As more than 6 million California students head back to school this fall, this year isn’t about fresh notebooks, sharpened pencils and new backpacks. Students, parents and educators are navigating a new world of virtual learning, with the vast majority...

The COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide reckoning about institutional racism have cast a bright light on longstanding inequities in our educational system. On August 17, 2020 we heard from UC Davis experts about the latest research into educational disparities for...

Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) recently published a report (and a corresponding brief, titled: Supporting Learning in the COVID-19 Context) for educators and district leaders in California. The recommendations set forth in the publication are drawn from both evidence...

Addressing equity challenges has been the consistent thread that runs through major California education policies of the last decade. However, educational inequities, already significant prior to COVID-19, have been exacerbated by the pandemic’s education disruptions. How can we make Multi-Tiered...

COVID-19 has created an unprecedented challenge for America’s K-12 schools. As policymakers and practitioners struggle to respond, they are weighing significant uncertainty and trade-offs that arise because of education, health, and budgetary concerns. The consensus is that students learned less...

California’s method of funding special education will become streamlined and a little more equitable, thanks to a provision in the recently passed state budget. The 2020-21 budget fixes a decades-old quirk in the funding formula that had left vast differences...

Many teachers, students and their families can agree on one thing after experiencing the unexpected hurricane that was distance learning this spring: It must improve—especially in the earliest grades, transitional kindergarten through second grade. Our youngest students, from ages 4...

With research showing that low-income students will fall behind their wealthy peers if schools operate remotely due to COVID-19, and a renewed focus on racial equality, there’s a new report from WalletHub that ranks 115 North Carolina school systems on...

The past few months have not been good ones for the promise of peer-to-peer interaction. Schools, linked with socialization at least as far back as Plato’s “Republic,” have been closed since March. On July 17, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that...

This has been a year like no other for everyone. Students have had their school year abruptly end, their summer plans canceled, and are now facing the realities of the fall semester. Most school districts don’t even know if they...

A week before some California districts start school, many parents remain in the dark about what online learning will look like as teachers unions and districts negotiate instruction plans — in some cases behind closed doors. Major points of contention...

Students, their families and educators continue to experience increased physical and mental health concerns, isolation and economic hardship as a result of COVID-19. To best serve their communities, many districts and schools will need to develop stronger systems of support...

Frustrated Bay Area families already know classes will be online when school starts in the coming weeks, but many still have no idea when their K-12 students will have to log on for lessons or how many hours of live...

As kids start school with more online learning, parents wonder whether they’ll ever catch up. Here’s how to set them up for success.

The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board interviewed Richard Barrera on Jan. 14, 2020, ahead of the March 3, 2020, primary election. Barrera, the incumbent, is the only candidate who qualified for the ballot in the San Diego Unified School Board...

When schools shut down this spring due to COVID-19, a plethora of new concerns popped up, including students who do not have access to the internet, mental health, and health in general for students and family members sick with COVID...

For most California students in schools and colleges, the fall term will look like the middle of spring: online with little to no in-person instruction. But if students and parents accepted the rapid switch to online in March and April...

For most California students in schools and colleges, the fall term will look like the middle of spring: online with little to no in-person instruction.  But if students and parents accepted the rapid switch to online in March and April...

On this edition of Your Call, we'll find out how families and educators are preparing for another semester of remote learning. Here in California, as cases continue to rise, 90 percent of K-12 schools will operate remotely.

Parents across the...

In California, Stanford University researcher Deborah Stipek is urging California leaders to consider which pre-K programs are most likely to benefit children who have lost opportunities to learn during the pandemic. “Given the limited resources for [early-childhood education], it is...

Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced that all K–12 schools in California counties with rising COVID-19 infections should close for in-person instruction. As a result, 90% of California’s more than 6 million students could start the school year with distance learning...

Nearly 200 education researchers, including some who disagree fiercely on policy issues, have united around a set of recommendations for helping America’s schools navigate the current crisis.

When California’s schools reopen for the 2020–21 school year, they will look dramatically different than before the pandemic. Whether in person, online, or some combination of the two, it will be critical that each student receives rigorous instruction and the...

Decisions to reopen schools or keep them closed are being met with lawsuits on both ends.  Additional lawsuits may be filed to require safer environments and compensation for inadequate services, legal and policy experts say. There will be negligence claims by...