The State Board of Education’s (SBE) Sept. 9 meeting included thorough discussion on proposed changes to the state’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) template — including ways to make the document more useful to schools and communities rather than an exercise in compliance — as well as potential use of 11th grade Smarter Balanced results in higher education admissions and more.
Author: Alisha Kirby
Common Sense Media announces new AI curriculum and survey findings underscoring the need
On Aug. 18, Common Sense Media released results from a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. teens detailing their use of artificial intelligence (AI) as well as the lack of available resources to support lessons on AI literacy. Simultaneously, the nonprofit organization released a new Digital Literacy & Well-Being Curriculum for grades 9-12 that it says pairs AI literacy with the critical-thinking, creativity and connection skills students need to navigate the technology.
How Centralia ESD turned around its chronic absenteeism rates
Attendance rates plummeted among Centralia Elementary School District children during the COVID-19 pandemic just as they had in local educational agencies throughout the country. Prior to the pandemic, the district boasted just a 5 percent chronic absenteeism rate, which spiked to 22 percent. Preliminary data from the last school year shows the district’s chronic absenteeism rate is down to 8 percent, with every school site reporting declines.
Small Schools, Big Ideas: Maple SD is Rooted in Family, Community, and Education
All 285 students enrolled in Maple School District participate in the TK-8 local educational agency’s program, Rooted in Family, Community, and Education. Launched in August 2025, the initiative aims to strengthen student outcomes by empowering families first.
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.
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.
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).
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.
Research warns against perpetuating inequities to high-level math access
A recent report, Calculated Barriers: Examining the History Behind Math Inequities Facing Black Students, documents seminal events in the United States — including the nation’s history of policies and practices that restrict access and opportunity for Black people — that have constrained Black students’ access to quality math education.











