Since COVID-19 shut down classrooms in March 2020, education advocates, teachers and parents have repeatedly sounded the alarm, saying extended closures and distance learning would stymie students’ achievements. During the pandemic, students across ethnic groups saw an increase in Ds and...

California’s K–12 students experienced significant academic setbacks during the 2020-21 school year of mainly remote learning, showing growing achievement gaps, lagging progress in math and English, increased chronic absenteeism and a slight decline in the statewide graduation rate, according to...

As communities continue dealing with the fallout of the pandemic and districts grapple with how best to spend an influx of one-time funding to support students, experts say there is no better time to begin looking into community school models. The...

Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Jorge Aguilar provides an update on school reopening amid Omicron and updates on the district’s vaccine mandate ahead of its January 31st deadline.

The 2021-22 school year was supposed to have been a rebound to normalcy, with Covid in the rear-view mirror. Instead, midway through, the year has been “shock and overload,” with teachers and administrators “working harder and losing ground,” as Mike...

California high school seniors were in 10th grade when the Covid-19 pandemic closed schools and sent them home to learn. This year, many seniors are either struggling to earn enough credits to graduate or, because of a new state law...

It didn’t take long before the consequences of the pandemic shone a spotlight on the growing inequities within our communities and systems. Existing disparities in housing and food security, education, and health care, for example, grew wider between socioeconomic and...

The bottom line is: Spanish is just one of the many languages spoken by members of the Latino community. This problem has bled into schools, where administrators and teachers don’t know that their students speak an indigenous language, and don’t...

Students across the nation, including in Kern County are testing lower than required for their grade level as a result of virtual learning in the past year and a half. Teachers said it helps that the students are back in...

The Hoover Education Success Initiative (HESI) presented a six-part webinar series this fall that explored how public education can improve moving forward given the ongoing disruption of in-person instruction caused by COVID-19-inspired restrictions, as well as foundations of the system...

Since May 2020, the National COVID-19 Outdoor Learning Initiative (NCOLI) has created dozens of free resources to support districts to center equity by returning students to school safely through the use of outdoor spaces for learning. In the spring and...

Much of the discourse around learning loss has gotten stuck on what to call it. Learning lag, interrupted learning and unfinished learning are favored among academics, because knowledge did not vanish from the minds of young people. Kids just didn’t...

Using data to help guide decisions about increasing student engagement, providing extended learning opportunities, and finding effective ways to communicate with parents and students can help boost attendance rates as students adjust to full-time, in-person learning. The timely analysis of...

As of Sept. 23, Piedmont, Hayward, and Oakland students — 12 and older — must be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing to attend school in person. This mandate goes into effect starting November for Piedmont and December 17 for Hayward...

A report from a coalition of bipartisan education groups—including the California PTA, the California Teachers Association and Policy Analysis for California Education—has urged schools to use their COVID funding to support mental health programs this year. The report recommends school...

The term “learning loss” is too often used to describe the restorative restart needed in California’s most underserved communities for the 2021-2022 academic year. It is accurate that many students have experienced enormous disruptions in their lives and learning, but...

With Fall fast approaching, parents and teachers alike are wondering if this school year will bring with it some normalcy. But with over three-quarters of school districts offering remote learning options, many are worried the pitfalls of the past year...

All 50 states closed schools to in-person instruction at some point during the 2019-2020 academic year, and the closures continued for more than a year in many districts throughout the country. Now, some students are returning to full-time, in-person instruction...

A year and a half into the Covid-19 pandemic, schools are reopening amid more uncertainty than ever. Just about the only thing districts know for sure is that last year’s lockdowns and online learning were a disaster for the emotional...

One of the major disruptions to daily life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was the rapid shift from in-person K–12 education to virtual learning. While necessary for social distancing and slowing the spread of disease, there is a concern that...

The pandemic has touched many students with heightened stress, disruptions and remote learning hurdles, but experts say it may have the greatest impact on the youngest learners, those in the formative years of learning to read. Creating a language-rich environment on...

As most students in California return to the classroom, many educators and parents are concerned that a year or more of Zoom school means students may be lagging behind where they would have been if there had been no pandemic. Learning loss...

Distance learning and the coronavirus have taken an undeniable toll on students who have suffered from isolation, learning loss and trauma during the past year and a half. West Contra Costa Unified and many districts across California are planning a...

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s been clear that not all students have been impacted by the switch to online learning in the same ways. The greatest impacts have fallen on young children, as well as English language learners and low-income...