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...

California’s lowest-performing and most-segregated student group is at risk of being left out of one of the state’s most important education reforms — the unprecedented investment in community schools. At both the February and April 2023 California Advisory Commission on...

Distance learning in the COVID-19 context provides a unique challenge in that, in many cases, neither families nor educators chose to engage in this model of instruction, it is an opportunity provided due to circumstances beyond our control. It is...

For generations, public schools have struggled to equitably prepare all students—particularly those furthest from economic and social opportunity—to learn and thrive. This is not because they don’t know how. The science of learning and development shows that all children—regardless of...

Community schools—an education reform strategy—have been described as another way of thinking and acting and a new way of “doing” school. This type of school transformation is complex, involves change that can be uncomfortable, and doesn’t happen overnight. Starting in...

The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences has awarded a $3 million research grant to a University of California, Davis-led research team to assess pandemic recovery efforts undertaken by the California Community Colleges. The goal of this three-year...

Community Schools are a time whose idea has come, a solution that was waiting for the perfect storm–and the perfect storm is here. In this final installment, we’ll look at the lessons learned from the community schools movement. What can...

A recent review of school guidance and communications from the Centers on Disease Control and Prevention argues that the federal agency failed often in its goal of providing timely, actionable information to states and districts around COVID-19 safety protocols. As...

According to the Community Schools Playbook, a project of the Partnership for the Future of Learning, “Many community schools stay open year-round, from dawn to dusk, and on weekends. The most comprehensive community schools are academic and social centers where...

Schools across San Francisco embody elements of community schools, which aim to assess students’ needs and bring in outside services ranging from dental care to Medi–Cal assistance to arts and music programming while building deeper connections to students and families...

Most educators and parents would agree that the sweeping virtual instruction thrown together overnight at the beginning of the pandemic wasn’t nearly as effective as in-person learning for most students. So, does that mean K–12 educators and policymakers should write...

n coming weeks, California will embark on a massive undertaking to convert several thousand schools in low-income neighborhoods into centers of community life and providers of vital services for families as well as students. Known as community schools, they will...

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 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...

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...

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...

As we reopen schools and return to classrooms with a new infusion of desperately needed funding, I hope we all realize that “back to normal” won’t work for all students. Let’s take advantage of this exciting opportunity to reimagine and...

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...

In the past year, students, families, and educators have experienced trauma from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has further exposed and exacerbated educational inequity, from unequal access to tech for distance learning to structural barriers to basic resources—like nutrition, housing, and...

When schools across the country closed their doors and began remote instruction last spring, most of us in education braced for the worst. We weren’t wrong. The academic, social and health challenges that besieged K-12 students during the pandemic are...

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...