Why this small Pacoima school saw big gains in state testing The percentage of third- through fifth-graders who met or exceeded the Smarter Balanced assessments in English language arts at Vena Avenue Elementary & Gifted Magnet increased from 44 percent in 2014-15 to 66 percent in 2015-16. Meanwhile, 52 percent of third- to fifth- graders met or exceeded...

More L.A. Unified students reach goals on statewide exams, district says More students in the Los Angeles Unified School District met statewide goals on standardized tests in 2016 than they did last year, district officials said at a meeting Tuesday. Scores on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress increased in both English and math, they reported....

Attorneys say LAUSD tried to discredit girl after sexual assault claim Attorneys for a former Los Angeles Unified School District student on Monday expressed outrage over the LAUSD’s alleged attempts to discredit the girl, who said she was sexually assaulted in a bathroom at her elementary school. In April 2012, the then-12-year-old girl said the...

As enrollment declines, L.A. public schools borrow a tactic from the charters: marketing As enrollment in traditional public schools around the city has declined and charter schools have mushroomed, principals are having to compete for students or risk school closure. To do this, they are turning to marketing tactics long employed by charter schools: handing...

LA charter school faces possible closure over ‘fiscal mismanagement’ Alleging fiscal mismanagement and “fatal flaws in judgment,” Los Angeles Unified staff will ask the district’s Board of Education on Tuesday to issue a “notice of violations” to El Camino Real Charter High School — the first step to revoking its charter, according to the district....

Three LA board members will push for school to start after Labor Day Three Los Angeles school board members will begin a push next week to start the following school year after Labor Day. The traditional academic year began Tuesday, a full three weeks before Labor Day, which falls on the first Monday in September. The resolution, to be...

More high school students starting the year as…community college students Pasadena Unified is one of the first Southern California school districts that have taken advantage of a new law that allows high school students to take community college classes on a high school campus during the school day. “When students earn college credit when in...

Half-million Los Angeles Unified School District students return to school Many of them might prefer to be visiting the beach Tuesday, but more than a half-million students instead will be heading back to class as the 2016-17 school year begins for the nation’s second-largest school district. Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Michelle King, members...

LAUSD expands class offerings to slow declining enrollment With most Los Angeles Unified students returning to classes Tuesday after summer break, the nation’s second-largest school district is expected to see its 14th consecutive year of declining enrollment. As of last year, LAUSD schools have lost more than 86,400 students — 15 percent of its population...

How LA Unified plans to help schools track English Learners to proficiency A new tool handled by LA Unified’s MiSiS computer system will help give principals monthly reports on the more than 140,000 English Learner students. Research shows that students who are not reclassified as English proficient by middle school are at a higher risk...