Faced with stark data showing 61 percent of California’s high schools don’t offer any computer science courses, district and county office administrators attended a June 18 workshop aimed to help them equitably implement such classes. Ensuring access and inclusion for all students and teachers was […]
Category: Closing the Achievement Gap
Closing the Achievement Gap
Student data disconnect persists as California works to lower achievement gap
An integrated data system to assess student performance and results is desperately needed in California, two researchers said at a May 10 talk in Sacramento. At the event, experts discussed key findings on data systems from the Getting Down to Facts II report and next […]
Enthusiastic Capitol crowd calls for Full and Fair Funding of California’s public schools
From Humboldt County, Monterey, San Diego and beyond, school leaders converged on Sacramento by the busload on May 22 to make their voices heard and to fight for Full and Fair Funding of California’s public schools. About 200 school board members took that fight to […]
Coalition rallies at Capitol with funding message of ‘Our students deserve more!’
Alameda County school board members, teachers, administrators, other staff members, students and parents rallied at the Capitol steps in Sacramento on April 3 behind a unified call for increased state education funding. More than 300 people attended the event organized by the East Bay Coalition […]
Study finds achievement gap is as large as it was 50 years ago
As the United States grapples with growing inequality, a new analysis finds that the achievement gap between haves and have-nots remains as large as it was 50 years ago — neither having widened, as some have suggested, or closed. “Two surprises emerge from this analysis,” […]
Digital divide largely closed at California schools, but large gaps remain in homes
California has closed the digital divide at its K-12 schools, but internet access at home remains a persistent problem, a new report finds. Analysis by the Public Policy Institute of California shows that 90 percent of the state’s schools met the Federal Communication Commission’s minimum […]
Chronic absenteeism, stakeholder engagement practices shared at PACE conference
Two timely and important issues facing districts and school boards, chronic absenteeism and stakeholder engagement, shared the spotlight at this year’s Policy Analysis for California Education annual conference. The Feb. 1 event in downtown Sacramento, with a theme of “Putting Evidence into Action to Advance […]
Commentary: Justice for all students is imperative
By Dr. Emma Turner It is one of the great honors of my life to serve as President of the California School Boards Association and advocate for the needs of students — all students — at the highest levels. I reflected on this during the […]
Shattering inequities: One California school’s story
by Robin Avelar La Salle and Ruth Johnson Pico-Union is one of the most socioeconomically challenged neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles. More than 44,000 people live in a 1.67-square-mile area, making it one of the highest density places to live in the county. […]
Students who engage in civic life are healthier, aim higher — but gaps exist
Higher rates of teenage civic engagement are tied to being healthier, missing fewer days of school, receiving better grades and having higher aspirations of attending college, according to a new study by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Researchers also found vast differences in […]











