LA School Report

By Joshua Leibner What do the most recent California Common Core test scores mean? This is a question that deserves real attention, but the initial response is not encouraging. My last LAUSD principal told us four years that we are just “going to have to accept the testing pill” and get on with the program that would...

By Sarah Tully  Comparing California scores on tests aligned with the Common Core standards to those in other states isn’t a straightforward process. California students’ results are among the lowest when compared to the other eight states that have released Smarter Balanced assessment scores so far. But drawing conclusions may be difficult because California’s student...

Game-changing ethnic studies bill heads to California governor Gov. Brown has yet to say whether he’ll sign the bill creating a model ethnic studies curriculum that districts could use. Huffington Post LAUSD heat-related ban on sports activities disrupts football schedules Once temperatures exceed 99 degrees, the district urges all schools to either reschedule or cancel...

There wasn’t a lot of good news for LA Unified in the Smarter Balanced test results, which show that the district performed well under the statewide average. Among the poor news was the continuation of a drastic achievement gap between the district’s white students and its black and Latino students. However, if there is one piece...

* UPDATED In another testy exchange with LA Unified, a lawyer for teacher Rafe Esquith said district investigators are asking “loaded questions” of past and present students about the conduct of the teacher. The district called for a hearing this month with Esquith, who is still on payroll while in “teacher jail,” but the attorney turned down...

They’ve been talking about these new statewide tests in terms of setting a baseline for the years ahead. That’s fine as far it it goes. But here in LA Unified, we should think of the results in another way: As a redline. Statewide, more than half of students taking the test (56 percent) failed to meet...

By Mareesa Nicosia FIVE POINTS, Calif.—It’s 7:50 on a hot, dry August morning when the buses rumble past a barren field—normally filled with broccoli this time of year—and creak to a stop in front of a flat-topped school, dust blooming up from under their wheels. Children spill out, the older ones eager to greet familiar...

Op-Ed: Standardized tests don’t help us evaluate teachers Holding teachers and schools accountable is important, but the means should be accurate and fair. Los Angeles Times Cops probing motive behind fatal stabbing of 3 boys inside SUV LA police detectives are trying to determine the motives of a man suspected of fatally stabbing his three young...

As a heat wave engulfed the region yesterday, LA Unified officials fielded 346 calls to fix air conditioning units. By the end of today, they were expecting at least that many more. Tacked on to an existing backlog of calls for air conditioner repair since before school began, LA Unified has about 2,600 requests for...