Popularity of girls’ flag football has skyrocketed. More effort needed to ensure future opportunities don’t stall out

When the California Interscholastic Federation’s (CIF) Federated Council voted unanimously to add girls flag football as a statewide sanctioned sport for the 2023–24 school year, there had already been a boost in interest among young people in recreational leagues as well as burgeoning financial and material support from the NFL, which advocated for the sport to be added to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. According to the latest CIF Sports Participation Survey released Aug. 3, flag football is now the sixth most popular sport among girls by participation.

CSBA, school and public agency leaders hold press conference to urge Legislature to reform AB 218

As California lawmakers consider reforms to Assembly Bill 218 in the final weeks of the legislative session, leaders representing school districts and public entities across the state held a virtual press briefing on Aug. 20 to discuss reforms that would preserve survivors’ ability to seek justice while establishing reasonable safeguards against unlimited publicly-funded liability. The event featured representatives from school districts, CSBA, the California Association of Joint Powers Authorities, the Association of California School Administrators, the California Association of School Business Officials and the Rural County Representatives of California.

Families and educators say data literacy should be incorporated into more subjects

Recent results from a survey conducted by Mathematica and Data Science 4 Everyone show that while educators and parents agree that data literacy is an important skill as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more prevalent in students’ lives, many feel their local schools do not offer enough opportunities to learn it.

New risk assessment of AI features included in Google Search details concerns for student use

Without an ability to opt-out of its use, the artificial intelligence (AI) features built into Google Search pose unacceptable risks to children, according to a new risk assessment conducted by Common Sense Media’s Youth AI Safety Institute.

Legislature’s Appropriations Committees hold critical suspense hearings

While several CSBA bills pass through, crucial measures are held in the suspense file On Aug. 13, the Legislature’s respective appropriations committees dispensed with their suspense files. The suspense file allows the appropriations committees to consider bills with a fiscal impact that exceeds a certain […]

Cellphone ownership linked to worse reading scores in elementary school, with one caveat

Children who own cellphones tend to have lower reading comprehension scores regardless of what age they were when they first got one or whether or not they take it to school, according to new research from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Research finds chronic absence must be addressed to improve academic recovery post-pandemic

One in four students missed at least one day of school every other week on average in 2022, with only moderate improvement occurring in the following two years, according to NWEA’s July brief “Chronic absenteeism: A continued impediment to academic recovery.” Students in high-poverty districts were absent even more often.

New research identifies fragmented systems as a key barrier to student achievement

A new report from the Center for MH in Schools & Student/Learning Supports at UCLA finds that current efforts to address barriers to learning and teaching, while valuable, won’t provide lasting progress until policymakers adopt student and learning support systems that are unified, comprehensive and equitable.