Tagged With "Students"
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16,000 California K-12 Students had Shootings at Their Schools Since Sandy Hook [mercurynews.com]
By John Woolfolk, The Mercury News, November 14, 2019 The sight of another school shooting like the latest mayhem Thursday at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita has become sadly familiar. Since the horror unleashed in 2012 by a deranged gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, about 16,000 California students have experienced some sort of shooting at 15 schools in the Golden State. “This is every student’s worst nightmare,” Julia Runkle, 17, a volunteer with Students Demand...
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A Landmark Lawsuit Aimed to Fix Special Ed for California's Black Students. It Didn't. [kqed.org]
By Lee Romney, KQED, October 18, 2019 Darryl Lester was at his mom’s place in Tacoma, Washington, when a letter he’d been waiting for arrived in the mail. At 40, he was destitute, in pain and out of work. The letter delivered good news: Lester would be getting disability benefits after blowing out his back in a sheet metal accident. But he crumpled it up and threw it in the trash. Why? Because he couldn’t read it. From first through seventh grades, Lester had attended three public schools in...
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A Quarter Century On, Schools in California Now a Welcoming Place for Undocumented Students [edsource.org]
By Louis Freedberg, EdSource, November 8, 2019 Exactly a quarter of a century ago, on Nov. 8, 1994, Californians went to the polls to vote on Proposition 187, an initiative to expel undocumented students from its public schools and universities. That was despite a Supreme Court ruling a dozen years earlier that schools were required to educate all students regardless of their immigration status. Among its many provisions was that schools officials would have had to identify all undocumented...
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Berkeley Program puts Students Seeking Housing in the Homes of Older Adults [berkeleyside.com]
By Robin Estrin, Berkeleyside, December 2, 2019 Marcia Garcia, 29, moved to the Bay Area in August, admitted to UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy for a master’s degree. Searching for housing, she quickly learned that options were scarce—and expensive. But thanks to a new program that pairs up graduate students and University retirees with room to spare, she found something affordable: a first-floor bedroom with its own entrance, in a house owned by Cal alumna Linda Artel. “I like...
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Action Alert! Campaign for restorative discipline in schools deadline TOMORROW!
The Children’s Movement is helping to promote restorative justice practices in schools by eliminating suspensions or expulsions for “willful defiance” through Senate Bill 607 authored by Senator Nancy Skinner . You can view the letter at this link here , and sign on before the deadline tomorrow, Wednesday 2/21, at 5pm. Five years ago, California schools issued an astounding 709,702 suspensions, nearly half for “defiance/disruption,” a catch-all category used to justify disciplinary action...
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Addressing the Educational Gap in Whittier [kcet.org]
By Neighborhood Data for Social Change, February 10, 2020 The California Department of Public Health reported in 2017 that completing a formal education is a crucial step on the pathway to securing fulfilling employment that can provide food, housing, transportation and other livelihood improvements essential to a healthy life. However, educational attainment differs across economic and racial lines. Since 2003, the achievement gap in California between low-income students and their more...
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When California schools reopen, Gov. Newsom envisages major changes in how they are run [edsource.org]
By Louis Freedberg, EdSource, April 14, 2020 Gov. Gavin Newsom says it is too soon to ease up on restrictions keeping millions of students out of school, but when they do return, possibly in the fall, they would likely come back to schools organized in radically different ways in order to protect students, staff and families. Currently over 6 million students in California are out of school, and school districts are struggling to provide them with “distance learning” that will hold their...
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Why the Nation Should Screen All Students for Trauma Like California Does [theconversation.com]
By Sunny Shin, The Conversation, November 18, 2019 As the first person to hold the new role of Surgeon General of California, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris is pushing an unprecedented plan to implement universal screenings for childhood trauma within the state’s schools. Childhood trauma is defined by the National Institute of Mental Health as an “emotionally painful or distressful” event that “often results in lasting mental and physical effects.” Burke Harris’ plan is already more than a dream:...
