COVID-19 cases are on the rise throughout Los Angeles Unified and the county. Public health experts are urging caution while school officials are looking to keep children in the classroom for their academic progress and emotional well-being. Despite the surge...
A trio of resources recently published by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) — a policy brief “Addressing Inequities in College Preparatory Course-Taking,” a report Inequality in Academic Preparation for College and a resource guide Insights and Strategies from Exemplar...
Nearly a third of K-12 students statewide were chronically absent in 2020-21, more than three times the pre-pandemic rate. Some school officials fear that pattern will become the new normal. As a new school year gets underway in California, districts...
As hundreds of thousands of migrant students enroll in U.S. schools annually, districts are responding in a variety of ways to help welcome students to schools, as well as support their academic and social needs once they are enrolled. The...
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...
As nearly half a million Los Angeles Unified School District students head back to school today, they’re joined by a younger cohort than in the past: 4-year-olds. The district is offering universal transitional kindergarten at every public elementary school this...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is fashioning himself as the Democratic counterweight to Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, who has staked his presidential campaign on his war on “wokeness” and railed against what he and other conservatives describe as left-wing indoctrination...
Two Whittier Union high schools have been recognized for their success in guiding students toward completing rigorous coursework required to attend a California four-year university, significantly narrowing the achievement and equity gap, and providing these students an opportunity to have...
Educators, policymakers, and researchers find themselves now, more than ever, at a moment of inflection. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated health and wellness disparities, food insecurity, housing challenges, and the digital divide. Our country is poised to confront its history...
As the new school year begins, parents, researchers, advocates, and educators are still trying to untangle the academic, mental and social-emotional consequences of the pandemic. There is no one answer to the question: Are the kids OK? Academics with a...
Artificial intelligence (AI) encompasses a broad set of tools developed to perform tasks that have historically required human intelligence. The new generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are not programmed with a specific set of instructions; rather, they are trained on sets of data and algorithms that guide how they respond to prompts. We are increasingly using a range of AI tools—such as autopopulate suggestions, navigation systems, facial recognition on phones, and ChatGPT—in many aspects of our lives. Because of the prevalence and power of these tools, their rapid development, and their potential to be truly disruptive—in positive and negative ways—it is critical that school districts develop policies, guidelines, and supports for the productive use of AI in schools. Later in this commentary, we discuss many of the short-term positives and negatives of using AI in schools. The greatest impact of AI, however, is how it can transform teachers’ roles and student learning.
he start of a new school year is soon approaching, but there is a major question left unresolved: What are schools going to do about generative AI? Since ChatGPT’s release on November 30, 2022, educators have been slow to address...
In its first public statement on the issue, the California Department of Education last week defended its right to pursue a breach of a data partnership agreement against a Stanford University education professor for participating in a lawsuit against it...
With the latest national test results showing a dispiriting lack of progress in catching students up academically in the wake of the pandemic, one potential explanation stands out: stubbornly high rates of student absenteeism. Vast numbers of students haven’t returned...
The California Department of Education has threatened to sue two prominent Stanford University education professors to prevent them from testifying in a lawsuit against the department — actions the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California calls an attempt to...
Last week’s tussles between state officials and a pair of Southern California school boards may have died down, but they’ve thrown a spotlight on deeper tensions over who makes decisions for local schools — a rift that’s likely to grow...
I recently saw a sign that said: “Make school board meetings boring again!” It could have been a directive to two Southern California school districts, Temecula Valley and Chino Valley, the only two school district board meetings that I’ve had...
Students from marginalized groups often question whether or not they should be in our classes and disciplines. In this episode, Michal Kurlaender joins us to discuss an easy to implement intervention that faculty can use to improve retention and student...
A few weeks ago, we took a look at generative AI’s potential to change teaching and learning on college campuses around the country. This week, I spoke with experts and educators in K-12 to see what they think about these...
Led by our youth advocacy department, SDUSD’s leadership has decided to celebrate diverse perspectives through the lens of underrepresented groups. In at least some way, we’ve decided to address the traditional narrowing of our full California and U.S. history, too...
Chancellor Carol Christ and several other top UC Berkeley officials say the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling today, that public and private universities cannot use race as a factor in admitting students, is regrettable. They warned the decision will reduce opportunities...
For decades, selective U.S. colleges and universities have considered, among other factors, whether applicants are from underrepresented minority groups, including Black, Hispanic and Native American. For just as long, critics of affirmative action have questioned whether race-conscious admissions policies are...
Overly punitive approaches don’t work. Teacher Alice C. said that schools need more resources to support the individual student needs that contribute to poor attendance. The biggest challenges are “lack of supports/resources to provide trauma and other mental health responses...
For many school districts in California, the flush years of budget windfalls are decidedly over. Declining enrollment, expiring Covid funds, inflation and ballooning staff costs have combined to lead some districts — particularly those in urban areas — to make...
