Resources to support California schools in creating effective accelerated learning systems that help all students thrive and reach their full potential.
“Now is not the time to take our foot off the accelerator when it comes to doing everything we can to help all our students progress toward mastery of our learning standards and thrive in every way in school.
California’s investments in important initiatives such as high-dose tutoring, professional development for teachers, and expanded learning time, and in such areas as mental health and wellness, are critical to lifting up academic performance across the board while supporting students’ well-being.”
It, instead, requires a system-wide transformation to a student-centered approach that addresses the overlapping learning, behavioral, and emotional needs that support effective learning and teaching. Fortunately, organizations in California and beyond are generously sharing their experiences, models, and research to support our collective efforts toward this worthy goal.
Therefore, as we close out the 2024-25 school year, we have updated the California Playbook for Accelerating Learning (PAL) to incorporate the most recent research and lessons learned from schools, districts, and other experts on how to best create conditions for student success.
The PAL is designed to serve as a resource for instructional service teams and leaders in schools, local educational agencies (LEAs), and county offices of education. It also includes resources these leaders can use directly with other instructional leaders and educators.
Each section of the PAL explores a key component of learning acceleration. In each section, you will find:
- A short explainer of the key component
- An overview of current research and best practices
- Models, examples, and tools from the field
- Links to resources for further learning
Initially published by the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) with support from Copernicus Solutions LLC and Teacher Development Network LLC in 2021, the PAL aimed to distill available resources into a concise and actionable format, helping instructional leaders in California shorten the time it takes to create effective accelerated learning systems. Though the purpose of the PAL remains unchanged, California has taken bold action since 2021 to strengthen the system of support for learning acceleration. The updates to the PAL are intended to incorporate new research, learning, progress, and evolution since its initial publication.
PAL updates were informed by the work and expertise of Learning Acceleration System Grant partners in California through their Professional Learning Network meetings facilitated by the CCEE. The Learning Acceleration System Grant focuses on the development of a California education network to advance student progress, such that students experience a strong and rapid improvement in their mastery of knowledge and skills.
The three grant-funded projects contribute to sustainable learning networks, online learning and resources, and education to:
- Ensure California’s educators have access to high-quality acceleration strategies;
- Demonstrate the impact of evidence-based accelerated learning strategies for students with high needs, including English Learners, students with disabilities, and low-income students; and
- Create or expand existing evidence-based professional development opportunities or guidance for educators, paraprofessionals, and administrators to address students’ learning acceleration.
For more on CCEE’s Learning Acceleration System Grant work, visit the Learning Acceleration System Grant website.
The CCEE acknowledges and appreciates the thoughtful contributions to the PAL by our Learning Acceleration System Grant partners representing many counties and California institutes for higher education. The CCEE extends a special thank you to Jorge Cuevas Antillón, District Advisor for Curriculum/Instruction/Assessment, Spanish Language Literacy, Bilingual Education, Dual Language Program, and English Learner Services for the San Diego County Office of Education for his significant contributions throughout this PAL around effectively supporting Multilingual learners.
What is Learning Acceleration?
What is Learning Acceleration?
Strategic Content Instruction
Strategic Content Instruction
Harness the Power of Data-Driven Instruction
Harness the Power of Data-Driven Instruction
Create the Conditions for Learning Acceleration
Create the Conditions for Learning Acceleration
Embed Strategic Supports for Diverse Learners
Embed Strategic Supports for Diverse Learners
Build Sustainable Learning Acceleration Systems
Build Sustainable Learning Acceleration Systems
Successfully accelerating learning is challenging because it requires a holistic shift in how educators and school systems approach student support. It demands a comprehensive and systematic change that centers learning acceleration in all educational system design decisions, educator professional learning initiatives, and instructional planning for students. It must be aligned with your system’s vision, linked to your Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), and integrated with your Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) efforts to promote coherence, reduce redundancy, and build on existing best practices.
At the state level, the challenge of accelerating progress in California is compounded by the state’s size, diversity, and social conditions of its student population. More than a thousand school districts in the state serve unique communities with their own needs and challenges, from large urban districts to very small rural schools.
California’s challenges reflect not only the state’s size but also its ethnic, cultural, and geographical diversity. This means there is no one way to accelerate learning that we can point to as the right way. By making these resources available in a concise and actionable format, CCEE aims to help instructional leaders in California reduce the time it takes to create effective accelerated learning systems, enabling every student to reach the desired outcomes that align with their schools, communities, and contexts.
Learning acceleration requires an all-hands-on-deck approach and a willingness to diverge from current models. We hope you find the resources in this playbook useful, help you get started, keep you iterating and improving, and provide support at all stages of your work.
Use the menu on top of this page to navigate to a specific page of Playbook for Accelerating Learning, or read one page at time by using the button below.
PAL: Resources to support California schools in creating effective accelerated learning systems that help all students thrive and reach their full potential.
