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More Schools Rush to Embrace Change in LA Unified*
*Oops. In a previous version of this story the chart mistakenly used “district control” instead of “district autonomy,” reversing the meaning of the graphic. Apologies to our readers. The Los Angeles public school landscape is undergoing an unmistakable shift, with schools adopting new models that ultimately will result in students getting more choices. In a...
By LA School Report | August 20, 2013
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Morning Read: State Supporting ‘Coaches’ For Common Core
New National Standards Pump Extra $113 Million into LA Unified The Los Angeles Unified School District will soon have an extra wad of cash on hand. It’s getting $113 million from the state of California over two years to phase in new national standards called the Common Core. School officials are presenting a proposed budget to...
By LA School Report | August 20, 2013
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Union Survey Finds Teachers Unprepared for Common Core
Hours after LA Unified announced results of a survey in which teachers expressed “high marks” for their training on iPads and the teaching content on them – the instructional tools for the new Common Core State Standards — the teacher’s union on Monday said its own survey found that a majority of teachers do not...
By LA School Report | August 19, 2013
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LA Unified Survey Finds Teacher Satisfaction with iPad Training
A survey by LA Unified has found that teachers and school staff “gave high marks” to the training they had on the iPads and digital content that are being phased into district schools this year. The overall degree of the satisfaction with the training was 5.5 out of 6, which was the highest score possible,...
By LA School Report | August 19, 2013
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Morning Read: Vladovic To Put New Vision on Display
L.A. Unified President Pushes Board’s Authority to Set Policy The new president of the Los Angeles Unified school board is moving aggressively to reshape the panel’s operation and mission, including plans to improve communication, enhance collaboration and take a more decisive stance in setting district policy. Richard Vladovic of San Pedro will lay out his...
By LA School Report | August 19, 2013
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Perspectives on Teaching from Some of the Nation’s Best
Today, little is known collectively about the opinions and experiences of top performing teachers because researchers rarely focus specifically on them. Here’s a new study that does. The Perspectives of Irreplaceable Teachers from TNTP (formerly The New Teacher Project) is a detailed survey of responses from 117 of America’s best teachers, as the report describes...
By LA School Report | August 16, 2013
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Morning Read: Was California’s Wavier a Federal Overreach?
Critics Blast Away at California Districts’ Waiver By awarding a No Child Left Behind Act waiver to eight California districts, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has embarked on an experiment that redefines the federal role in school accountability—and that is sparking criticism from across the political spectrum and questions about whether the new flexibility goes...
By LA School Report | August 16, 2013
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Curious About the New Common Core Test? Practice Here
As California educators prepare for the seismic challenge of ushering in the new curriculum known as the Common Core State Standards, much of the worry has centered on student assessment. Legislators are debating whether to suspend the traditional California Standards Tests while students and teachers adjust to the massive shift in approach and material in...
By LA School Report | August 15, 2013
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The Soldier, the Parents and a ‘New’ Weigand Elementary
“Once we parents got united,” said Gloria Aroche, 24, a mother from El Salvador, who wears snap-button cowboy shirts and floor-length skirts with ruffles, “we lost our fear and felt the power. Felt it. Like a warm thing inside you.” LA Weekly this week has the remarkable story of how parents with help from a Special Forces hero...
By LA School Report | August 15, 2013
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Morning Read: School Starts — Without Some of Those iPads
No iPads on First Day of Classes For Students in LA Unified The district said in would supply tablets to all students and teachers at 47 schools by August, records show. But on the first day of school Tuesday, seven schools that spoke to KPCC said they didn’t have the tablets for their students yet...
By LA School Report | August 15, 2013