Alix Gallagher
@agallagheredpolicy.bsky.social
Education policy researcher studying strategies for system improvement that improve student outcomes. Mom to humans and dogs. Swimming, water polo, hiking, and cooking to relax. My posts are my opinions and interests.
"Robustness of a state’s policy might matter as
much as the existence of the policy itself.... states with comprehensive early literacy policies experience improved student outcomes, whereas states with less robust early literacy policies are less likely to show gains." www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
much as the existence of the policy itself.... states with comprehensive early literacy policies experience improved student outcomes, whereas states with less robust early literacy policies are less likely to show gains." www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
Advancing Early Reading Skills Through Science-Based Instruction
Researchers analyze how state policies requiring science-based reading instruction influence elementary school teachers' teaching practices. Findings show that professional learning and preservice tra...
www.rand.org
May 2, 2025 at 3:02 PM
"Robustness of a state’s policy might matter as
much as the existence of the policy itself.... states with comprehensive early literacy policies experience improved student outcomes, whereas states with less robust early literacy policies are less likely to show gains." www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
much as the existence of the policy itself.... states with comprehensive early literacy policies experience improved student outcomes, whereas states with less robust early literacy policies are less likely to show gains." www.rand.org/pubs/researc...
We need to prioritize evidence above politics. The evidence shows if kids aren't taught phonics and phonemic awareness, many don't learn to read. This is not a local control issue; it doesn't say that kids don't need to be taught broad language skills. Evidence matters! edsource.org/2025/no-comp...
No compromise on literacy bill as hearing deadline looms
English learner advocates oppose a bill to require K-5 teachers to take training in evidence-based methods, including phonics.
edsource.org
April 16, 2025 at 6:17 PM
We need to prioritize evidence above politics. The evidence shows if kids aren't taught phonics and phonemic awareness, many don't learn to read. This is not a local control issue; it doesn't say that kids don't need to be taught broad language skills. Evidence matters! edsource.org/2025/no-comp...
JOB POSTING: PACE is looking for a new research associate. The research focuses on strengthening state policies and structures that support PK–12 education systems, with an emphasis on producing actionable insights. Come join a small, dynamic team in California. edpolicyinca.org/careers/educ...
PACE - Education and Policy Research Associate
edpolicyinca.org
April 4, 2025 at 7:11 PM
JOB POSTING: PACE is looking for a new research associate. The research focuses on strengthening state policies and structures that support PK–12 education systems, with an emphasis on producing actionable insights. Come join a small, dynamic team in California. edpolicyinca.org/careers/educ...
This is interesting work, given prior research on the importance of clinical placements. @cedr.bsky.social, could you say more about what surprised you?
Occasionally, research surprises you/me! This is one of those times.
We just released a new @caldercenter.bsky.social paper (many authors) on an RCT examining the causal effects of clinical placements on teacher jobs:
caldercenter.org/publications...
1/n
We just released a new @caldercenter.bsky.social paper (many authors) on an RCT examining the causal effects of clinical placements on teacher jobs:
caldercenter.org/publications...
1/n
March 4, 2025 at 10:28 PM
This is interesting work, given prior research on the importance of clinical placements. @cedr.bsky.social, could you say more about what surprised you?
Things that bring me joy. My old man puppy running on a dog beach. Look at the sand he kicked up.
March 4, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Things that bring me joy. My old man puppy running on a dog beach. Look at the sand he kicked up.
Excited to be part of this study on CTE pathways!
Learn about our project w/ the Los Angeles Unified School District & @edpolicyinca.bsky.social, studying career development opportunities in LAUSD. Findings will help expand access to high-quality career prep for the district’s 100k+ HS students.
collegecareerpathways.org/sri-partners...
#CTEMonth
collegecareerpathways.org/sri-partners...
#CTEMonth
February 28, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Excited to be part of this study on CTE pathways!
Reading over my morning cup of coffee and pondering: If we don't like declines in student test scores (NAEP and others) and are concerned about the rising gaps between top- and low-performing students, what are the causes? And how could they be addressed? www.the74million.org/article/acro...
