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Oakland study finds parents as effective as teachers in tutoring young readers
A new report finds that a parent-led tutoring effort in Oakland produced similar gains in reading for young students as instruction from classroom teachers — a nod that could fuel similar efforts in other districts. “The more the children know you and trust you, the more they’re willing to engage in what you’re trying to teach them,”...
By Linda Jacobson | December 7, 2023
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First civil rights data since COVID reveals racial divide in advanced classes
About 2.9 million high school students took at least one Advanced Placement course in the 2020-21 school year, according to the latest federal data measuring access to educational opportunity. But Black and Latino students were significantly underrepresented in those college-level math and science courses. And schools in which at least 75% of students are Black...
By Linda Jacobson | November 20, 2023
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Despite slight reprieve, districts still struggle to find teachers, staff
Post-pandemic staffing challenges have eased up slightly this fall, but many school leaders report that they still have crucial vacancies to fill. The latest federal data on the public education workforce, released Tuesday, shows 45% of leaders said they were understaffed as the new school year began. That’s down from just over half last year....
By Linda Jacobson | October 25, 2023
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Science of reading push helped some states exceed pre-pandemic performance
In 2019, Westcliffe Elementary in Greenville, South Carolina, got troubling news: It was one of 265 schools in the state where more than a third of third graders failed to meet literacy standards. Then the pandemic hit and “there were bigger fish to fry,” said Principal Beth Farmer. But the state had a plan. Teachers...
By Linda Jacobson | October 19, 2023
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Post-pandemic, 2 out of 3 students attend schools with high chronic absenteeism
It’s well established that chronic absenteeism has skyrocketed since the pandemic. But a new analysis of federal data shows the problem may be worse than previously understood. Two out of three students were enrolled in schools with high or extreme rates of chronic absenteeism during the 2021-22 school year — more than double the rate in 2017-18,...
By Linda Jacobson | October 13, 2023
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Los Angeles board votes to restrict charters’ access to some district schools
Los Angeles charters could lose access to space in nearly 350 district schools under a resolution the school board approved Tuesday. The action is likely to upend decades of practice in one of the more charter-rich districts in the country. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho has 45 days to draft a policy that makes co-location — as...
By Linda Jacobson | September 27, 2023
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SCOTUS ruling demands ‘urgency’ on racial inclusion, Biden administration says
Universities can continue to target recruitment efforts at predominantly Black and Hispanic high schools even if race can’t be used as a factor in admissions, the Biden administration said in new guidance released earlier this month. The parsing is part of a package of materials responding to the June U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning affirmative action in...
By Linda Jacobson | August 30, 2023
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Los Angeles board plan would make some district schools off limits to charters
Actions in the nation’s two largest school districts are testing the idea that charter and traditional schools can exist under one roof. In Los Angeles, the school board is expected to vote this fall on a measure that could significantly limit the practice, known as co-location. And in New York, the United Federation of Teachers plans to appeal a...
By Linda Jacobson | August 22, 2023
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Analysis: State laws are leaving schools across the country unprepared for a ‘fiscal cliff’ — including California districts that are ‘running out of cash’
For the past three years, districts have received more federal money than ever — $190 billion — to hire staff, dole out hefty bonuses and address the learning loss and mental health problems fueled by the pandemic. The expiration of these funds in about 14 months could be the biggest jolt to school finances that...
By Linda Jacobson | July 25, 2023
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After Harvard ruling, will admissions policies at elite K-12 schools be next?
A landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to ban race-conscious admissions at colleges could apply more broadly to a handful of federal cases that center on efforts to diversify selection at elite K-12 schools. “What cannot be done directly cannot be done indirectly,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion in the case against...
By Linda Jacobson | July 20, 2023