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...

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...

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...

* UPDATED This one is sure to spark some discussion around LA Unified water coolers tomorrow: Independent charter schools in the district scored almost even with traditional and affiliated charters on the new California Assessment of Student Progress and Performance (CAASPP) tests. The results of the new Common Core-aligned tests, which were released today, show that...

Three young boys who were brothers and students at LA Unified were found stabbed to death inside an SUV in south Los Angeles today. A man believed to be their father was taken to a hospital suffering from critical stab wounds, and police reported that a man was in custody on suspicion of committing the...

Three quarters of LA Unified students who took the new statewide Common Core-aligned tests for math and two-thirds of students who took the tests for English failed to meet state standards, according to data released today by the California Department of Education. The scores on the new California Assessment of Student Progress and Performance (CAASPP) reflect...