School boards in action: Districts ramp up testing, contact tracing and vaccination efforts

Up and down California, local educational agency boards are working tirelessly to make sure students can safely return to campus as quickly as possible in areas that are still in distance learning, and have everything they need to be academically, social-emotionally and physically supported — […]

Facilities planning during a pandemic means more cooks in the kitchen, experts say

At no time before have the more mundane, day-to-day aspects of school facilities been discussed with such contention, panelists said during a Feb. 10 webinar hosted by the California Association of School Business Officials. “Facilities and our operations have never been in the limelight like […]

State digital divide taskforce discusses legislation to expand broadband connectivity

The first 2021 meeting of California’s Closing the Digital Divide Task Force on Feb. 2 provided viewers a more in-depth look at some the initial proposals put forth by lawmakers to boost broadband access to students and communities. “For us, this is one of the […]

New brief finds learning loss more acute among specific student subgroups

A Jan. 25 brief from Policy Analysis for California Education finds that there has been significant learning loss in both English language arts and mathematics, with students in earlier grades most affected. Additionally, low-income students and English learners are among those falling further behind. As […]

The digital divide is still an issue despite recent progress, study shows

Local educational agencies did an impressive job increasing access to computers and the internet during the fall school term, but there remains a persistent digital divide, especially for Black, Hispanic and low-income students, according to a new study. Researchers at the Center for Neighborhood Knowledge […]

CSBA and WestEd webinar provides state and local insight into school reopening considerations

In a Jan. 25 webinar hosted by CSBA and WestEd, experts analyzed the landscape of school reopenings during the COVID-19 pandemic and explored the numerous considerations that district boards must take into account in reopening campuses, including staffing, learning loss, local public health statistics, local […]

Homeless students require long-term support from schools to improve outcomes

Homelessness is rising among public school students in large cities across the country, and the impacts of homelessness on a student’s educational outcomes persist even after they are sheltered, according to a recent working paper from University of Southern California researchers. Using nine years of […]

State Board Report: January meeting moves forward state literacy plan and ESSA amendments

Now almost a year since COVID-19 took hold in the United States, local, state and federal policymakers continue to grapple with how to ensure students receive equitable learning opportunities in a distance learning setting. Those challenges are beginning to stretch into school reopening planning, and […]