After ending my fourth term as president of the California State Board of Education in 2019, I have begun to reflect, in my sixth decade of education policy, about what I did right and what I should have done differently...
While an essential and very important part of USC Rossier’s mission is to prepare the next generation of education practitioners, leaders and scholars, we do so much more. Unlike many other academic schools or departments, a school of education is...
PACE co-founder Michael W. Kirst, former president of the California Board of Education (1977–1981 and 2011–2019), highlights in a new PACE commentary findings from his Learning Policy Institute report Standards-Based Education Reforms: Looking Back to Looking Forward, which analyzes the evolution of standards-based reforms in the United States. Kirst issues a call to action: California needs a strategic and tactical roadmap to improve instructional capacity in classrooms statewide. The commentary offers four recommendations: return the CDE to its former role of providing technical assistance on how to implement subject matter standards; strengthen COEs for effective capacity building; reorient the district role to focus on instructional capacity; and design the roadmap for targeted district support. Without a unified strategy, California risks more uneven progress. A comprehensive, coordinated approach is essential to equipping educators with the tools they need to deliver equitable, standards-aligned instruction to all students.
With president-elect Donald Trump putting together his cabinet at a record pace, one of his most recent picks is for secretary of Education. Linda McMahon, who led the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term, has been chosen--but has minimal...
Education has never been a top priority of President-elect Donald Trump’s, but that doesn’t mean schools — or students — will be immune from Trump’s agenda in the next four years, education experts say. Trump may slash school funding, cut civil...
The re-election of former President Donald Trump is certain to bring a period of conflict,tension and litigation between his White House and California’s political and education leaders whose policies and values the president-elect castigates. It also could potentially have major...
I dreamed of following in my mother’s footsteps to become a teacher. We would spend our Augusts decorating her classrooms with cheesy quotes and fun colors. During the year, she would grade assignments and share her elementary school students’ funny...
This month we want to highlight the work in Grass Valley. The Improvement Team is engaged in year two of the P3CC Literacy Collaboration. Grass Valley has focused on Preschool through 3rd grade coherence as foundational to their district-wide initiative...
Sierra House Elementary in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District is working to develop a sustainable math system that focuses on enhancing both teaching and learning experiences. One of their key initiatives includes embedding open tasks in student experiences, which...
A recent report from Policy Analysis for California Education aims to provide education leaders with a better understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it can be used in education by exploring its potential strengths and limitations. Generative AI in...
The rise of AI promises new solutions to long-standing challenges. It also introduces some challenges of its own. In addition to concerns over privacy, bias and reliability, AI is driving a flood of new products in a broad range of...
When a new intervention or program is introduced, the conventional wisdom among many seasoned educators is, “This too shall pass.” This attitude doesn’t mean an intervention is not promising or educators are not flexible and innovative. Rather, it emerges from...
With all the hubris of a startup founder, Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, took to the stage in March to launch Ed the chatbot. He told parents and students it had “the potential to personalize the...
There was a lot of conversation during the pandemic about how school districts’ scramble to deliver content fully virtually could fundamentally change K-12 learning. But did that become a reality? While most public school educators were eager to return to...
Cops rush to reports of students attempting suicide and overdosing on drugs, bullying, sexual assault and unwanted touching. They surveil high schoolers leaving campuses for lunch. They break up fights between parents over spots in elementary school pickup queues. They...
The appearance of Moms for Liberty in Clark County is bringing new attention to otherwise low-profile school board races. Tuesday’s primary will be a test of whether the group can translate the waves it makes in school board meeting public...
In this Campaign for Grade-Level Reading (CGLR) Learning session hosted in partnership with the LEARN Network, panelists discussed scaling evidence-based products and practices and had a detailed discussion on how to effectively implement and scale educational interventions across different contexts...
State agencies and school districts nationwide are actively working to address the problem of teacher shortages, often while simultaneously seeking to diversify their educator workforce. As California grapples with the need to improve learning significantly for a student population that is increasingly linguistically and racially diverse, policymakers must focus on opportunities to attract more teachers to the profession, diversify the teacher workforce statewide, and increase teacher retention. We focus on the explicit credential barriers that candidates face when trying to pass state-required basic skills and subject matter exams as well as on how policy improvements could more effectively diversify the teaching profession so that it better reflects the state’s 75 percent students of color. Specifically, we recommend that the state expand how candidates can meet basic skills and subject matter requirements; gather and disaggregate credential exam data by candidate race/ethnicity; reduce teacher education program costs for both individual candidates and programs; and support increased investments in GYO programs.
A conversation with Michelle D. Young, Dean of the Berkeley School of Education. Dean Young discusses the significance of leadership development and effective learning experiences for school leaders, particularly emphasizing the need for equity-oriented and culturally responsive leadership. Highlighting the...
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...
A Hayward elementary school struggling to boost low test scores and dismal student attendance is spending $250,000 in federal money for an organization called Woke Kindergarten to train teachers to confront white supremacy, disrupt racism and oppression and remove those...
Dedicated mentorship, training for potential superintendents, and trust-building are some of the solutions to curb the growing number of superintendents in California who are leaving the job, according to panelists at Tuesday’s EdSource roundtable discussion, “Superintendents are quitting: What can...
Teachers, who too often are left to work in isolation and lack instructional support or clear expectations, are struggling to help students rebound academically and personally post-pandemic. Policy Analysis for California Education’s (PACE) December report What Does It Take to...
In its ongoing commitment to foster development of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) identities in girls and nonbinary youth, the Fleet Science Center proudly showcases three key programs that San Diegans can engage with now. Expanded learning initiatives allow...
Two years after schools returned to in-person learning, students are struggling to meet math and English standards on statewide tests. Their mental health is also suffering and they’re missing lots of days of school. EdSource brought together a panel of...
