Students across the nation, including in Kern County are testing lower than required for their grade level as a result of virtual learning in the past year and a half. Teachers said it helps that the students are back in...
The number of credentialed special education teachers in California has not kept up with demand, a shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The State Teacher Retirement System reported a 26% increase in teacher retirements in the last half of 2020...
A growing number of California students are participating in dual enrollment courses—college classes taken while still in high school. But making dual enrollment courses equitable and accessible to even more students hinges on a variety of factors. Experts say these...
The Hoover Education Success Initiative (HESI) presented a six-part webinar series this fall that explored how public education can improve moving forward given the ongoing disruption of in-person instruction caused by COVID-19-inspired restrictions, as well as foundations of the system...
As California’s wildfires attest, climate change is here, and its effects are being felt now. What President Joe Biden calls a “code red” moment should cause deep reflection on how all of us can prepare for a hotter world. California...
Since May 2020, the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative (NCOLI) has created dozens of free resources to support districts to center equity by returning students to school safely through the use of outdoor spaces for learning. In the spring and...
Much of the discourse around learning loss has gotten stuck on what to call it. Learning lag, interrupted learning and unfinished learning are favored among academics, because knowledge did not vanish from the minds of young people. Kids just didn’t...
The COVID crisis led to a windfall of taxpayer dollars for our local schools. It was much-needed money but all that isn’t being spent. And, if it doesn’t get used, millions, even billions, could go away. NBC Bay Area’s Raj...
The COVID-19 pandemic crippled learning for many students, leaving some kids years behind their classmates. In June, the non-profit Policy Analysis for California Education released a report showing students at 19 school districts were about two and a half months...
The abrupt switch to remote instruction caused by the pandemic has created potentially irreparable setbacks for the students who can least afford the disruption—low-income students of color, English learners, students with disabilities and others who have been historically underserved. The...
Using data to help guide decisions about increasing student engagement, providing extended learning opportunities, and finding effective ways to communicate with parents and students can help boost attendance rates as students adjust to full-time, in-person learning. The timely analysis of...
The Biden-Harris administration from the start proposed sweeping higher education policies that many advocates praised as long overdue and much needed to tackle equity issues that the pandemic brought to the fore. Months later, Congress this week, has been debating...
As of Sept. 23, Piedmont, Hayward, and Oakland students — 12 and older — must be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing to attend school in person. This mandate goes into effect starting November for Piedmont and December 17 for Hayward...
The metaphor “summer slide” has been used for decades to describe the essential skills that children lose over the summer when they’re out of school. Though this term was popular before 2020, unfortunately it is now the least of many...
As parents fearful of coronavirus’s spread and frustrated with their schools’ forays into remote learning seek other options, they are increasingly turning to virtual for-profit charter schools. Numerous studies show that parents of color were more likely to keep their...
Gerald C. Hayward passed away peacefully at home in Sacramento, CA on September 11, 2021 at the age of 83. His influence lives on in the continuing work of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), the research center he cofounded...
A 2018 study of student digital literacy skills found that only 2% of eighth grade students in the U.S. scored at the highest level of computer and information literacy. Education experts were quick to point out that this should not...
A report from a coalition of bipartisan education groups—including the California PTA, the California Teachers Association and Policy Analysis for California Education—has urged schools to use their COVID funding to support mental health programs this year. The report recommends school...
Canada’s literacy gap was an issue long before the pandemic. But as the health crisis continues to exacerbate existing economic and health challenges, while increasing levels of precarity, instability and inequality in many households, the need to address the problem...
A new study examines how the pandemic affected scholarly research and early education careers of those who were suddenly at a precipice of funding shortages or program cuts. The past year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a...
Literacy is about more than being able to read or not. It refers to how well people understand and use printed information to function in society and the economy. Research suggests the pandemic has not only increased inequities in literacy...
If voters recall Governor Gavin Newsom on Sept. 14, the Republican who then replaces him should grow armadillo armor, gird for a combative year and temper expectations about campaign promises he made to reform California education. That won’t happen in...
As the Los Angeles Unified School District searches for a superintendent for the fourth time in the past decade, many are wondering who is qualified to run a 710-square-mile district with a student population approximately the size of Wyoming—and who...
As we consider what we have learned during the COVID-19 pandemic about the new skills needed for future superintendent success, who will lead that debate on the future state of superintendent preparation? Will it be traditional universities and their education...
