Category Archive for "Education and Training"

Commentary: A commitment to equitable outcomes for all students

12 Dec

0

By Dr. Shawnterra Moore As a young African-American girl being raised by a single parent, I had no true understanding of the statistics that forecasted my future. My mother was single, not by choice; my father was gunned down a few months before I was born, but she was an educated woman who emphasized the importance of education. I was very successful academically; however, the harsh realities of the world in which we lived hit me upon entrance to college....

CCEE outlines structure, timeline for Community Engagement Initiative networks

10 Dec

0

After announcing lead partners and launching the program in November, the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence outlined the next steps for its Community Engagement Initiative at its Dec. 6 board meeting. The effort will include a series of multi-year professional learning networks that build district and community collaboration, with a focus on student outcomes. Josh Daniels, CCEE director heading the initiative, said in his presentation (PDF file available here) that the timeline calls for an initial professional learning network to...

California’s trailblazing History-Social Science Framework earns national award

20 Nov

0

For its groundbreaking efforts to provide all students with an engaging and relevant education, California’s instructional guide for history and social science standards recently won the American Historical Association’s Beveridge Family Teaching Prize for distinguished K-12 history teaching. The History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools — approved by the State Board of Education in 2016 and published last year — was a joint project from the California Department of Education and California History-Social Science Project (UC Davis). Among other...

Advanced courses in short supply at low-income schools

8 Nov

0

As schools celebrate National STEM Day, more work is needed to increase access to advanced courses — particularly in science and math — new information shows. The new CSBA brief, “Supporting STEM Access, Equity, and Effectiveness: Equitable Access to Rigorous STEAM Coursework”, finds there will be openings for more than one million jobs in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math) in the next decade. But uneven access to STEM courses for many California students presents a challenge to...

New Laws for California Schools: Assembly Bill 2009

29 Oct

0

This new, weekly feature from CSBA will highlight a new education law signed by the Governor in 2018. All laws are effective Jan. 1, 2019, unless otherwise noted. The full What’s New for 2019 report on all new laws affecting K-12 education is available at www.csba.org/whatsnewfor2019. AB 2009: Automatic external defibrillators In 2016, Assembly Bill 1639 (Maienschein, R-San Diego), also known as The Eric Paredes Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act, was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. The law, among other things, directed the...

Is your district prepared for the next earthquake?

17 Oct

0

An earthquake big or small can strike California at any time, and when one does, the safety of students and staff is of paramount concern. There are a number of ways officials can prepare districts and schools for the tremblors the state is known for, from earthquake drills and seismic upgrades to possessing a basic geological knowledge. Additionally, knowing how to seek assistance, secure funding and chart a course after disaster strikes are important elements for board members to consider....

2018 state assessments show minimal gains; achievement gaps remain

3 Oct

0

The latest standardized tests scores for California’s students show relatively flat results from previous years with minimal progress made for students overall. While Latino students improved at a slightly higher rate than the average, African-American student improvements were smaller than the overall increase, contributing to a growing achievement gap that Education Trust–West says could take a generation or more to close. California’s Department of Education made public the results of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP,...

Voter awareness comes to high schools ahead of fall elections

19 Sep

0

To encourage civic participation and increase awareness of voter eligibility, the last two weeks of September are designated High School Voter Education Weeks in California. Required under California Education Code, the campaign stresses voter education and civic participation on campus as part of a long-term goal of creating lifelong voters and engaged citizens Presently, just 53 percent of Californians ages 18–34 are registered to vote. Even then, only one in four of that demographic actually votes. And according to the...

Implementing the new state Dyslexia Guidelines

11 Sep

0

by Leslie Lingaas Woodward Dyslexia is the most common learning disability, affecting up to 20 percent of the population. This means that, statistically, every classroom in California has several students with dyslexia who struggle to acquire literacy skills. In 2015, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1369, which required that the California Department of Education create state Dyslexia Guidelines to assist teachers and parents in identifying, assessing and supporting these students. The guidelines were developed with input from an...

How one rural California district is tackling student suicide prevention

11 Sep

0

Editor’s Note: September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. CSBA has invited a guest blogger working with real school districts to share their experience addressing students’ social-emotional needs. By Laurel Bear, Ph.D. A young district with 30,000 students, Twin Rivers Unified School District is celebrating its 10 year anniversary. Over the course of those 10 years, Twin Rivers has recognized — along with school districts across the country — that students are coming through their halls with challenges that demand...

Category Archives: Education and Training