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Commentary: New Year’s Resolutions for LAUSD
Happy New Year! 2014 is going to be an amazing year; I know it because I found LA Unified’s list of New Year’s Resolutions scribbled on a napkin at Philippe’s French Dip. Okay, I didn’t. But wouldn’t it be great if I did? I mean, if anyone needs to change, isn’t it LAUSD? Here’s what...
By Ellie Herman | January 7, 2014
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Bond panel recommends a smaller iPad buy in phase 2*
The committee that oversees how LA Unified spends bond money today recommended that the district school board scale back the size of the next phase of iPad distribution. In rejecting the latest proposal from Superintendent John Deasy, the School Construction Bond Citizens’ Oversight Committee voted to reduce the number of iPads bought, to 38,535 from...
By LA School Report | December 18, 2013
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Delay on iPads shows deep division on LA Unified board
It’s the other delay yesterday that portends long-term consequences for LA Unified students. In the latest sign of the deep divide on the district school board, the members voted to hold off the next phase of the iPad program, rather than approve a carefully crafted compromise that the board had hammered out, and passed, at...
By Michael Janofsky | December 18, 2013
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A full plate for the LA Unified board — LaMotte seat, fixes, iPads
The LA Unified school board is back together tomorrow, with a long agenda highlighted by several high-stakes and, very likely, contentious issues. Foremost is the discussion and probable vote on how to fill the vacant District 1 seat. Marguerite LaMotte’s death on Dec. 4 has left the board with the options of filling the seat...
By Michael Janofsky | December 16, 2013
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Keyboards Help, But Experts Worry about Students’ Typing Skills
As LA Unified debates when to buy keyboards to go along with the district’s new iPads, experts say typing skills and accuracy are essential to student success on Common Core testing. The new Smarter Balanced standardized tests in California will be taken on computers by all students, even at the elementary school level. The language...
By Vanessa Romo | November 22, 2013
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District Touts Success of iPads Tonight on KLCS
Against a backdrop of “Let them eat iPads” from UTLA demonstrators and headlines like “The LA schools’ iPad adventure keeps getting worse,” it’s not surprising that LA Unified is seeking to offset what board member Tamar Galatzan calls a “blizzard of negative stories.” At 6 o’clock tonight on KLCS, the district is airing an hour-long iPad special, part of the “Technology in...
By Chase Niesner | November 21, 2013
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Morning Read: Advisory Panel Reduces iPad Expansion
LAUSD iPad program gets mixed review from committee An advisory panel overseeing Los Angeles Unified’s iPad project signed off Wednesday on a $45 million request to expand the technology program to 45 more schools, but it rejected plans to spend $90 million on tablets for every principal and teacher in the district and for students...
By LA School Report | November 21, 2013
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A Double Dose of iPads Today, at a Meeting and a Protest
As it turns out, there are two places today to learn about elements of LA Unified’s Common Core Technology Project. One is a committee meeting, planned for 5:30 p.m. at district headquarters. The other is a 5 o’clock union protest at Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences, where Tamar Galatzan is hosting a community meeting at...
By LA School Report | November 19, 2013
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LA Unified Board Votes to Reshape iPad Program
The LA Unified school board re-calibrated its push for technology in the classroom last night, voting to continue into a second phase of its iPad plan but also to launch a pilot test of laptops among high school students. Further technology plans will depend on the outcome of a study. The decision — approved by...
By Vanessa Romo | November 13, 2013
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Ratliff Seeks Alternatives to LA Unified’s iPads Future
The LA Unified school board will grapple with three separate resolutions regarding the district’s ambitious iPad project at its meeting today, but only Monica Ratliff’s proposal has the potential of drastically changing the course of the district’s ed-tech revolution. Ratliff is recommending that the district hold off on starting the second round of iPads distribution...
By Vanessa Romo | November 12, 2013