In building a case for creating 260 charter schools within in LA Unified eight years at a cost of $490 million, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has cited “significant” gains by three charter organizations that have received $75 million from the foundation. But when all factors are considered, there is little conclusive evidence in the report...

In a new survey of 1,000 California teachers, a plurality of instructors thinks that it’s most important to develop critical thinking skills as preparation for college and career. The least number ranked scoring well on the state’s new Smarter Balanced tests. EdSource and the California Teachers Association conducted the online survey and released the results...

In a district striving to infuse computer technology in public education, LA Unified is struggling to complete a phone survey asking five questions. About 550,000 phone calls went out from Sept. 25 through yesterday to ask families about their priorities for the school calendar for the next three years. By late yesterday, another phone call...

By Emma Brown U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday plans to appeal to the nation’s states and cities to dramatically reduce incarceration for nonviolent crimes, and he is proposing to use the estimated $15 billion in savings to substantially raise teacher pay in high-poverty schools. Duncan argues that such a move would help persuade...

Two dozen LAUSD adult students will share $10,200 in scholarship money for  aircraft mechanics classes operated by the district’s Disvision of Adult and Career Education. Clay Lacy Aviation is offering the scholarship money based on the students’ higher education goals, academic achievements and community involvement at the Aviation Center (AV-Center) at Van Nuys Airport, which is part of...

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recognized 335 schools today as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2015, and included on the list is one from LA Unified, the independent charter Kipp Raíces Academy School. Kipp is one of 33 schools from California to receive the honor, which recognizes both public and private elementary, middle, and high schools in...

*UPDATED Most of his teachers never checked their school emails. Many of them were “seasoned teachers” who never before touched an iPad. The school’s computer lab was rarely used. Yet, in the past year, Griffin Avenue Elementary School principal Leonel Angulo managed to inspire teachers and students to use computers in their classrooms, and the school became an...

By Sarah Butrymowicz You can see it all over our map of graduation rates by district: a pocket of low graduation rates surrounded by higher ones, indicating a city and its surrounding suburbs. It should come as no surprise that urban districts tend to have lower graduation rates than suburban ones. They often have more...

3 years later, results of LAUSD’s arts experiment are mixed A KPCC analysis of the most recent district data found that at about 100 elementary schools, the vast majority of students get no arts instruction. KPCC Test scores indicate more students ‘college ready’ in English language arts For math, the percentage decreased compared to last...

More than 40 agencies, representing a diverse coalition of bipartisan support, are urging California Gov. Jerry Brown to sign a bill requiring preschool for all children in low-income families. The governor has until Oct. 11 to sign or veto the bill. The bill is sponsored by Early Edge California, an educational advocacy group that is working...