Across All Ages & Demographics, Test Results Show Americans Are Getting Dumber
Aldeman: In the last decade, achievement scores have been falling — and gaps have been widening. Why is a huge unanswered question
www.the74million.org
February 5, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Reading over my morning cup of coffee and pondering: If we don't like declines in student test scores (NAEP and others) and are concerned about the rising gaps between top- and low-performing students, what are the causes? And how could they be addressed? www.the74million.org/article/acro...
@edpolicyinca.bsky.social is looking to hire a new executive director! We are seeking a visionary and strategic leader committed to improving education policy in California. Please share this with your networks or contact me for more information. edpolicyinca.org/pace-executi...
PACE - Executive Director
edpolicyinca.org
January 30, 2025 at 6:17 PM
@edpolicyinca.bsky.social is looking to hire a new executive director! We are seeking a visionary and strategic leader committed to improving education policy in California. Please share this with your networks or contact me for more information. edpolicyinca.org/pace-executi...
Reposted by Alix Gallagher
Our 3 year collaboration with Grass Valley School District supported approaches with an emphasis on teacher leadership, internal accountability, and strategic data use. Through first piloting in a few classrooms then scaling across the district, student performances improved.
Preschool to Third Grade Literacy at Grass Valley
Since 2021 Grass Valley has been part of California Education Partners' Preschool to Third Grade Coherence Collaboration (P3CC). Their focus on phonics has ...
buff.ly
January 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM
Our 3 year collaboration with Grass Valley School District supported approaches with an emphasis on teacher leadership, internal accountability, and strategic data use. Through first piloting in a few classrooms then scaling across the district, student performances improved.
Reposted by Alix Gallagher
A new commentary from PACE by @agallagheredpolicy.bsky.social offers an in-depth, evaluative analysis of 2024 Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) test scores, showing modest improvements but little progress in recovering from postpandemic declines. edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/mod... (1/4)
PACE - Modest Gains and Persistent Gaps in Student Performance in 2023–24
An analysis of recently released Smarter Balanced Assessment System (SBAC) test scores shows very modest improvements in 2024 in students’ proficiency at meeting state standards for English language a...
edpolicyinca.org
January 22, 2025 at 9:17 PM
A new commentary from PACE by @agallagheredpolicy.bsky.social offers an in-depth, evaluative analysis of 2024 Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) test scores, showing modest improvements but little progress in recovering from postpandemic declines. edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/mod... (1/4)
Really nice article on multiple ways to think about the question of whether ESSER was a success. Hint: depending on how you define success you get a different answer. www.the74million.org/article/esse...
ESSER Post-Mortem: How Did Districts Spend $190B in Federal Funds? Did It Work?
Aldeman: ESSER was a financial lifeline and boosted student outcomes. But did it get schools to reopen faster? And how exactly was the money spent?
www.the74million.org
January 22, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Really nice article on multiple ways to think about the question of whether ESSER was a success. Hint: depending on how you define success you get a different answer. www.the74million.org/article/esse...
I had a great conversation last week on AI in education with Glenn Kleiman, hosted by Brent Ducker and Carrie Holmberg from the Center for Innovation and Applied Technology. Here's the recording (and a synopsis www.sjsu.edu/iaepcenter/d...): sjsu.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Page...
Emerging AI Policies and Practices in California Schools and the Nation
Zoom Meeting ID: 82093622250
• Host: Carrie Holmberg
• Meeting Start: 01/13/2025 @ 3:55 PM
• Recording Start: 01/13/2025 @ 4:00 PM
• Duration: 58 mins
• Panelists: Alix Gallagher, Brent Duckor, Glenn...
sjsu.hosted.panopto.com
January 20, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I had a great conversation last week on AI in education with Glenn Kleiman, hosted by Brent Ducker and Carrie Holmberg from the Center for Innovation and Applied Technology. Here's the recording (and a synopsis www.sjsu.edu/iaepcenter/d...): sjsu.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Page...
Reposted by Alix Gallagher
"Illinois is one of the few states that track data like this..." makes me think of our state report card grades. These data need to be more transparent and readily available. crpe.org/transparent-....
40% of Chicago Teachers Are Chronically Absent. Those Gaps Carry Real Costs
Aldeman: Nationwide, educator attendance has dropped since COVID. It could be a symptom of employee dissatisfaction, or of larger problems in schools.
www.the74million.org
January 10, 2025 at 9:49 PM
"Illinois is one of the few states that track data like this..." makes me think of our state report card grades. These data need to be more transparent and readily available. crpe.org/transparent-....
