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California schools expel and suspend Native American students at alarming rates. Districts can’t dismiss the data just because their populations are small, advocates say

In one incident, a teacher grew frustrated with a student because he wouldn’t respond to her, not realizing that in the student’s Native American tribe, exhibiting silence is a sign of respect to an authority figure. As punishment, the student was denied recess. In another instance, a Native American student was accused of consuming drugs,...
By Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters | March 3, 2020
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Arnett: Has online learning really disrupted K-12 education in the U.S.? The answer is yes — and no. Here’s why

The 2010s were the decade for technology to fundamentally change education. Two years before the decade’s dawn, Clayton Christensen, Michael B. Horn and Curtis Johnson predicted in their book Disrupting Class that online learning would revolutionize teacher-led instruction and catalyze a student-centered transformation in U.S. K-12 schools. As the decade began, enthusiasm for ed tech...
By Thomas Arnett | March 3, 2020
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Rotherham: Phonics. Whole language. Balanced literacy. The problem isn’t that we don’t know how to teach reading — it’s politics

Policymakers are focusing on the craft of teaching reading. They must also focus on the politics. Last year’s NAEP scores continued a lackluster streak and set off a predictable bout of handwringing. This time, it was reading instruction — or, more precisely, our national pandemic of ineffective reading instruction — catching the flak. In response,...
By Andrew Rotherham | March 2, 2020
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Teacher Spotlight: CHIME’s co-teachers Esther Nodal and Kristin LaFirenza on how sharing a classroom spurs innovation and brings true inclusion for students with a wide range of disabilities

This interview is one in a series spotlighting Los Angeles teachers, their unique and innovative classroom approaches, and their thoughts on how the education system can better support teachers in guiding students to success. More frequently, schools are giving the co-teaching model a chance but at CHIME Institute’s Schwarzenegger Community School, a charter elementary in...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | February 26, 2020
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Biden’s tough-on-crime mantra led to school ‘militarization,’ critics say. Why his legacy on campus cops matters ahead of the SC primary

Just one month after the worst K-12 school shooting in American history, then-Vice President Joe Biden held back tears as he addressed a nation mourning the 26 people killed, most of them young children. “We have a moral obligation — a moral obligation — to do everything in our power to diminish the prospect that...
By Mark Keierleber | February 26, 2020
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LA Unified candidate says voters should apply restorative justice practices — how to make things right for all students — to the upcoming election

“What do we need to do to make things as right as possible?” That’s the pivotal question we ask our students when practicing restorative justice in school, and I think it’s one we should be asking in the current Los Angeles Unified School Board elections. In schools, restorative justice is an alternative to exclusionary discipline...
By Tanya Ortiz Franklin | February 26, 2020
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Education must-reads: From charter politics still shaping LAUSD school board elections to an audit finding the state lottery is not putting enough money into Education, 10 new things to know about California’s schools (and beyond)
Education Must-Reads is our daily roundup of the most interesting news articles and analysis surrounding students, schools and California education policy. Charter school politics still in play in LA Unified school board elections The majority of Los Angeles Unified school board seats are up for grabs next week, a pivotal election that will shape how...
By LA School Report | February 26, 2020
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As union voting deadline nears, UTLA member and thwarted candidate says hundreds of teachers still without ballots, mounts petition for third-party election oversight

Updated, Feb. 26 In a Feb. 25 email, Janet Davis and Lanny Larsen, co-chairs of the UTLA Elections Committee, said eligible members who did not receive a paper ballot or have misplaced it can vote by filling out a Replacement Ballot request form. The Election Company will email them their PIN and they will be able...
By Christina Johnson | February 24, 2020
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Teachers find coaching helpful but most don’t get enough of it, survey says

School staff who coach teachers to become better at their craft can be one approach to improving student outcomes, but few coaches have the time and administrative support to do their jobs effectively, a new survey finds. A large number of teacher coaches surveyed say they oversee at least 16 teachers, more than the recommended...
By Mikhail Zinshteyn, CalMatters | February 24, 2020
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Meet the Etsy of education: Online marketplace lets teachers buy — and sell — millions of classroom materials and lessons

Teachers Pay Teachers represents a growing online marketplace — once dubbed the Etsy of Education — that now has seen 6 million teachers in the past year buy or sell classroom resources. It’s part of an effort to help teachers to help one another create fresh approaches to instruction while getting paid for their work....
By Tim Newcomb | February 24, 2020