessness in Los Angeles County

Mon, 11 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study examines student homelessness in Los Angeles County within broader state and national trends, highlighting the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on identification, engagement, and attendance. Pandemic-related disruptions intensified chronic absenteeism and obscured accurate identification, particularly during periods of remote learning. National data also show that many students experiencing homelessness face overlapping vulnerabilities, including disability status, migrant education eligibility, and English learner needs. In response, the American Rescue Plan – Homeless Children and Youth (ARP-HCY) program provided substantial short-term funding to expand identification efforts and deliver wraparound supports, though these funds have since expired. The end of this funding has created a fiscal cliff, resulting in reduced services and staffing for students experiencing homelessness. Recent data show sharp increases in student homelessness across California, specifically...

Beyond One-Size-Fits-All Education Approaches: Rethinking California’s Alternative Education System

Fri, 8 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

California’s alternative education system, particularly its Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS) schools, serves as a vital but often overlooked pathway for historically marginalized and vulnerable students. This report analyzes 2022–23 data from 894 DASS schools, representing 150,009 students, to evaluate the effectiveness of these settings.

The findings reveal that DASS schools disproportionately enroll Black, Latine, Indigenous, foster, homeless, socioeconomically disadvantaged, disabled students, and other populations facing significant systemic barriers. Educational outcomes in these settings highlight profound disparities compared to non-alternative schools, including a 60% chronic absenteeism rate, a 58% five-year graduation rate, and significantly lower proficiency in English Language Arts and mathematics. Furthermore, the analysis identifies systemic challenges in staffing, leadership, and accountability frameworks that often fail to adequately capture...

Hidden in Plain Sight: Fear, Underidentification, and Funding Gaps for Housing-Insecure Students in Los Angeles County

Wed, 6 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Los Angeles County is facing a rapidly escalating youth homelessness crisis. In the 2023–24 school year, more than 61,000 students experienced homelessness, a nearly 30% increase from the prior 2022–23 school year, with Latine students (75%) and English Learners (34%) disproportionately affected (California Department of Education, 2024; Cazares-Minero & Bishop, 2026). Despite federal protections under the McKinney-Vento Act, a significant gap persists between policy intent and frontline realities.

This qualitative study draws on interviews with seven school-based homeless liaisons and county officials across five districts to examine identification practices, service barriers, and data systems. Findings show major challenges in accurately identifying students due to inconsistent, subjective processes, despite the statewide requirement of a housing questionnaire. Many families avoid self-identification...

State of Crisis: Dismantling Student Homelessness in CA

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Study’s Purpose:Over 269,000 K–12 students in California experience homelessness, alongside significant numbers in early childhood and higher education. These students face disproportionate barriers to academic success, including higher rates of suspension, absenteeism, and lower graduation and college readiness rates. This study investigates the educational and social supports needed to improve outcomes for students experiencing homelessness, from early learning through college.

Research Methods:The report draws on qualitative data from over 150 stakeholders including students, educators, homeless liaisons, community-based organizations, school districts, and higher education institutions through interviews and focus groups. Quantitative analysis of statewide data from the 2018–2019 school year examines patterns in suspension, absenteeism, graduation, and college readiness rates among students experiencing homelessness.

Key Findings:Findings reveal that current...

The Impact of a Broken Immigration System on U.S. Students and Schools

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Study’s Purpose:Living with undocumented parents leaves millions of U.S. citizen students vulnerable to instability that disrupts their education. Immigration enforcement and anti-immigrant rhetoric create fear, absenteeism, and disengagement, particularly among Latinex students, but the effects extend across schools and communities. This study examines how a broken U.S. immigration system affects students, families, educators, and school climate.

Research Methods:Findings are drawn from Schools Under Siege: The Impact of Immigration Enforcement on Educational Equity (Gándara & Ee), which used a 2017–18 national survey of over 3,600 educators from 760 schools across 13 states, combined with additional empirical studies. The survey captured educators’ observations of student performance, attendance, and wellbeing in the context of heightened immigration enforcement.

Key...

Highly Mobile Youth: How State Policy and Local Implementation Can Work Together to Support Youth

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Highly Mobile Youth: How State Policy and Local Implementation Can Work Together to Support Youth

Strengthening K-12 Cellphone Policies to Support Student Learning and Well-Being: Research-Based Guidance for U.S. Education Leaders

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Strengthening K-12 Cellphone Policies to Support Student Learning and Well-Being: Research-Based Guidance for U.S. Education Leaders

State of Crisis: Understanding District Educational Patterns for CA Students Experiencing Homelessness

Thu, 5 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This policy brief builds upon our 2020 analysis of student homelessness statewide to examine district-level data for 10 districts across the state. In 2021, California made historic investments to help students and schools recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, adversely impacting schools and students experiencing homelessness, limiting the scope and application of student data, and creating new challenges for teaching and learning. While the future after this pandemic is unclear, we must continue to support students experiencing homelessness and address the long-standing inequities that this vulnerable student group faces. Learn more on the CTS website.

