Shrinking enrollment and vanishing pandemic aid have delivered a financial gut punch to many school districts across the country. The looming reality of comprehensive school reorganization efforts, notably through closures and consolidations, has ignited passionate debates about fairness, equity, and...
Your children could be some of a growing number of California kids having their writing graded by software instead of a teacher. California school districts are signing more contracts for artificial intelligence tools, from automated grading in San Diego to...
State educational agencies are increasingly focused on how to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of AI in their state education settings. To inform state—and district—leaders of key things to consider as they make decisions around AI, OET invited...
No one wants to close schools. Not the communities that cherish their local school. Not the school boards that want to serve the needs of all their students. Not administrators and school district personnel who have to wade through the...
California is synonymous with innovation. Over decades and across sectors, California has been a leader—from tech start-ups to agricultural advances and environmental solutions. In the private sector, companies race to market with their ideas in order to capitalize on ingenuity.California...
Across the country, states are moving to education systems that are more student centered, equitable, and competency based. They are doing so because they understand that the legacy model for educating our young people is not working. Although graduation rates have increased, other markers of progress have not. Standardized test scores remain relatively flat. Achievement and opportunity gaps persist despite decades of increased funding and abundant strategies to reduce them. Chronic absenteeism is near an all-time high. The reality is that too many students do not find school to be interesting, engaging, or relevant for their futures. This is particularly true for youth of color and other marginalized student populations. Rather than continuing to tinker around the edges, we can advance real change! Here’s how.
A recent issue brief by UCLA researchers found that community college bachelor’s degree programs may positively affect the Latino community. The California state legislature passed a law in 2014 titled Senate Bill 850 that permitted community colleges to initiate baccalaureate...
A Contra Costa County school district says it’s fully embracing artificial intelligence, but understands there’s still a lot of unknowns when it comes to the emerging technology.“I think I would step back and recognize that not all districts are embracing...
Closing or consolidating neighborhood schools is a painful decision that no school district or community ever wishes to face, but increasingly it may be on the table due to declining enrollment trends and budgetary pressures. In this episode, host Jason...
Between 2007 and 2022, California saw its K–12 public school enrollment decrease by more than 390,000 students, or more than 6 percent statewide, according to data from the state’s Department of Education. The baby bust is a large contributor to...
As districts consider closures to cope with budgetary declines, new research adds to concerns that schools with higher enrollments of Black students are more likely than other schools to be shut down. “The big picture is that race plays a...
Roughly four dozen Fort Worth ISD campuses are less than 70% occupied, making them likely targets for future closings.Fort Worth ISD officials have discussed the need to make some hard decisions due to challenges driven by dwindling enrollments and underutilized...
One of the only two states to provide schools with official guidance on artificial intelligence so far, Oregon published an explainer on its website with tips, definitions, references and links to helpful resources. The good news is that policy related...
A new resource produced by a group of organizations with expert knowledge on education and technology can serve as a starting point for local educational agencies as they look to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) safely, effectively and responsibly into classrooms...
The development of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is emerging at lightning speed — so much so that the Biden administration just issued its first ever A.I. executive order regarding safety, labor, and civil rights issues. A.I. is already changing education in...
Closing schools is, of course, often a turbulent experience for communities, families and students. But leaders can take some steps to reduce distress with an eye toward equity, says Carrie Hahnel, a senior associate partner for policy and evaluation at...
Whether it’s with artificial intelligence-powered 1:1 tutoring services for students or a course-building aide for teachers, ed tech companies are increasingly embracing AI — especially since ChatGPT entered the scene in November 2022. As education leaders and policymakers weigh the...
Each year about 2% of U.S. public schools permanently close their doors, a trend that has translated in recent years to roughly 1,000 school closures annually. Budgetary constraints or low academic performance are typically cited as justification, but advocates have...
Each year about 2 percent of U.S. public schools permanently close their doors, a trend that has translated in recent years to roughly 1,000 school closures annually. Budgetary constraints or low academic performance are typically cited as justification, but advocates...
Between 20-plus years of plunging birth rates and, more recently, the historically unprecedented fact that more Americans are now moving out of California than into it, state demographics are changing profoundly. This is why the Golden State lost 800,000 in...
Does your district have a dedicated point person on the role of artificial intelligence in K-12 education? Are you requiring vendors that use AI algorithms in their products to ensure they are free from bias? Do you have employees with...
Public school enrollment is declining across the country, and it won’t bounce back anytime soon. The steep drops in K-12 enrollment in the aftermath of COVID-19 exacerbated a much longer-term trend rooted in falling birth rates and slowing immigration. These...
With technology at the palm of your hand, you typically don’t hesitate to look up the answer to a question — and it’s often just a click away. For students, is there anything stopping them from doing the same? How...
Some liken the use of ChatGPT to generate answers from prompts to using a calculator to solve a knotty math problem. Both, proponents argue, are a time saving tool that expands what is possible. Adoption of the technology has been...
Many school districts spent the last academic year trying to seal students off from artificial intelligence. Now, they’re racing to establish AI-friendly classrooms as a new school year kicks off. They’ve crafted rules for AI use among students and trained...