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Why Understanding A Student's Preschool Life May Be Key To Raising LAUSD Graduation Rates [laist.com]
By Mariana Dale, LAist, December 12, 2019 Almost 31,000 children attend some kind of early childhood program in the Los Angeles Unified School District, but that system isn't well connected to the district's elementary and high schools. That means it's hard for teachers to understand a student's background and where they need help when they enter K-12 schools. Now the district has a strategic plan to change that. LAUSD's Birth to Eight Roadmap recommends new teaching methods, data collection...
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State Audit Finds Education Money Not Serving High-Needs Students, Calls for Changes in Funding Law [edsource.org]
By John Fensterwald, EdSource, November 6, 2019 In its first detailed examination of former Gov. Jerry Brown’s landmark school funding law, the California State Auditor sharply criticized the Legislature and State Board of Education for failing to ensure that billions of dollars have been spent on low-income children and other students targeted for additional state money. “In general, we determined that the State’s approach” to the Local Control Funding Formula “has not ensured that funding...
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Students, Teachers, Administrators Soar Above Challenges at Las Plumas [chicoer.com]
By Natalie Hanson, Enterprise-Record, December 18, 2019 As Oroville students continue to face social and economic hardships, high schools are working to improve their experiences and access to opportunities as adults. Staff at Oroville Union High School District’s schools say they are working to address the effects of widespread adverse childhood experiences. In the last decade, Butte County has been reported with the highest number of adverse childhood experiences in California in the...
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Study: Black Students Face 'Accumulation of Disadvantage' [educationdive.com]
By Naaz Modan, Education Dive, October 10, 2019 Dive Brief: A new study from the University of California, Los Angeles' Center for the Transformation of Schools finds a student's quality of life is linked to his or her academic performance. Where they live, access to healthy food, and quality of air and healthcare are among factors that influence academic performance and the schools they attend. Black students in Los Angeles — who are already faced with higher suspension rates, attend...
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Richmond High School students confront demands of social distancing [edsource.org]
By Marina Knowles, EdSource, April 9, 2020 Shutting down California to control the spread of the coronavirus requires everyone to cooperate. Gov. Gavin Newsom urged young people to take the crisis seriously and stay indoors and at least six feet from others after commenting on the tragic loss of a Lancaster teenager who died of COVID-19. He went on to say: “Young people can and will be impacted by this virus. In fact, young people disproportionately are the ones testing positive in the state...
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Summer Reading (and Listening) List for Sidelined Students [aafp.org]
By Margaret Miller, American Academy of Family Physicians, May 14, 2020 I'm sitting on my back porch in sunny South Carolina, where I recently experienced virtual graduation from my medical school in Tennessee, and I'm having a hard time writing this blog post. There are moving boxes to be unpacked in the kitchen, our mattress is lying on the bedroom floor, and the only place we have to sit in the living room is a giant recliner from Big Lots that we're forced to share until our couch...
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The Beginning of the End of Random Searches: Students Know What They Need Next [fixschooldiscipline.org]
By Ashley Ruano, Fix School Discipline, October 1, 2019 The #StudentNotSuspects coalition has long worked in Los Angeles to end the random searches policy that discriminate against students and create a hostile campus environment for students to learn. For many years, Los Angeles Unified School District implemented mandatory random metal detector searches in middle and high schools. The searches did not make campus environments more secure. Instead, the policy targeted, and criminalized...
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Three Bright Spots in California’s Fitful and Failing Implementation of a Federal Law Aimed at Lifting Foster Students’ Academic Horizons [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
By Susan Abram, The Chronicle of Social Change, November 14, 2019 In the eastern suburbs of Sacramento County, Kamika Hebbert keeps a watchful eye for signs of how an unstable environment affects young minds. There’s the restlessness that comes with worry about biological parents and siblings. The thousand-mile stare that comes with trauma. The mouthing off and anger that comes with fear of being placed with another family or moved to another group home. “I’ve had kids who have moved to 17...