Leveraging LCFF Funding to Implement Comprehensive School Counseling: A Case Study of Livingston Union School District

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Study's Purpose: This research brief explores the Livingston Union School District’s (LUSD) implementation of a comprehensive school counseling program. The program aligns with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model and is sustained through California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Located in California’s Central Valley, LUSD serves a predominantly Latine and socioeconomically disadvantaged student population in a high-need rural context. LUSD bolstered its school counseling program, making it a cornerstone of its student support strategy through collaborative leadership, strategic staffing, and equity-centered resource allocation.

Research Methods: Using a mixed-methods approach—including document analysis, interviews, survey data, and quantitative outcomes—this study finds that the district’s sustained investment in school counseling has led to measurable improvements in school climate and student...

Unlocking Opportunities: How Dual Language Immersion Can Promote Equity and Integration

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Study’s Purpose:

This policy brief examines the potential of Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs to advance racial, linguistic, and socioeconomic equity in public education. While DLI has grown rapidly in the U.S. and is celebrated for promoting bilingualism and integration, concerns have emerged around access and equity especially for the historically marginalized communities these programs were originally designed to serve. This study focuses on Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), home to the largest number of DLI programs in the country, to assess how these programs are shaping enrollment patterns, integration, and equitable access.

Research Methods:

The study analyzed two decades (2001–2002 through 2021–2022) of publicly available LAUSD enrollment data from the California Department of Education. Researchers examined demographic trends across schools with and without DLI programs, disaggregated by race/ethnicity, English Learner (EL) status,...

Scaling Equity: Unfulfilled Promises and Lessons From California’s MTSS Initiative

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In this report, we present findings from the qualitative data collection and analysis of publicly available data of the California Multi-Tiered System of Support (CA MTSS) Pilot Phase II. This report aims to describe, through administrator interviews conducted by the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools (CTS) research team, the factors that influenced the implementation of the CA MTSS Pilot Phase II during the fourth year of participation in Phase 2A and the second year of participation in Phase 2B. The CA MTSS Pilot Phase II encompasses 35 schools from 26 districts across California as they implement the MTSS framework at the school level, focusing on school climate, positive behavioral supports, and social-emotional learning. Additionally, this report shares longitudinal findings from the qualitative data collection and analysis of the California Scaling Up Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Statewide (SUMS)for Phases 2A and 2B during the 2018–19 through 2022–23...

The Ten Billion Dollar Deficit: The Economic Burdens of Inequities Across California Schools

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Study’s Purpose:

California’s public schools face significant pressure to improve across a range of metrics, to improve educational efficiency and reduce inequities between student groups. One student support framework is the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), which includes screening of students’ needs, monitoring their progress, data-based decision making and a multi-level prevention system. MTSS has the potential to maximize student success. However, to set MTSS in context, it is necessary to calculate the full economic consequences of failing to invest in MTSS (and other educational support strategies).

Here we investigate the economic consequences of failure to graduate from high school; chronic absenteeism; and disciplinary sanctions (suspension, expulsion, and restraint). Applying a standard economic model, we calculate the burdens to society, families, schools, and the California taxpayer. We find significant burdens from each perspective and that these...

1.37 Million and Rising: Understanding the National 25% Spike in Student Homelessness

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

What do we know about the nearly 1.4 million students experiencing homelessness in the U.S.? Our latest brief, “1.37 Million and Rising: Understanding the National 25% Spike in Student Homelessness” explores national patterns for housing insecure youth across the U.S. Students without stable housing, one of several highly mobile student populations, are more likely to miss school, face disciplinary actions, and fall behind academically. Yet many remain invisible in national education data.

This brief builds upon our research on students experiencing homelessness in California, the epicenter of the student homelessness crisis, and highly mobile youth—including an overview of...

Advancing Educational Stability, Continuity, and Success: A Policy Agenda for Highly Mobile Youth in the U.S.

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Highly mobile youth (HMY) include approximately 1.9 million school-age students in the U.S., a broad category for students experiencing homelessness (1.2 million), the foster care system (391,000), migrant youth (274,000) and young people who have been detained in the juvenile legal system (25,000).

This policy brief in collaboration with WestEd builds on our initial overview of HMY by offering actionable strategies for federal and state policymakers. We focus on the unique needs of HMY as they face heightened challenges after the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing political shifts in 2025.

Our systems are not designed to meet the complex realities of HMY. The brief offers a policy agenda to change that. We hope this work supports efforts to build more equitable, responsive systems that center the well-being and opportunity...

Often Overlooked but Not Unseen: An Overview of Highly Mobile Youth in the U.S.

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 00:00:00 +0000

There were nearly 2 million highly mobile youth (HMY) in the United States in the 2021-22 school year.

These youth—including those experiencing homelessness, in foster care, migratory students, and those involved in the juvenile legal system—face compounded challenges that disrupt their education, health, and future opportunities.This brief uncovers the urgent needs of these underserved populations, highlighting the systemic barriers they encounter, from poverty and language barriers to neighborhood violence and childhood trauma. The research underscores the disproportionate impact on Black and Brown youth and calls for targeted interventions to provide the support they deserve.

Learn more on the CTS website.

Foster(ing) Youth in the California State University: Understanding the Vital Role of Campus Support Programs