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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Two major players in K–12 education launched a joint effort last month to develop new assessments that could help shift schools’ focus away from traditional “seat time” requirements and toward more accurate measures of mastery over academic content. The new tests, to be created by the Educational Testing Service and the Carnegie Foundation for the...

Teacher Appreciation Month is a time when educators are recognized for their many contributions to students, families and communities. It’s also a time to ask: “Are the teachers all right?” With the recent release of Educators for Excellence’s annual Voices from the Classroom national teacher survey, it’s clear the answer is “not really.” This survey is made for...

Twenty kindergartners at Los Angeles Unified’s Coeur d’Alene Avenue School sit on a multi-colored carpet, listening to their teacher present the day’s math lesson. Projected on the whiteboard are clip art images of a gold coin and a pot of gold against a rainbow background. St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, and the...

The nation’s public pre-K programs saw a rebound last year as enrollment nearly reached pre-pandemic levels, new data shows. Thirty-two percent of 4-year-olds attended a state-funded program in the 2021-22 school year — up from 28% the year before, when the National Institute for Early Education Research, which publishes the annual “yearbook,” reported that COVID had “erased”...