All throughout the previous year, we held our collective breaths in hope for a “return to normal,” while recognizing that whatever we returned to would look very different. As school starts this fall, after a year of interrupted learning imposed...

At the start of a school year, kids usually show up with oversized backpacks stocked with fresh pencils, crisp notebooks and snacks. This back-to-school season, many children will carry extra baggage. Eighteen months of an unprecedented pandemic turned routines—including going...

America’s future is figuratively on the line. After a year and a half of remote and hybrid learning, children across the United States have fallen desperately behind, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Co., which estimates that the average American...

Advancing equity continues to be a major focus for California public education at all levels of the system. Yet, as education leaders and school business officials, it’s not always easy to press your way forward into the noisy, bustling, sometimes...

The pandemic altered our understanding of how schools could and should operate as well. Now, as we return for a new school year and districts are poised to receive a major infusion of federal and state funding, we have an...

The Education Department projects that homelessness within the public school system has increased by an astounding 70% in the past ten years. This poses problems when the school bell rings, but those issues don’t dissipate when class is not in...

Thanks to unprecedented funding from the American Rescue Plan and other federal, state, and local resources, school districts across the country are leveraging several evidence-informed strategies to accelerate learning and provide students with needed supports and services. Local initiatives include...

To improve accountability and transparency in California’s special education system, funding should bypass local cost-sharing consortiums and go directly to school districts, according to a new report. Compiled by researchers at the nonpartisan consulting firm West Ed, is the second of a two-part study of ways to improve funding for California’s 725,000 students with disabilities in K-12 public schools. The report will be presented to the Governor, Legislature, and other State officials.

Any effort to reach students disproportionately affected by the pandemic must address the needs of English learners (ELs). These students have always been underserved and underfunded by the U.S. education system. And now, data suggests that these students have been...

With the 2020-21 school year in the rearview mirror, now is the opportunity to take a breath and turn our attention to how we want to approach the upcoming school year to maximize recovery. To expand our understanding of the...

With the 2020–21 school year in the rearview mirror, now is the opportunity to take a breath and turn our attention to how we want to approach the upcoming school year to maximize recovery. As data experts, we believe that...

With coronavirus numbers creeping up, online learning in flux and public health departments revising their return-to-campus guidelines almost week by week, parents, educators and experts are increasingly turning to summer school to try to figure out fall.

Although California parents strongly favor full campus reopenings in the fall, they want school districts to offer online learning options, according to a statewide survey that indicates uncertainties ahead for in-person attendance. More than two-thirds of parents agree that eligible...

As districts plan for reopening schools in the fall, many parents, educators and policymakers are concerned about reengaging students, especially students who experienced trauma, stress and disrupted learning during the pandemic.Across California, their conversations are about how to reimagine schools...

A new law offers California students several ways to make up for lost learning after the profound disruptions of the pandemic year. Under AB104, signed into law Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, K-12 students have a number of options to...

Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed a law to help alleviate the pandemic’s effect on grades and graduation credits by giving California students an opportunity to redo a grade level. Assembly Bill 104, now law, creates a range of grading options to accommodate K-12 students who struggled during the 2020-21 academic year, when distance learning disrupted classroom routines.

Schools are emphasizing summer programs—some underway now, and others still to come, as summer break varies across the country—in part because they fear remote learning wasn't the best for academic and social growth. Just how far behind students fell is...

Research supports ‘restorative restart’ for schools. A new report from PACE lays out 14 “restorative actions” educators should take in the 2021-22 school year to welcome students back and begin the foundational work for creating change within school systems.“Restorative Restart...

As mask mandates are dropped in many public places in the United States and coronavirus vaccines become available for Americans aged 11 and up, many parents are wondering if their children will finally head back to the classroom this fall...

Governor Gavin Newsom and the Legislature have the resources needed to take bold action on youth homelessness. Thanks to significant growth in the state’s economy and federal stimulus funds, California policymakers have funding to create housing for young people who...

Students in California had relatively high marks for their online learning experiences during the pandemic but were less satisfied with their personal well-being and social relationships, according to a survey released by Policy Analysis for California Education.

Before schools nationwide moved millions of students from classroom seats to screens, educators at Highline Public Schools in South King County wanted to expand online learning. Back then, Highline saw an opportunity: Online education might be good for students who...

Turnaround for Children was featured in the report, “Restorative Restart: The Path Towards Reimagining and Rebuilding Schools. ”Developed by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), the report notes the impact of COVID-19 on all students, but particularly students of color...

To understand the past year only in relation to its losses provides a far too limited view of students’ experiences. We know that a great deal of unexpected learning happened outside of the classroom: some students accelerated in self-paced learning...

As a full return to in-person instruction in the fall seems more likely, almost everyone associated with public education is hoping for a return to some semblance of normalcy.  But with the global pandemic revealing long-standing inequities in stark and painful ways...