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Credit recovery at charter schools: Higher grad rates mean less need for online makeup classes; pre-test bar is more stringent than LAUSD’s
*UPDATED While LA Unified is firmly committed to online credit recovery classes as a means to the district’s newly stated top goal — 100 percent graduation — Los Angeles charter school operators use these classes much more sparingly, as their graduation rates tend to be far ahead of the district’s. At three of the city’s...
By Craig Clough | October 10, 2016
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‘I’m very skeptical of online recovery programs’: Q & A with board President Steve Zimmer
LA Unified school board President Steve Zimmer recently sat down with LA School Report at his field office tucked away in an east Hollywood strip mall, where there is a unique partnership with the Youth Policy Institute and the school district that hosts after-school programs, adult classes and classes for homeless youth. During the hour-long...
By Sarah Favot | September 19, 2016
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Zimmer expresses frustration over credit recovery, graduating with D’s and academic counselor shortage
While the latest academic reports from the LA Unified school district were positive overall, school board President Steve Zimmer expressed frustration at some of the data presented at Tuesday’s board meeting and said he foresees potential problems ahead. Zimmer asked for a breakdown of how many students are graduating with D grades and in what subjects. “How many...
By Mike Szymanski | August 24, 2016
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Preliminary data show 74 percent of LA Unified seniors met new graduation requirements
*UPDATED Preliminary data show that 74 percent of LA Unified high school seniors met new graduation requirements, the first class required to pass college preparatory classes, the district announced Tuesday. Superintendent Michelle King made the announcement during a morning ceremony with the school board celebrating Class of 2016 graduates. “This is the first class that stepped up...
By Sarah Favot | June 21, 2016
Investigation: Nearly 1,000 Native Children Died in Federal Boarding Schools
Podcast: What a Mentorship Mindset Can Do for Student Motivation
Black and Hispanic Voters Say Democrats Aren’t Focused Enough on K-12 Education
Teen Activist Rhea Maniar on the Power of Abortion to Turn Out Young Voters
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By the numbers: Did ‘all hands on deck’ save LA Unified’s sinking graduation rate?
LA Unified began the new year facing a formidable challenge, as only 54 percent of its senior class was projected to be on track for passing all their A through G standards, a series of courses required for acceptance into California’s public universities. The new, higher graduation standards went into effect for the first time...
By Craig Clough | June 14, 2016
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LAUSD moving more kids from juvenile camps to graduation
LA Unified is expanding a Camps to College program that helps students coming out of juvenile detention camps get back into school and graduate. Since the program launched two years ago in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Mental Health Department and the Los Angeles Probation Office, it has served 1,189 students. Most of them have...
By Mike Szymanski | April 22, 2016
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School-by-school breakdown shows continued improvement on LAUSD’s projected grad rate
LA Unified’s $15 million credit recovery program has already been making a big impact on its projected high school graduation rate this year, and a school-by-school breakdown report released by the district shows that the progress is across the board. The report, which highlights how many students are on track to complete their “A through...
By Craig Clough | March 8, 2016
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LAUSD’s credit recovery program boosts grad rates, but do students learn?
LA Unified announced this month that the district may graduate 80 percent of its seniors this year, a record high, but a growing number of critics say that record is suspect because online credit recovery courses are largely responsible for the achievement. The news of the potentially record-breaking graduation rate came mere weeks after a projection in...
By Craig Clough | February 29, 2016