What We’re Watching in California Education: October 2025 Edition
Welcome to the October 2025 edition of What We’re Watching in California Education, a newsletter that we hope will offer you insight into public education conversations happening at our state Capitol. The state legislature has adjourned for interim recess, and the Governor now has until October 12 to sign or veto bills. Keep reading for updates on recent education policy developments.
Here are the toplines:
- Accountability and the Dashboard: The State Board of Education approved updates to the California School Dashboard and will revise Differentiated Assistance criteria by July 2026, offering an important chance to strengthen equity and student outcomes.
- College Access and Affordability: FAFSA rollout, dual enrollment expansion, and new equity-focused policy agenda.
- Literacy: California is updating its instructional materials adoption for the first time in a decade, strengthening teacher training, and implementing K-2 reading screeners, key steps to improve early literacy statewide.
Accountability and the California School Dashboard
The State Board of Education (SBE) concluded its 2025 Accountability Workplan at the July board meeting and began setting the agenda for 2026. These updates, while highly technical, are central to how California measures school performance and directs support to districts most in need.
Dashboard Updates
The SBE approved several indicator changes:
- Science and ELA/Math Growth: First introduced in 2024, these growth measures are being refined this year. While still considered “for informational use only,” they signal an important step toward capturing student progress beyond static test scores.
- Long-Term English Learners (LTELs): ELA and Math results will no longer count toward Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) accountability criteria for this group.
- College/Career Indicator (CCI): New preparedness criteria, including passing two AP courses as an option.
- Teacher Assignment Data: For the first time, school-level reporting will show the percentage of fully credentialed teachers on the Dashboard.
Read more about these indicators in GO’s California School Dashboard Guide. The 2025 Dashboard will be released on November 13, GO will release an updated guide to follow this winter.
Differentiated Assistance
AB 121, this year’s education budget trailer bill, requires the SBE to revise criteria for identifying Local Education Agencies (LEAs) for Differentiated Assistance (DA) by July 2026. This is a pivotal opportunity to improve how California supports struggling districts. DA identifies LEAs not meeting performance targets on the Dashboard, particularly those showing significant gaps (e.g. “red” results for a student group across two or more LCFF priority areas). Identified LEAs receive targeted support from the California Department of Education (CDE).
- Strengths of the current system include:
- Use of multiple measures of performance and progress (e.g., not only academic indicators but also school climate)
- A strong focus on student groups, which is essential for advancing equity.
- A collaborative, improvement-science approach to support.
- Challenges include:
- Nearly half of LEAs (47%) qualified for DA in 2024, straining the state’s capacity to provide meaningful support.
- Balancing the need to “right-size” the number of identified LEAs without lowering expectations for student outcomes and progress.
- Possible adjustments needed to criteria, such raising expectations in the English Language Proficiency Indicator, weighting academic indicators equally with other measures, adding science and ELA/math growth as criteria, and reexamining the role of local indicators.
GO Public Schools, along with other members of the LCFF Equity Coalition and Alliance for Students, will be engaging in research and policy advocacy to ensure that revisions strengthen equity and lead to measurable improvements in student outcomes.
College Access and Affordability
Expanding access to higher education remains a challenging issue for California students and families. Recent developments highlight both progress and persistent challenges.
- Financial Aid: The 2026-27 FAFSA is officially open for all students! With recent federal adjustments, this year’s FAFSA will include several new features. Families will now benefit from a streamlined contributor invitation system. Additionally, eligibility for Pell Grants has been expanded, giving more families access to critical financial support. The federal government is also piloting a new Workforce Pell Grant, designed to help students pursuing shorter-term, career-focused programs. Learn more about this year’s process in our upcoming guide, A Parent’s Guide to Financial Aid, dropping next week and attend our Financial Aid Fundamentals webinar event for students, families, and practitioners on October 29. RSVP for the webinar here. This session is purposefully split into two tracks so you get exactly what you need:
- Families and Students Session: A clear, supportive walkthrough of FAFSA and CADAA basics, designed to answer questions from families in real time.
- Practitioners Session in Partnership with SoCal CAN: Strategies, resources, and inspired tips for those who support students in completing financial aid applications.
- Cal Fresh- Student Eligibility SB 761 (Ashby), a GO-supported bill, has passed through the legislature and is now on the governor’s desk to sign. If signed, SB 761 would expand access to CalFresh for college students by streamlining eligibility processes and reducing administrative hurdles. This legislation could significantly improve food security for students balancing academics, work, and financial strain.
- The Northern California College Promise Coalition (NCCPC), in which GO participates, has released their 2025-28 policy agenda, prioritizing:
- protecting student data
- safeguarding and strengthening financial resources
- amplifying early wealth-building programs (e.g., CalKIDS)
- advancing racial and gender equity.
- Other College Access & Affordability News:
Literacy Updates
The 2025-26 school year marks a turning point for literacy policy in California. Several major initiatives are rolling out simultaneously, creating new opportunities to strengthen early reading outcomes.
- ELA/ELD Instructional Materials: The 2025-26 Budget Act launched a new supplemental adoption cycle for English Language Arts (ELA) and English Language Development (ELD) instructional materials, the first in a decade. AB 1454 builds on this to require districts to either adopt state-approved materials or certify that their own materials meet evidence-based literacy standards. This will be a critical opportunity to ensure curricula meet the needs of all students, including English learners and students with disabilities. AB 1454 has passed through the legislature and was signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 9! Applications are now open to join the Instructional Materials Review Panels, which will begin meeting in early 2026.
- Teacher Preparation and Professional Development: New policies strengthen support for both teacher candidates and current educators. Beginning this year, teacher candidates will replace the RICA exam with a Literacy Performance Assessment to demonstrate knowledge of reading instruction. For current teachers, the budget trailer bill provides funding for literacy-focused professional development (PD), and directs the SBE to create criteria, guidance, and an aligned provider list for training on effective literacy instruction.
- Reading Difficulties Risk Screener (RDRS): Starting this year, all California public schools must annually screen K-2 students for risk of reading difficulties. Screenings are already underway in some schools. GO will be closely monitoring local implementations and advocating for meaningful family engagement and data transparency. (Learn more about GO’s work in contributing to WCCUSD’s RDRS plan in this EdSource article and our blog.)
Taken together, these policy shifts signal a new era in California’s literacy strategy, one with the potential to dramatically reduce early reading gaps if implemented equitably and with fidelity. GO Public Schools and other members of the Early Literacy Coalition will be monitoring implementation closely and advocating for equitable, student-centered practices at both the state and local levels.