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TCOE [Tulare County Office of Education] Grant Opens 'Gates' for Minority, Low-Income Students [thesungazette.com]
By The Sun-Gazette, November 13, 2019 The Tulare County Office of Education will play a key role in helping develop strategies to improve student outcomes for black, Latino and low-income students. Last week, the Tulare County Office of Education (TCOE) learned it will receive a $500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. TCOE was the only K-12 agency in California among the current cohort of Model Design & Initiation (MDI) grantees. The MDI grant is the second grant...
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Two Community Colleges Show How Students Can Succeed Without Remedial Math Courses [edsource.org]
By Ashley A. Smith, EdSource, November 15, 2019 A San Diego area community college that moved early to eliminate remedial math courses is drawing lots of attention across the state for success in teaching math. Not only are students at Cuyamaca Community College taking math classes that can transfer to four-year colleges, but Latino students are bucking a national trend by outperforming their white counterparts. Cuyamaca, along with College of the Siskiyous in Northern California, were two...
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UC Plans to Enroll 1,400 More California Undergraduates With No Tuition Increase [latimes.com]
By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times, November 15, 2019 The University of California plans to enroll 1,400 more California undergraduates next year with no tuition increase under a 2020-21 budget approved Thursday by the board of regents. The UC system also will enroll 1,000 additional graduate students and expand mental health services and academic support in its drive to increase graduation rates and close the achievement gap among diverse student groups. The UC Student Assn. successfully...
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Disconnected: Internet Stops Once School Ends for Many Rural California Students [edsource.org]
By Sydney Johnson, EdSource, December 6, 2019 Walk into any classroom in Alpaugh Unified and you will see teaching and learning using the latest technology. Students collaborate on digital documents, give presentations on interactive whiteboards, conduct research and even apply to colleges on Chromebooks. But for many students in Alpaugh, a small rural town about an hour north of Bakersfield in Tulare County, that online connection stops once the school day ends. “We have a disadvantage...
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Echo Conference Spotlight: Mental Health of Undocumented Students
Echo's conference this year is packed with great workshops for teachers, parents and anyone who works with children and their families. In addition to the not-to-be-missed keynotes (such as Susan Craig ), we are proud to present: Jose Ivan Arreola-Torres Workshop Spotlight: Holistic Healing for Immigrant & Undocumented Youth In this important workshop, Jose Ivan Arreola-Torres will talk about an often overlooked aspect of student mental health - the mental and emotional...
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Equity [cdefoundation.org]
From Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation, February 2020 California students have big dreams. Unfortunately. some students face a much tougher road to achieve them. It’s up to us to remove barriers in the education system that get in their way. Working with Alliance for Continuous Improvement partners, Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation developed this video as a way to help local educators, families, students and community groups engage with their schools, districts and...
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Fires Take a Toll on Students; Some Districts Rethink Suspensions (Podcast) [edsource.org]
By EdSource, November 4, 2019 From Sonoma County to Simi Valley, fires forced hundreds of thousands of Californians out of their homes in October. In this week’s podcast, reporter Sydney Johnson shares what she found at evacuation centers in Santa Rosa and Petaluma, where she spoke with college students worried about how they will make up lost time. Also, with a big decline in out-of-school suspensions for disruptive behavior, some districts are looking at ways to transform how they handle...
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Google to provide computers, internet to California students studying from home [sfchronicle.com]
By Alexei Koseff, San Francisco Chronicle, April 1, 2020 Google will provide thousands of computers and free internet access to help California students finish the school year online, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday. The company plans to donate 4,000 Chromebooks and make broadband internet available to 100,000 households through the end of the school year. Newsom said at a news conference that “Google stepped up in a big way,” but that more support was needed from the private sector to...
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Native American Students Suspended at Higher Rates Than Peers. New Report Looks at Solutions [desertsun.com]
By Risa Johnson, Palm Springs Desert Sun, September 30, 2019 Native American students in California's public schools face higher-than-average suspension rates, according to a new report. A joint effort between California State University, San Diego, and the Sacramento Native American Higher Education Collaborative, the report outlines what it calls troubling trends regarding how school administrators discipline students. Racial disparities in school discipline, particularly for African...