Reposted by Alix Gallagher
What percentage of students are you willing to falsely accuse of cheating with AI?
There is a trade-off between false accusations and detection rates for AI. At a 10% false positive rate, detectors find 80% or less of AI content. At a 1% rate most find 60% or less.
Don’t trust AI detectors!
There is a trade-off between false accusations and detection rates for AI. At a 10% false positive rate, detectors find 80% or less of AI content. At a 1% rate most find 60% or less.
Don’t trust AI detectors!
January 6, 2025 at 2:30 PM
What percentage of students are you willing to falsely accuse of cheating with AI?
There is a trade-off between false accusations and detection rates for AI. At a 10% false positive rate, detectors find 80% or less of AI content. At a 1% rate most find 60% or less.
Don’t trust AI detectors!
There is a trade-off between false accusations and detection rates for AI. At a 10% false positive rate, detectors find 80% or less of AI content. At a 1% rate most find 60% or less.
Don’t trust AI detectors!
And this doesn't count women like me, who got a Ph.D. and never even applied for a faculty position. I had watched the way women faculty were treated at my doctoral-granting university and decided I would take my Ph.D. and do research outside of the academy.
If universities want to retain female faculty they need to deal with the people who create hostile workplaces.
That means actually dealing with sexual harassers, assholes, bullies, and every else who scores high on the dark triad.
If not, you will lose your best people over and over again.
That means actually dealing with sexual harassers, assholes, bullies, and every else who scores high on the dark triad.
If not, you will lose your best people over and over again.
“Women leave or consider leaving [faculty positions] because of workplace climate more often than work-life balance.” www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
December 24, 2024 at 6:12 PM
And this doesn't count women like me, who got a Ph.D. and never even applied for a faculty position. I had watched the way women faculty were treated at my doctoral-granting university and decided I would take my Ph.D. and do research outside of the academy.
As we think about getting a stronger teacher workforce, we need to be thoughtful about pathways to the profession, including substitute teachers (who are normally not considered as a source of future credentialed teachers). Great work by Hannah Kistler and colleagues!
edworkingpapers.com/ai24-1089
edworkingpapers.com/ai24-1089
Pathways to the Teaching Profession: Teaching Assistants’ and Substitute Teachers’ Transitions into the Teacher Workforce
Teacher shortages and lack of teacher diversity have led to growing efforts nationally to recruit teaching assistants (TAs) to be classroom teachers. Substitute teachers are not typically considered i...
edworkingpapers.com
December 18, 2024 at 5:30 PM
As we think about getting a stronger teacher workforce, we need to be thoughtful about pathways to the profession, including substitute teachers (who are normally not considered as a source of future credentialed teachers). Great work by Hannah Kistler and colleagues!
edworkingpapers.com/ai24-1089
edworkingpapers.com/ai24-1089
Reposted by Alix Gallagher
I love my job at @edpolicyinca.bsky.social because I get to do research and then inform educational decision-makers in California. I'm excited to see the intersection between two things I've worked on discussed in this article in CalMatters: calmatters.org/commentary/2...
How California can fix its school crisis. Two projects point the way
Three years of expert, hands-on help pulled up two schools' test scores. The state's average scores remain below pre-pandemic levels.
calmatters.org
December 13, 2024 at 10:21 PM
I love my job at @edpolicyinca.bsky.social because I get to do research and then inform educational decision-makers in California. I'm excited to see the intersection between two things I've worked on discussed in this article in CalMatters: calmatters.org/commentary/2...
Case study of one model for supporting districts to build capacity to improve instruction (@caedpartners.bsky.social). Is anyone else doing research on intermediaries supporting districts to build improvement systems? Would love to connect and analyze across cases. edpolicyinca.org/publications...
PACE - Taking Reform to Scale
Districts in California (and across the country) work hard to improve instruction and student outcomes. Many attempts at new reforms fail to achieve their desired outcomes, however, and are rapidly re...
edpolicyinca.org
December 10, 2024 at 3:17 PM
Case study of one model for supporting districts to build capacity to improve instruction (@caedpartners.bsky.social). Is anyone else doing research on intermediaries supporting districts to build improvement systems? Would love to connect and analyze across cases. edpolicyinca.org/publications...
