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Summer enrichment programs prove their value
The organizers of a statewide campaign to encourage school districts to offer quality summer enrichment programs have documented gains in learning and growth in social skills that they anticipated would benefit low-income, minority students in their programs. Through its Summer Matters initiative in a dozen communities, the Partnership for Children and Youth has promoted full-day programs that are more like summer camp than traditional summer schools. Most of the programs are partnerships between city departments of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Dropout prevention, Equity issues, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, Summer Programs
Bill aims to help expelled and truant students get back on track
The purpose of a complicated bill aimed at preventing students from languishing in alternative schools became much clearer after the testimony of a former student who got stuck in one. Jessie Camargo, now 18, was transferred to a community school two weeks before his eighth grade graduation. That summer he completed all the requirements set by his district, which included drug and alcohol counseling classes, 140 hours of community service, and an anger management class, but … Read entire article »
Filed under: Absence, Truancy, Discipline, Dropout prevention, Equity issues, Featured, Governance, High School Completion, K-12 Challenges, Interventions, Legislature, Bills, Reporting & Analysis
Academy backs alternatives to ‘zero tolerance’ discipline
Pediatricians should encourage schools to rely on alternatives to expulsions and out-of-school suspensions except in the most severe situations where safety is an issue, the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a policy statement published this week. In its paper, the Academy is reiterating its position that zero tolerance practices are “of such severity that their application and appropriateness for a developing child require periodic review.” The paper adds that “out-of-school suspensions and expulsions can contribute to the risk of a student dropping out of high school.” The policy statement is in line with legislation (Assembly Bill 420) proposed by Assemblymember Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento, to eliminate the use of “willful defiance” as a reason for expulsions or out-of-school suspensions. That category accounts for more than 40 percent of suspensions statewide and has … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discipline, Dropout prevention, K-12 Challenges, Interventions, Quick Hits
Report questions impact of Brown’s finance formula on career tech
In proposing to give school districts money with fewer strings attached, Gov. Jerry Brown is confident that local school boards and superintendents are best able to make the right decisions so that all students can graduate ready for college and work. A report released today by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) questions that assumption. PACE is a joint research group based at UC Berkeley, Stanford and the University of Southern California. “School Finance Reform: Can It … Read entire article »
Filed under: Career Technical Education, College and Career Preparation, Dropout prevention, Featured, Finance, High School Completion, Internships, Service Learning, Jerry Brown, K-12 Challenges, Interventions, Multiple pathways, Multiple Pathways, Partnership Academies, Reporting & Analysis, Systemic Change, Twenty-first Century Learning, Weighted Student Funding (Local Control Funding Formula), Workforce preparation
Linked learning comes of age in California with new pilot programs
The California Department of Education has selected 63 districts and county offices of education – many of them working together in consortia – to pilot “linked learning” programs in their high schools beginning next fall. These programs integrate academics with real-world work experiences in an effort to engage students. High schools with linked learning programs typically offer several courses in one or more career paths, such as healthcare, business or the arts. The career theme permeates … Read entire article »
Filed under: Career Technical Education, College and Career Preparation, Dropout prevention, Featured, High School Completion, Internships, Service Learning, Legislature, Bills, Multiple pathways, Multiple Pathways, Partnership Academies, Program innovation, Reporting & Analysis, Twenty-first Century Learning, Workforce preparation
California near bottom in number of school counselors
As a mourning nation focuses on the need for more mental health support for students, California has regularly ranked at or near the bottom among the states in the number of counselors per student. In California, there was one counselor for every 810 students in 2009-10. Nationally, there were almost twice as many. The American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of one counselor to 250 students. “We don’t have enough counselors in schools,” said Art Revueltas, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Dropout prevention, Featured, High School Completion, Reporting & Analysis, School Safety, Special Needs
Districts use creative methods to counsel students
(EdSource Today writer Kathryn Baron contributed to this article.) In an era of budget cutbacks and more pressure on students to perform, some districts and teachers are finding ways to stretch their dollars to provide mental health services for students. The secret sauce in programs that try to improve student behavior is relationships. The goal is to get students to feel connected – to their school, to their classmates and to their teachers. One strategy developed by … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discipline, Dropout prevention, Featured, Reporting & Analysis, School Safety, Special Needs
A dozen-plus bills would reduce barriers to success for boys of color
The chairman of the Assembly Select Committee on Boys and Men of Color is confident that the bulk of legislation supported by the panel this session will become law. Oakland Democrat Sandré Swanson wrapped up the committee’s first two years yesterday, presiding over a hearing in the Capitol that laid out current and future proposals for creating a path to success for African American, Latino, and Native American boys. Of about 19 bills supported by or … Read entire article »
Filed under: Discipline, Dropout prevention, Equity issues, Featured, Jerry Brown, K-12 Challenges, Interventions, Legislature, Bills, Poverty, Poverty, Race, Ethnicity, Reporting & Analysis, Workforce preparation
Select committee: Time running short to end racial disparities
California’s economic prosperity may lie in a dozen recommendations for helping African American, Latino, and Southeast Asian boys succeed in school. The state Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color is releasing those proposals today in Sacramento along with testimony from an all-star panel of education, health, and workforce experts. Committee members spent the last year and a half holding hearings across the state to gather personal stories, research, and examples … Read entire article »
Filed under: Achievement Gap, College and Career Preparation, Dropout prevention, Equity issues, Legislature, Bills, Partnership Academies, Poverty, Poverty, Race, Ethnicity, Reporting & Analysis, Research, Workforce preparation
It’s time to fix school discipline practices and policies
May 20th, 2013 | 30 Comments | By Sarah Omojola / commentary
All students can learn. That’s a simple but profound starting place for talking about changing school discipline policies. As a former teacher in New Orleans public schools, I am well aware of the difficulty of teaching students who have varying backgrounds, abilities and learning styles in an ever-changing school system, inundated with countless internal and external pressures. However, research has shown that students are frequently suspended on grounds such as “willful defiance” for behavior that is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Absence, Truancy, Commentary, Discipline, Dropout prevention, Equity issues, Featured, K-12 Challenges, Interventions