Month: December 2023

From awareness to action: How administrators can manage school bullying

By Madeline Buitelaar Reports on the rise In recent years, districts across California have been experiencing a rise in reports of bullying and harassment among students. Today’s youth face ever-increasing avenues where they can be bullied, including the evolving social media landscape. While this may […]

Webinar covers how to foster restorative practices in schools

The benefits of restorative practices and the conditions needed to successfully implement restorative approaches in educational systems were discussed during a recent webinar hosted by the Learning Policy Institute. As K-12 communities grapple with the psychological trauma students have experienced and continue to encounter, research […]

California School Dashboard shows decrease in chronic absenteeism

The 2023 California School Dashboard, released by the state Department of Education on Dec. 15, reports performance measures for schools and local educational agencies on multiple state and local indicators. This year marks a return to the color-coded ratings after years of only displaying current […]

Implementing MTSS to improve graduation rates for English learners

Overall graduation rates for English learners (ELs) have increased in recent years, but they are still less likely to reach the academic milestone than their native English-speaking peers, according to the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools’ new brief, “The State of High School […]

New research examines impact of TK as California expands access

As California continues to expand access to transitional kindergarten (TK), new research from the Public Policy Institute of California finds benefits and potential pitfalls should burgeoning trends go unaddressed. For instance, TK leads to earlier identification of multilingual students in need of English language support […]

Latest study on youth nicotine use shows mix of positive and negative findings

Fewer high school students used tobacco products in 2023, but use among middle school youth increased significantly, according to a study released Nov. 2 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Based on findings from the 2023 […]

Commission on Teacher Credentialing makes move to improve teacher assessment experience

Action items at the Dec. 7-8 meeting of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) included options to improve teaching performance assessments and a request to adjust the accreditation cycle for the new literacy instruction requirement. The meeting also featured several end-of-the-year reports including the […]

Facing a crisis head on: Solutions to recruiting and retaining teachers

By Jeff Pelzel California educators have faced a significant challenge on the journey to academic growth: the persistent teacher shortage. Just as things seemed to be looking up after a seven-year increase, there was a 16 percent dip in newly issued teaching credentials, according to […]