Test scores released Tuesday for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) continued a decade-long trend of stasis, with small improvements measured only for performance in eighth-grade reading. While states with disparate academic approaches have made some strides over the past few years — notably Florida and California — national averages have varied only slightly, despite...

*Updated April 11 Ruben Alonzo’s English learners in his Texas classroom were thriving. He believed in their potential the same way a teacher had once believed in him — a third-generation migrant worker who went on to MIT, Harvard, and Columbia University. His students were two miles from the Mexican border in Rio Grande, at...

Responding to years of pressure by Los Angeles community and education advocates, LA Unified next month may commit to funding schools based on a new ranking that gives priority to those with the highest-need students. Nearly $140 million in new funding is expected to flow to the district in the next two years as part...

As California struggles to close a stubborn achievement gap for its English learners, integrating math education with English language development can be a key to unlocking their potential, a new study says. The Education Trust—West report, Unlocking Learning II: Math as a Lever for English Learner Equity, highlights school districts — including three in the...

Los Angeles parents will get a simpler way to evaluate and compare schools, if a plan by three LA Unified school board members is passed next month that gives schools a single score or rating based primarily on student achievement and growth. It’s been five years since the Academic Performance Index, which ranked California schools...

Six Los Angeles moms who started out as classroom and field trip volunteers — then helped elect a school board member — were honored Tuesday with the 2018 Hart Vision Volunteers of the Year Award by the California Charter Schools Association. Xitlali Castro, Ramona López, Esmeralda Medina, Roxann Nazario, Mireya Pacheco, and Bielma Pérez, all...

For Democrats and Republicans alike, charter schools have long provided a happy compromise between vouchers for religious schools and no school choice at all. Charters give families an alternative schooling option but remain publicly funded, secular institutions authorized by government agencies. They have been warmly endorsed by Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama,...

For nearly six minutes Saturday, school shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez stood at a podium in front of almost 1 million people, on national television, and said nothing. It was a remarkable and chilling silence — one that rang louder than the star-studded musical performances that took the stage in Washington, D.C., before Gonzalez got up to speak. “Six minutes...

California parents looking for better public schools for their kids will get to elect a new state schools chief in November, and this week was their first chance to compare the three candidates side by side — something parents can’t yet do with schools. The three candidates for state superintendent of public instruction met for...

There’s been a lot of talk but little action from Los Angeles and California education officials when it comes to supporting the lowest-performing schools. Last week state board members again voted to put off revisions to California’s education plan, which are required in order for the plan to be approved by the federal Department of...