The Morning Read
Your Daily Roundup of LAUSD news from across the web | 10.05.21
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California voters to decide crucial school-related ballot measures on taxes, teen voting and race-based admissions

Supporters of three education-related ballot initiatives in California are hoping the potential for what one advocate called “record-shattering” turnout on Tuesday will give their measures a lift at the polls. Voters in the Golden State will decide if a tax assessment formula that has been in place for more than 40 years should be amended...
By Linda Jacobson | November 2, 2020
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Using tutors to combat COVID learning loss: New research shows that even lightly trained volunteers drive academic gains

As students seek to cope with the threat of learning losses wreaked by COVID-19 and months-long school closures, some families have already hit upon a solution of sorts: hiring professional tutors. The idea — commonsensical for the well-off, but prohibitively expensive for most — has engendered a storm of controversy. If a small portion of...
By Kevin Mahnken | November 2, 2020
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Parents and educators hope the rise of online learning lives on after the pandemic, report finds. But researchers say privacy protections shouldn’t be sacrificed

Although the pandemic forced students into an abrupt shift to haphazard online learning earlier this year, a majority of parents and educators support the boom in education technology and hope online learning goes on after the public health emergency subsides, according to a new report. But researchers argued that the surge in digital education shouldn’t...
By Mark Keierleber | October 29, 2020
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Survey: More than half of teachers felt less successful after COVID-19

New public opinion research indicates that COVID-19 and the hurried transition to remote learning presented teachers with an array of challenges that seriously damaged their sense of self-efficacy. The quality of school working conditions, including fair expectations and clear communication, was found to be critical in sustaining the educators’ perceptions of professional success. While over...
By Kevin Mahnken | October 28, 2020
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Report estimates that up to 500,000 students across California — and 1 to 3 million kids nationwide — have been missing from schools since March

Between 1 to 3 million students in the U.S. possibly haven’t attended school since pandemic-related closures began in March, according to estimates released last week by Bellwether Education Partners. Pulling from news reports and federal data sources, the team of researchers predict that between 10 and 25 percent of students in the most marginalized populations have...
By Linda Jacobson | October 27, 2020
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Analysis: How states use their constitutional authority over education to push back against Trump assaults on equity, accountability

Since his inauguration in January 2017, President Donald Trump has used executive and administrative power to reduce federal oversight of educational equity and accountability. The administration rolled back Obama-era guidance that bolstered the rights of racial minorities, transgender students and people with disabilities. It reduced efforts to gather information about state and local practices affecting...
By Kenneth K. Wong | October 27, 2020
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Analysis: Write less to say more — how schools can communicate more effectively with families

COVID-19 has increased the need for schools to communicate with families while reducing opportunities for face-to-face interactions. As a result, families have received an onslaught of emails, text messages and detailed websites. Many of these are dense. Too often, the best families can do is quickly skim — if they read these at all. While...
By Carly Robinson and Todd Rogers | October 26, 2020
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Politics, not science, is driving school reopening decisions to a ‘really dangerous’ degree, research suggests

Over seven months after much of society shut down in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no uniform policy guiding school districts through the return of tens of millions of students to in-person education. In most jurisdictions, officials have spent the last few months balancing risks and responsibilities, resulting in millions of American students...
By Kevin Mahnken | October 22, 2020
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Analysis: 7 ways American education could change forever after COVID

A Nation at Risk, President Reagan’s 1983 Blue-Ribbon Panel’s review of American public education is frequently referenced as the benchmark and starting flag of the reform movement. Its 37-year reign as the reference point for progress is over. The pandemic has now taken the pole position; it will be the new reference point for the evolution...
By John M. McLaughlin | October 21, 2020
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Study: In 28 districts, middle and high school students lose more than a year of learning due to suspensions

In 28 districts across the U.S., students in middle and high school lost more than a year of learning due to suspensions, according to a new study released Monday. The study from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA analyzed discipline data from 2015-16 for almost every district in the nation. The most extreme losses ranged from 183...
By Linda Jacobson | October 20, 2020