Oakland Unified program for black males leads to positive results, key lessons

A decade-old program that provides targeted educational supports for African American males in the Oakland Unified School District has lowered dropout rates and increased graduation rates, new research finds. With a meaningful reduction of dropouts — 3.6 percentage points — My Brother’s Keeper? The Impact […]

Study shows importance of helping children understand different social identities

The results of a recent nationwide survey show that many teachers believe different social and demographic identities have an impact on children’s success in school, but far fewer feel comfortable discussing these in the classroom. Researchers from NORC at the University of Chicago and Sesame […]

Food insecurity remains critical issue for many households with children

California was among 22 states that saw food insecurity decline significantly from 2013–15 to 2016–18, but a highly concerning 10.6 percent of the state’s households were still categorized as food insecure in 2018, according to a new report from the USDA’s Economic Research Service. Food […]

New resources to help districts smooth transition from pre-K to kindergarten

Research has long linked student participation in high-quality pre-K programs to increased college attendance rates, higher levels of academic achievement, improved cognitive and social-emotional development and the ability to better adjust to different social environments. Participation in average or low-quality programs, meanwhile, has been shown […]

California County Boards of Education annual conference starts tomorrow

By Janet Wohlgemuth, CCBE President-elect The 2019 CCBE Annual Conference  in Monterey at the Hyatt Regency begins tomorrow, Sept. 13 and runs through Sept 13-15. This year’s theme is “Educational Changes on the Horizon: What and How to Prepare for them.” The Conference Committee looked […]

California sets record for high school sports participation while football continues decline

Participation in high school sports in California set an all-time high for the seventh straight year in 2018–19, though the most popular sport, football, continued its trend of seeing substantial decreases in participation. The results indicate that many of California’s student athletes who left football […]

Board members encouraged to keep attendance issues front and center year-round

September is Attendance Awareness Month, but experts say a year-round focus is required of district leaders and board members to make sustainable inroads and cultural shifts. “I think that school board members really play a central role in monitoring whether chronic absence is improving or […]

Teachers nationwide show strong support for mental health, SEL focus to improve school safety

As the nation’s schools begin a new academic year, a survey finds that most teachers say the majority of their students do not feel very safe at school. And to have the biggest impact on improving school safety, educators surveyed by the Education Week Research […]