As Los Angeles Unified begins interviewing candidates for yet another superintendent, it must face a tough question: Has its unusual board governing structure blurred the lines between board member and superintendent and contributed to the steady churn in district leadership...
Our 6-year-old grandson, who lives in Texas, recently discovered how much fun it is to read. My wife Diane has been sending him packets of early reader books since he loves getting mail that is addressed to him. He likes...
Teachers across the country are seeing more and more students struggle with reading this school year. Pandemic school closures and remote instruction made learning to read much harder, especially for young, low-income students who didn’t have adequate technology at home...
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...
While the recognition of indigenous languages is layered in a complex and politically fraught history, there are concrete steps that schools can take to ensure that they account for and support all students. First, schools must create inclusive home surveys...
We all know the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a change to every aspect of life. We’ve seen how work and school looked drastically different than usual — and so did health care, transportation, nutrition and more. In many cases, inequities...
The impact of dual enrollment at the state’s community colleges is growing: more than 112,000 high school students graduating in the 2019–20 school year enrolled in college courses and earned college credit, representing an increase of 56% from 2015–16. This...
A new state law creating bachelor’s degree programs at community colleges will reduce barriers and racial equity gaps, said a UCLA professor and representatives from the San Diego Community College District. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 927 into law...
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 number of credentialed special education teachers in California has not kept up with demand, a shortage exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The State Teacher Retirement System reported a 26% increase in teacher retirements in the last half of 2020...
A growing number of California students are participating in dual enrollment courses—college classes taken while still in high school. But making dual enrollment courses equitable and accessible to even more students hinges on a variety of factors. Experts say these...
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...
As California’s wildfires attest, climate change is here, and its effects are being felt now. What President Joe Biden calls a “code red” moment should cause deep reflection on how all of us can prepare for a hotter world. California...
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...
The COVID crisis led to a windfall of taxpayer dollars for our local schools. It was much-needed money but all that isn’t being spent. And, if it doesn’t get used, millions, even billions, could go away. NBC Bay Area’s Raj...
The COVID-19 pandemic crippled learning for many students, leaving some kids years behind their classmates. In June, the non-profit Policy Analysis for California Education released a report showing students at 19 school districts were about two and a half months...
The abrupt switch to remote instruction caused by the pandemic has created potentially irreparable setbacks for the students who can least afford the disruption—low-income students of color, English learners, students with disabilities and others who have been historically underserved. The...
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...
The Biden-Harris administration from the start proposed sweeping higher education policies that many advocates praised as long overdue and much needed to tackle equity issues that the pandemic brought to the fore. Months later, Congress this week, has been debating...
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...
The metaphor “summer slide” has been used for decades to describe the essential skills that children lose over the summer when they’re out of school. Though this term was popular before 2020, unfortunately it is now the least of many...
As parents fearful of coronavirus’s spread and frustrated with their schools’ forays into remote learning seek other options, they are increasingly turning to virtual for-profit charter schools. Numerous studies show that parents of color were more likely to keep their...
Gerald C. Hayward passed away peacefully at home in Sacramento, CA on September 11, 2021 at the age of 83. His influence lives on in the continuing work of Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), the research center he cofounded...
A 2018 study of student digital literacy skills found that only 2% of eighth grade students in the U.S. scored at the highest level of computer and information literacy. Education experts were quick to point out that this should not...