LA School Report

This year, parents’ lens on education has radically changed. Many school buildings are empty while their students sit at the kitchen table, learning on video screens. Some children have returned to school, bringing home anecdotes about masks and socially distant lunch lines. More than ever, parents can see clearly what their children need academically and...

Only California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia have implemented all of the state policies that research shows contribute to young children’s health and well-being during their first three years, according to a comprehensive new “roadmap” released earlier this month. “The more that kids come [to school] prepared, that sets their trajectory throughout their...

This year’s school closures won’t just result in the loss of students’ academic skills; it could negatively impact the economy for the rest of the 21st century, new research predicts. In the U.S., for example, the closures could ultimately amount to a loss of almost $14.2 trillion over the next 80 years, according to the study,...

Shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic closed Los Angeles County schools, Elena, a Promotora (community educator) who has been with Planned Parenthood Los Angeles (PPLA) for more than 15 years, reached out to a mother who had taken parent education classes at a LAUSD high school. Elena called to find out if the mother had followed...

The clamor to equip teachers to respond flexibly to another uncertain school year has brought to the forefront a problem that has impeded schools for years, albeit in a less obvious way: Teachers need an updated skill set for the modern world. The basic structure of the classroom is shifting from the monolithic, standardized model...

The first day of school is a major milestone, no matter your grade, age or hometown. But back to school during this strange and disorienting year, amid an ongoing public health crisis, means something much different. Depending on where you live, it feels radically different too. Over the past few weeks, as new photos have...

American schools’ responses to COVID-19’s sudden interruption to public education varied considerably across the nation as students went from daily classroom learning to stay-at-home orders nearly overnight. Now, a new survey reveals the limits of that patchwork response to the emergency — and indicates key lessons for schools’ reopening this fall. Over the past several months, Californians...

Few education policies have attracted bipartisan support quite like expanding young children’s access to preschool. Red states, such Alabama, are just as likely to have popular state-funded programs as blue states like New Jersey. But for all the talk about universal preschool in recent years, the numbers show most states remain far from realizing it....

Last spring, college adviser Anthony Scales took on some extra duties that put him on the front lines of an effort to rescue the college dreams of tens of thousands of students — an effort best described by a cliche: They’re building it while flying it. At the high-poverty, all-minority Sumner High School in St....

As COVID-19 shut down its schools, Hamilton County, Tennessee, was ideally situated for the switch to virtual learning. At least in theory. Home to the regional tech hub of Chattanooga, Hamilton County has been celebrated for its pioneering, municipally owned fiber-optic network and the economic revival it has powered over the past decade. The area’s...