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With huge boost in budget, LAUSD expands summer school
LA Unified’s summer school programs are getting a massive injection of money this year, to a whopping $29 million from the current $1 million budget. The surge of cash, drawn from a combination of sources, will increase access to classes for struggling students by 600 percent over the previous two years. Altogether, approximately 60,000 students from...
By Vanessa Romo | May 6, 2014
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With testing moratorium, LAUSD crafts its own for ELL shift
With a year-long state moratorium on standardized testing, LAUSD is crafting its own assessment to determine if English learning students are ready for an English-only curriculum. The new tests will look a lot like the tests they replace, said Hilda Maldonado, director of the LAUSD Multilingual and Multicultural department. The district had initially sought to purchase...
By Chase Niesner | March 4, 2014
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A few words on public education from Governor Brown
In his State of the State address today, Gov. Jerry Brown spent a few minutes talking about public education in California. Here’s what he had to say: “Last year, I spoke of the principle of subsidiarity, a rather clunky word that nevertheless points to a profoundly important principle, namely that in our federal system there...
By LA School Report | January 22, 2014
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‘Big 8’ districts launch assessment tools for Common Core*
This story has been updated for clarification. A group of some of the largest school districts in California is launching an online bank of student assessment tools to help teachers measure learning as the rollout of the new Common Core curriculum gains speed this year. The 60 “performance modules,” covering multiple grades for both English language arts and math instruction, are free...
By LA School Report | January 13, 2014
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Keyboards Help, But Experts Worry about Students’ Typing Skills
As LA Unified debates when to buy keyboards to go along with the district’s new iPads, experts say typing skills and accuracy are essential to student success on Common Core testing. The new Smarter Balanced standardized tests in California will be taken on computers by all students, even at the elementary school level. The language...
By Vanessa Romo | November 22, 2013
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LA Unified Board Sees a Digital Future, Maybe without iPads
Over eight hours today, in another tedious LA Unified board meeting, members one-by-one pledged to forge ahead with the district’s ambitious technology program to bridge the digital divide for some of the nation’s poorest students. But for the first time, some board members signaled that the way forward may not include Apple iPads. The meeting...
By Vanessa Romo | November 5, 2013
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STEM Symposium Focusing on Encouraging More Girls
With implementation of the Common Core standards and Next Generation Science Standards in full swing, a symposium in Sacramento next month will bring together teachers, administrators, students and industry professionals to discuss betters ways to develop robust science, technology, and mathematics programs in local schools. The inaugural California STEM Symposium is sponsored by the Californians Dedicated to...
By Chase Niesner | October 30, 2013
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10 Reasons the Largest Teachers Union Likes Common Core
The National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union, representing more than three million teachers nationwide, came out this week embracing the Common Core, highlighting how the new standards can be the “game-changer students need.” Through its news branch, NEA Today, the organization published “10 Things You Should Know About the Common Core.” Number One...
By Chase Niesner | October 17, 2013
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Brown Signs AB 484, Ending Old Standardized Tests in California*
The old California Standardized Tests are a thing of the past. Governor Jerry Brown just signed Assembly Bill 484, which immediately suspends the old tests and funds a trial run this year of the new Smarter Balanced Assessments, which will be taken on computers and are aligned with the new Common Core curriculum. “I’ve said...
By Hillel Aron | October 2, 2013
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LA Unified Board Finally Gives Deasy His Common Core Budget
The LAUSD School Board today finally approved a $113 million budget for transitioning to the Common Core curriculum. The 6-1 vote marked the end of a tumultuous and seemingly directionless process that led to the resignation of Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Jaime Aquino, an LA Times editorial calling the Board “dysfunctional,” and finally to Mayor Eric Garcetti wading in to Board...
By Hillel Aron | September 17, 2013