We often hear about high-functioning districts. In this case study, we try to catch a district that is early on the path to figuring out how to support instructional improvement. Students learned more-here's how. @caedpartners.bsky.social, @edpolicyinca.bsky.social. edpolicyinca.org/publications...
PACE - Building Momentum One Step at a Time
Districts in California (and across the country) work hard to improve instruction and student outcomes. Many attempts at new reforms fail to achieve their desired outcomes, however, and are rapidly re...
edpolicyinca.org
December 5, 2024 at 6:16 PM
We often hear about high-functioning districts. In this case study, we try to catch a district that is early on the path to figuring out how to support instructional improvement. Students learned more-here's how. @caedpartners.bsky.social, @edpolicyinca.bsky.social. edpolicyinca.org/publications...
The latest TIMSS data corroborate other data that suggest the US needs to rethink how we go about education. What would it look like to change how time is used in public schools so that teachers consistently collaborated and built skills to meet students' needs? www.the74million.org/article/four...
Four Insights into U.S. Students’ Drop in Math & Science on International Test
Wednesday's release of TIMSS scores shows that American students fell behind their international peers during the pandemic.
www.the74million.org
December 5, 2024 at 5:40 PM
The latest TIMSS data corroborate other data that suggest the US needs to rethink how we go about education. What would it look like to change how time is used in public schools so that teachers consistently collaborated and built skills to meet students' needs? www.the74million.org/article/four...
Thoughtful commentary on key challenges facing California schools and how prioritizing the greatest needs and choosing solutions with good evidence could create a path forward.
New commentary from me and my EdPolicy Hub colleagues at @edsource.org about the big four issues facing California schools (though these apply across the nation) and the need for serious policy efforts to improve education. We can do this. edsource.org/2024/playing...
COMMENTARY: Playing the long game in an uncertain education policy climate
In times of uncertainty, it is prudent to focus on local education improvements rooted in strong evidence.
edsource.org
December 3, 2024 at 1:48 AM
Thoughtful commentary on key challenges facing California schools and how prioritizing the greatest needs and choosing solutions with good evidence could create a path forward.
Generative AI is being widely used by educators and students alike, but few districts have robust policies and professional learning for educators. This creates a lot of risks for unknowing violation of Civil Rights, as is outlined in this recent USDOE publication. www.ed.gov/media/docume...
www.ed.gov
November 27, 2024 at 10:42 PM
Generative AI is being widely used by educators and students alike, but few districts have robust policies and professional learning for educators. This creates a lot of risks for unknowing violation of Civil Rights, as is outlined in this recent USDOE publication. www.ed.gov/media/docume...
Reposted by Alix Gallagher
PACE’s @agallagheredpolicy.bsky.social: Attendance is rebounding—yet college readiness recovery remains “anemic.” Nearly half of CA’s high school graduates are ineligible for UC or CSU. “We need a different approach, starting at the state level.” calmatters.org/education/k-... via @calmatters.org
Attendance is a bright spot in the latest California School Dashboard
Chronic absenteeism is down on the latest California School Dashboard. But graduation rates and other measures improved only slightly.
calmatters.org
November 21, 2024 at 8:31 PM
PACE’s @agallagheredpolicy.bsky.social: Attendance is rebounding—yet college readiness recovery remains “anemic.” Nearly half of CA’s high school graduates are ineligible for UC or CSU. “We need a different approach, starting at the state level.” calmatters.org/education/k-... via @calmatters.org
Excited to share Mike Kirst's new PACE commentary on what California needs to do to improve student outcomes: edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/loo...
PACE - Looking Back, Moving Forward
PACE co-founder Michael W. Kirst, former president of the California Board of Education (1977–1981 and 2011–2019), highlights in a new PACE commentary findings from his Learning Policy Institute repor...
edpolicyinca.org
November 21, 2024 at 5:41 PM
Excited to share Mike Kirst's new PACE commentary on what California needs to do to improve student outcomes: edpolicyinca.org/newsroom/loo...