As nearly half a million Los Angeles Unified School District students head back to school today, they’re joined by a younger cohort than in the past: 4-year-olds. The district is offering universal transitional kindergarten at every public elementary school this...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is fashioning himself as the Democratic counterweight to Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, who has staked his presidential campaign on his war on “wokeness” and railed against what he and other conservatives describe as left-wing indoctrination...
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...
Artificial intelligence (AI) encompasses a broad set of tools developed to perform tasks that have historically required human intelligence. The new generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, are not programmed with a specific set of instructions; rather, they are trained on sets of data and algorithms that guide how they respond to prompts. We are increasingly using a range of AI tools—such as autopopulate suggestions, navigation systems, facial recognition on phones, and ChatGPT—in many aspects of our lives. Because of the prevalence and power of these tools, their rapid development, and their potential to be truly disruptive—in positive and negative ways—it is critical that school districts develop policies, guidelines, and supports for the productive use of AI in schools. Later in this commentary, we discuss many of the short-term positives and negatives of using AI in schools. The greatest impact of AI, however, is how it can transform teachers’ roles and student learning.
he start of a new school year is soon approaching, but there is a major question left unresolved: What are schools going to do about generative AI? Since ChatGPT’s release on November 30, 2022, educators have been slow to address...
In its first public statement on the issue, the California Department of Education last week defended its right to pursue a breach of a data partnership agreement against a Stanford University education professor for participating in a lawsuit against it...
In an effort to expand transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-old children in California by 2025–26, local educational agencies have focused their efforts on developing facilities and ensuring suitable staffing, but state leaders must turn their attention to promoting high-quality teaching...
The California Department of Education has threatened to sue two prominent Stanford University education professors to prevent them from testifying in a lawsuit against the department — actions the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California calls an attempt to...
Last week’s tussles between state officials and a pair of Southern California school boards may have died down, but they’ve thrown a spotlight on deeper tensions over who makes decisions for local schools — a rift that’s likely to grow...
I recently saw a sign that said: “Make school board meetings boring again!” It could have been a directive to two Southern California school districts, Temecula Valley and Chino Valley, the only two school district board meetings that I’ve had...
A few weeks ago, we took a look at generative AI’s potential to change teaching and learning on college campuses around the country. This week, I spoke with experts and educators in K-12 to see what they think about these...
Chancellor Carol Christ and several other top UC Berkeley officials say the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling today, that public and private universities cannot use race as a factor in admitting students, is regrettable. They warned the decision will reduce opportunities...
For decades, selective U.S. colleges and universities have considered, among other factors, whether applicants are from underrepresented minority groups, including Black, Hispanic and Native American. For just as long, critics of affirmative action have questioned whether race-conscious admissions policies are...
For many school districts in California, the flush years of budget windfalls are decidedly over. Declining enrollment, expiring Covid funds, inflation and ballooning staff costs have combined to lead some districts — particularly those in urban areas — to make...
During the 2022–23 school year, artificial intelligence (AI) evolved from an experimental technology few had heard of into readily available technology that has become widely used by educators and students. There are many ways educators can use AI that may positively revolutionize education to benefit classroom instruction, to support data use and analysis, and to aid in decision-making. The biggest potential upsides of AI for education will be accompanied by major disruptions, however, and districts will need time for thoughtful consideration to avoid some of the worst possible pitfalls. This commentary focuses not on how best to harness the potential of AI in education over the long term but instead on the urgent need for districts to respond to student use of AI. We argue that during summer 2023, districts should adopt policies for the 2023–24 school year that help students to engage with AI in productive ways and decrease the risk of AI-related chaos due to society’s inability to detect inappropriate AI use.
In an effort to expand transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-old children in California by 2025–26, local educational agencies have focused their efforts on developing facilities and ensuring suitable staffing, but state leaders must turn their attention to promoting high-quality teaching...
When it passed in 1978, before most of today’s Californians were even born, Proposition 13 addressed the very real fear of rising tax bills pricing people out of their homes. But we now have decades of evidence that Proposition 13...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom released his proposed May budget revision for the 2023-24 fiscal year May 12. Newsom’s revised proposal now accounts for a projected $31.5 billion “shortfall,” or deficit, an increase from the governor’s January budget, which estimated approximately...
As California ramps up its expansion of Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK), new research suggests it must focus more on high-quality teaching. “High-quality preschool instruction can make a difference for students,” says Alix Gallagher, the lead researcher of the Policy Analysis...
As Harold Sims Jr. knocked on doors for his school board campaign, many of the Northern Virginia residents on the other side didn’t know there was an election in May. Sims wasn’t campaigning for the general election or primary that...
In nonpartisan school board races across Oregon this spring, particularly in the Portland-area exurbs, candidates backing a nationally field-tested Republican strategy calling for more parental control of school curriculum and materials largely came up short. Prime examples were in Canby...
For the past decade, California has spent billions of dollars to improve the education of at-risk children, but there’s scant evidence that it had the intended effect. When Jerry Brown returned to the governorship in 2011, a quarter-century after his...
Newcomer is a term typically used to describe students who recently arrived in U.S. schools–but what recently means is not uniformly agreed upon. A new report from PACE, written by Californians Together Director of Newcomer Policy and Practice Sam Finn...
As a former educator, I have long been fascinated by the roles and responsibilities of American school boards. School boards have been around longer than America itself. According to Stanford’s Michael Kirst, local school boards are one of America’s earliest...
Wellness centers. Mental health counseling. Youth leadership development. These are examples of community schools initiatives in practice. With passage of a new contract that specifically endorses community schools, the West Contra Costa Unified School District is poised to become a...
