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National study of 1.8 million charter students shows charter pupils outperform peers at traditional public schools
Charter school students make more average progress in math and English than their counterparts in traditional public schools, including months of additional learning in some states, according to a new national overview. The authors of the study find that campuses grouped within larger charter management organizations are particularly effective at accelerating student achievement. The report,...
By Kevin Mahnken | June 14, 2023
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LAUSD Latino parents discuss Carvalho’s first year and other issues
Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s arrival more than a year ago raised hopes for parents across the district, particularly Latino parents, hoping for more of a role in school decision making. Latino students make up nearly three-quarters of the LAUSD student population. But Carvalho’s 100-day plan, which promised to narrow academic achievement gaps and...
By Nicholas Dinh | June 13, 2023
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A ruling against Harvard might not end diversity-based admissions, experts say
With a conservative U.S. Supreme Court widely expected to overturn race-conscious admissions in higher education, attention in the education community has already shifted to what happens next. One likely effect is obvious. “There is going to be some closing of doors,” said Halley Potter, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank....
By Linda Jacobson | June 12, 2023
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Surgeon General’s social media warning may impact school district legal surge
The U.S. Surgeon General’s dire warnings on the youth mental health crisis will likely prompt more school districts to sue big tech companies, according to advocates and lawyers involved in ongoing litigation. Surgeon general Vivek Murthy warned last month in a 19-page advisory that social media poses a profound risk to children, with excessive use impacting...
By Marianna McMurdock | June 8, 2023
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‘Achievement gap’ vs. ‘education debt’: Why the language of testing matters
Language matters when it comes to talking about student learning, tests, achievement and accountability. Our country needs a K-12 accountability system that centers on justice, not deficits. For this to happen, policymakers should: (1) meaningfully partner with marginalized stakeholders to determine the outcomes that matter to these populations and then measure those outcomes; (2) use transparent, honest...
By Jennifer Randall | June 7, 2023
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Carvalho wants 30 LAUSD high schools to offer online college courses in fall
L.A. Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho wants to dramatically increase the number of high schools offering prestigious online college courses for the fall to boost enrollment and increase pathways to college — but so far the goal is elusive. In an interview with LA School Report in early May, Carvalho said he was confident 30 schools...
By Cari Spencer | June 6, 2023
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Analysis: The promise of personalized learning never delivered. Today’s AI is different
Over the last decade, educators and administrators have often encountered lofty promises of technology revolutionizing learning, only to experience disappointment when reality failed to meet expectations. It’s understandable, then, that educators might view the current excitement around artificial intelligence with a measure of caution: Is this another overhyped fad, or are we on the cusp...
By John Bailey | June 5, 2023
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The terrible truth: Current solutions to COVID learning loss are doomed to fail
Most of the programs school districts have implemented to address COVID learning loss are doomed to fail. Despite well-intended and rapid responses, solutions such as tutoring or summer school will miss their goals. Existing policies have failed to consider the unique needs of the students these services seek to help, and thus are destined to...
By Margaret Raymond | June 1, 2023
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Commentary: Black community college enrollment is plummeting. How to get those students back
Community colleges are uniquely positioned to support their local communities with pathways to economic and social mobility. But a recent report draws attention to a decline in Black college students, particularly at community colleges, which enroll over one-third (36%) of Black students entering postsecondary education. From 2011 to 2019, Black enrollment declined at twice the rate (26%) of the...
By Karen A. Stout and Francesca I. Carpenter | May 31, 2023
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COVID’s ‘complicated picture’: Mental health worse, staffing tight, enrollment frozen at nation’s schools
More than two-thirds of public schools saw higher percentages of their students seeking mental health services in 2022 than before the pandemic — but only a slim majority believed they were able to meet children’s heightened psychological needs, according to a federal report released Wednesday. The revelation comes from The Condition of Education 2023, the latest...
By Kevin Mahnken | May 30, 2023