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Susanna Loeb Appointed the Inaugural Kissick Family Professor

Susanna Loeb has been appointed the inaugural Kissick Family Professor. 

Loeb is the faculty director of the SCALE Initiative at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning, which aims to develop and disseminate evidence-driven learning solutions, and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). Her research focuses on education policy and its role in improving educational opportunities for students, addressing issues including educator career choices and professional development, school finance and governance, and early childhood systems. She leads the Getting Down to Facts initiatives, which provide nonpartisan research and analysis to inform education policymaking in California.

California's schools are emptying out. Experts say it's only going to get worse

Because school funding is closely tied to attendance and enrollment, shrinking classrooms can quickly spiral into budget crises. Districts facing long-term declines are increasingly confronting layoffs, hiring freezes and school closures, such as the San Francisco Unified District, which is operating with a multimillion dollar budget deficit.

A report by Noguera and Alvin Makori on shrinking enrollment from Getting Down to Facts, an independent research project out of Stanford University, revealed that 630 California schools have closed since 2015. The report argues that enrollment decline has become “a governance problem” for districts forced into politically painful decisions about which campuses survive.  

Closing a School? Don’t Expect to Save Money, a New Study Warns

School closures—commonly touted as a financially responsible strategy to right-size cash-strapped districts—often do not improve districts’ financial standing, according to a new study out of California.

Even worse: Any money actually saved from closing a school building is largely offset by funding lost when affected students withdraw from the district to attend school somewhere else.

The study, led by Francis Pearman, an assistant professor of education at Stanford University, examined school closure data across California between 2011 and 2019.

Penn GSE researchers examine how teacher certification policies shape access and quality

A new report from Penn GSE researchers explores one of the most pressing tensions in education policy today: how to ensure rigorous preparation for teachers while expanding access to the profession.

In Teacher Certification Policies: Balancing Quality and Access in the Teaching Profession, Penn GSE former dean Pam Grossman and postdoctoral scholar Maya Kaul analyze California’s teacher certification system as part of Stanford University’s Getting Down to Facts III initiative—a major, multi-institution research effort designed to inform education policy across the state.

Fireside Chat with Linda Darling-Hammond on The Future of High School

California, Coherence, and Continuous Improvement

With the release of Getting Down to Facts, Stanford University’s SCALE Initiative finds that school performance in California remains widely uneven. While uneven performance is a finding that shocks no one, what sets Getting Down to Facts apart is—with the help of 112 researchers across 22 research briefs—the meticulous detailing of the conditions of California’s education system and the policy changes needed to improve it.

A key finding: Although better positioned than ever before to pursue” broad and ambitious goals for students, California’s education system lacks coherence. More specifically, “Governance structures are fragmented, and policies have proliferated over time, often creating disconnected, contradictory, and burdensome guidance to schools,” writes Susanna Loeb, director of the SCALE Initiative.

Education’s Disappearing Act in California’s Governor’s Race

When Gov. Brown returned to the governorship for a second time in 2010, average spending on education per student was a mere $8,340, putting California dead last in the nation. During the current school year, average spending per students is $24,500, an enormous increase, putting California at the national average, after adjusting for high labor costs in the state. That’s according to an analysis from the exhaustive Getting Down to Facts initiative issued last month.

It’s time to make California’s education system work better for our kids

In contrast, California’s system has led to relatively poor student performance — just 46% of California 4th graders are proficient in English, while just 42% are proficient in math, according to Children Now’s 2026 California Children’s Report Card. The Getting Down to Facts III report released this month also confirmed the need for education governance reform as a pre-requisite to the other major reforms needed to improve student performance.

We cannot wait any longer to address a core reason for our state’s education failures. Will adopting the governor’s proposal miraculously change student outcomes and solve all our issues? Of course not. But governance is foundational to improving our student achievement. It is critical that our education system has clear accountability for delivering support to students and getting results. With nearly 1000 organizations across California in agreement, now is the time to make California’s education system work better for our kids.

California’s high ROI investment in teacher pipeline is paying off, but at risk of faltering

The pull to pivot back to cheaper shortcuts — like emergency credentials — just to ensure there is an adult in every room is a false, short-term economy.  The most recent Getting Down To Facts III review underscores this.

Emergency credentials are a crisis-management tool that only begets more crises, especially when they lead to higher burnout, lower student achievement, and ultimately cost the state more when those teachers leave within 18 months. 

Now is the time for districts to take stock and double down on what talent strategies are resulting in a true return on investment. Districts should be strategically using the resources provided by the state’s Local Control Funding Formula and federal funding streams to support effective, sustainable, long-term teacher talent pipelines. But the state has a critical role in supporting the tuition costs of earning a teaching credential, especially for teachers choosing to work in low-income school communities.

NEPC Talks Education: An Interview With Susanna Loeb About the Stanford SCALE Initiative Project