LA School Report

Nazma Begum spoke very little English and had never been on a hike in the woods when she moved to Detroit from Bangladesh at the age of 13.  But when she saw an announcement at her high school for a camping trip in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, she was intrigued. “I couldn’t help but wonder why...

This story was originally published by EdSource. Sign up for their daily newsletter. Los Angeles Unified School District leaders say they are confident they can persuade county officials that the district can avoid a projected cash shortfall and remain under local control, and are preparing for budget cuts, possible furloughs and school consolidation.   A July...

Once upon a time, a knight in shining armor rode his gallant steed into a village where he was met with cheers and celebration. I like to believe that these heroes still exist — I know one named Fluviano. He’s a student in my English language development class. He does not ride atop a gallant...

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. It’s not quite the “Mississippi Miracle,” but California’s reading scores have been inching upwards since the state poured billions into changing the way students learn to read. A shortage of literacy coaches, however, may be preventing students from improving even more. In 2013,...

Chemical fires, leaks and explosions happen at U.S. industrial facilities every other day — incidents such as four disasters in greater Los Angeles over Memorial Day weekend, including one involving a chemical tank that threatened to explode and forced 50,000 residents and more than 20 schools to evacuate, and a chemical tank explosion the next...

I run into a former student of mine, outside of school. “How are you, miss?” he asks. I respond in our native tongue, “Muy bien, ¿y tú?” We chat briefly about students from our class, and I ask about Camila — a silly ninth grader who always brightened our days. “Hay … la deportaron, miss,”...

San Francisco high school students, particularly those with high needs, enrolled in ethnic study courses achieved higher GPAs, stronger academic gains in math and science, and failed fewer courses, according to a new report. A new study from the universities of Pennsylvania and California analyzed a longstanding San Francisco Unified School District ethnic studies program,...

At the beginning of each new class, Al Rabanera lets his students know that he knows they’re using AI. “I’m not going to pretend like you aren’t,” he tells his students. “I know it’s readily available for most of you, if not all of you.” A math teacher at La Vista High School in Fullerton,...

Updated, July 15 The University of California Board of Regents chair said Tuesday morning she expects a recommendation from the faculty-led Academic Senate by the end of this academic year on whether the system should reinstate the SAT and ACT for incoming freshmen. The announcement came shortly after the Senate’s admissions board said it was...

This story was originally published on EdSource. The first openly transgender person elected to a California school board is sitting in a booth at Bartel’s Giant Burger — a 1970s-era roadside joint a few miles from downtown Redding in Shasta County.  Mountains rise to the west and north. Big rigs rumbling up Interstate 5 can...