With $4.1 billion in funding for community schools grants and technical assistance, California has made the largest investment in community school implementation in the country. Its efforts, as well as those in other states, are examined in the Learning Policy Institute’s (LPI) recent report State […]
Schools play an important role in immunization awareness
National Immunization Awareness Month provides the opportunity to review student vaccination records at “check point” grades According to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), reported kindergarten and first grade immunization rates in 2021–22 decreased slightly from before the pandemic. The proportion of kindergarten students […]
Preparation programs not sufficiently training new educators to teach children how to read
Most programs at the colleges and universities that prepare future elementary teachers still do not fully cover the science of reading, according to a recent report from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). Among the nearly 700 teacher preparation programs analyzed, only 25 percent […]
Career technical education: It’s never too early to start
By Susan Markarian A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of speaking at a press conference in support of Assembly Bill 1023 (Papan, D-San Mateo), a CSBA-sponsored bill that will help protect schools from cyberattacks and data theft. The media was well represented at […]
Bellflower USD trustee advocates for individuals with disabilities
How can local educational agencies better serve their students with disabilities? Bellflower Unified School District trustee Sue ElHessen, a long-time disability rights advocate, says some ways that question can be addressed is through education on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), empowering students by teaching […]
LPI report finds clinical support and access to subject-area training are important to teacher preparedness
A recent report from The Learning Policy Institute (LPI), Educating Teachers in California: What Matters for Teacher Preparedness?, explores the survey responses of nearly 60,000 individuals who completed teacher preparation programs (TPP) and applied for their primary teaching credentials between 2016–17 and 2020–21. More than […]
Study examines how one district is improving outcomes for foster youth
Family disruptions, trauma, out-of-home placements and school changes are common experiences among children in foster care, and often result in higher rates of disciplinary problems, grade repetition, special education placement and dropping out of high school, as well as lower academic achievement, and increased barriers […]
Promising practices to identify student homelessness from Long Beach USD and Monterey County
Housing insecurity and homelessness is a major issue in the United States, impacting more than 1 million young people across the nation and more than 224,000 California public school students. Long Beach Unified School District and local educational agencies in Monterey County are taking action […]
U.S. Department of Education publishes recommendations for AI use
“Everyone in education has a responsibility to harness the good to serve educational priorities while also protecting against the dangers that may arise as a result of AI being integrated in ed tech,” according to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Technology’s report, […]
Supreme Court sets new standard for employers to provide religious accommodations
On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Groff v. DeJoy, which relates to religious accommodations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on, among other protected categories, religion. The law imposes an obligation […]