During the 2020-2021 school year, some students managed to stay on track academically throughout remote and hybrid learning, while many others experienced the COVID slide we had feared. Unfortunately, this variation in student knowledge is nothing new. COVID-19 has just exacerbated it. When your students’ learning gaps vary so widely, with so much learning loss to address, the stakes are high to properly diagnose each student’s needs. The question isn’t whether to assess, but how.

In 2013, policymakers replaced California’s convoluted education funding system with the Local Control Funding Formula, which streamlined dollars into a simplified formula. The revamped formula provides a base amount of funding for each student, plus supplemental dollars for students classified...

This week on State of the Bay, we'll talk about the state of school reopening with SF Chronicle education reporter Jill Tucker.  Then we'll do a deep dive into pandemic learning loss and how it can be addressed with Heather...

Tony Thurmond, California’s state superintendent of public instruction, didn’t expect the school closures across the state last year to last more than a few weeks. County school superintendents that he spoke with about the pandemic response weren’t too concerned either...

As momentum builds to reopen schools, education experts say they're concerned about students who have fallen behind during the pandemic. They are worried that achievement gaps are widening—especially for English language learners.

Before billions of dollars in expanded learning funding was approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom via Assembly Bill 86, researchers, practitioners and policy influencers met to discuss the status of expanded learning in California and how it is meeting student needs...

Increasingly exasperated that most public schools remain closed even as coronavirus cases plummet nearly a year into the pandemic, California parents are taking to the streets. They’re protesting in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley. They’re trying to recall school board...

While many teachers still endure remote instruction and the Zoom fatigue that comes with it, more and more are returning to schools. Over half the nation’s districts have reopened and children are returning to classrooms, including urban centers like Chicago...

While many teachers still endure remote instruction and the Zoom fatigue that comes with it, more and more are returning to schools. Over half the nation’s districts have reopened and children are returning to classrooms, including urban centers like Chicago...

A long-awaited deal to encourage California’s schools to reopen may provide families hope, but it’s unlikely to swiftly improve Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political standing. It has been almost a year since California schools shut their doors indefinitely to combat the...

Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders have unveiled another plan to prod public schools across California to reopen. It provides $2 billion to districts that resume in-person instruction by March 31, another $4.6 billion to address learning loss, and punishes...

The president of a Los Angeles teachers' union said Monday that the state's plan to return to in-person learning is "propagating structural racism." Her comments come after California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday reached a deal with state Democratic lawmakers...

As the momentum builds to reopen schools in California, early evidence suggests that English-learning students have fallen behind more than their peers. Education experts say school leaders should act now to reverse a widening achievement gap between students with financial...

When leading assessment providers released data in November on pandemic-related learning loss, the news wasn’t as dreadful as some had predicted. But new attempts to dig deeper into the results from two states now show that many students, particularly those...

A study of San Francisco students found that students of color and low-income students have suffered the most as the school district has stuck to virtual learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. School district data from fall 2020 showed that low-income...

One of the most interesting things about the COVID-19 pandemic is the way it has exposed previously existing flaws in so many government institutions. Many of California’s long-standing problems, from housing to the criminal justice system to business regulation have...

Interviews with eight parents in five states showed how Edgenuity software was pressed into duty by some school districts as a kind of all-in-one approach to remote learning after Covid-19 shuttered most schools nationwide 11 months ago. It's one piece...

It is an all too common story across the Bay Area as school closures stretch on, with most large districts stuck in 100% online classes heading into a second year. Once thriving children, with good grades, extracurricular interests and dreams...

When leading assessment providers released data in November on pandemic-related learning loss, the news wasn’t as dreadful as some had predicted. But new attempts to dig deeper into the results from two states now show that many students, particularly those...

Across California, students in elementary and middle school are experiencing significant learning loss, according to a report released in late January. English learners and students from low-income families have seen greater losses, according to Policy Analysis for California Education, a...

There is near unanimous, bipartisan agreement that tutoring is among the most promising, evidence-based strategies to help students struggling with learning loss. Decades of rigorous evaluations have consistently found that tutoring programs yield large, positive effects on math and reading...

Nearly a year after schools closed campuses, most of Sacramento County’s 250,000 students are still attending school via distance learning, all while thousands of students in neighboring counties managed to return to in-person instruction months ago. Many parents have hit...

The aim of this commentary—released as part of a series on expanded learning partnerships and learning hubs in a distance learning context—is to provide actionable guidance for districts, schools, and expanded learning providers interested in best serving youth in the...

This news agency surveyed every public school district in some of the Bay Area’s largest counties—Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Marin—and found that 100% of school districts with 2019 median household incomes of at least $200,000 offer...