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Paradise students get substance abuse, disaster trauma help [chicoer.com]
By Natalie Hanson, Chico Enterprise-Record, May 9, 2020 Butte County’s Office of Education has gotten a $1 million grant to help students on the Paradise ridge get services for substance abuse and disaster-related trauma. The Office of Education applied for the 18-month grant, targeted specifically for areas that have experienced disaster, to continue the support process of recovery for ridge schools, students and families. It will focus on four areas for services: Substance abuse services...
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Remote Learning for English Learners and Special Needs Students during COVID-19 [ppic.org]
By Niu Gao, Laura Hill, Public Policy Institute of California, April 10, 2020 For California’s most vulnerable students, including 1.2 million English Learners (EL) and over 700,000 students with special educational needs, remote learning in the wake of COVID-19 presents particular challenges. As districts across the state roll out distance learning plans to minimize disruption to K–12 students, educators must find alternate ways to meet all student needs. English Learners and special...
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Reopen schools when it's safe for students, not for the convenience of adults [calmatters.org]
By Vernon M. Billy, Cal Matters, May 15, 2020 School trustees and educators serve our public schools because they care for children and are committed to their learning and growth. We’re eager to welcome students back to campus when we can do so in a safe and supportive environment – and not a moment sooner. We don’t want to resume school at any cost or for the wrong reasons. We cannot jeopardize the safety of students because of the adult desire for a return to normalcy. And when we reopen...
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College Students, Seniors and Immigrants Miss Out on Food Stamps. Here's Why. [calmatters.org]
By Jackie Botts and Felicia Mello, Cal Matters, November 6, 2019 A college student in Fresno who struggles with hunger has applied for food stamps three times. Another student, who is homeless in Sacramento, has applied twice. Each time, they were denied. A 61-year-old in-home caretaker in Oakland was cut off from food stamps last year when her paperwork got lost. Out of work, she can’t afford groceries. While picking up a monthly box of free food, a 62-year-old senior in San Diego told...
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California Plans to End 'Lunch Shaming' That Guarantees Meals for All Students [usatoday.com]
By Joshua Bote, USA Today, October 14, 2019 A bill signed Saturday by California Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to cut the recent trend in schools of "lunch shaming." SB 265, which was originally introduced by California state Sen. Robert Hertzberg, will require that all public school students have a "state reimbursable" meal provided by the school "even if their parent or guardian has unpaid meal fees." It amends the Child Hunger Prevention and Fair Treatment Act of 2017, which previously stated...
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California's First Surgeon General: Screen Every Student for Childhood Trauma [nbcnews.com]
By Patrice Gaines, NBC News, October 11, 2019 Dr. Nadine Burke Harris has an ambitious dream: screen every student for childhood trauma before entering school. "A school nurse would also get a note from a physician that says: 'Here is the care plan for this child's toxic stress. And this is how it shows up,'" said Burke Harris, who was appointed California's first surgeon general in January. "It could be it shows up in tummy aches. Or it's impulse control and behavior, and we offer a care...
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California's Latest Undergrad Project? More Aid for Campus Moms and Dads [calmatters.org]
By Adria Watson, CalMatters, September 29, 2019 Like most college students, Bianca Rojas has a lot to balance — classes, papers, exams, research. Unlike most of her peers, though, the 25-year-old Cal State Long Beach sociology major also has two extracurricular obligations: Jasper and Adeline, her toddlers. Each semester, she said, she carefully budgets her financial aid, calculating the credits she can afford, given the needs of her family. It’s stressful: Last semester, she and her...
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Grocery Money Zips Straight to California's Needy Students Amid School Closures [chronicleofsocialchange.org]
By Sara Tiano, The Chronicle of Social Change, May 5, 2020 As lines for food banks stretch for miles and millions of Californians apply for unemployment in record numbers amid the coronavirus pandemic, a new anti-hunger program is giving families debit cards to keep their fridges and pantries stocked. Close to two-thirds of school-aged children in California could well be eligible, and the state anticipates spending as much as $1.4 billion on the infusion into the budgets of struggling...
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Homeless Students Suffer Consequences of Housing, Food Insecurity | Homeless, in Butte County [chicoer.com]
By Natalie Hanson, Chico Enterprise-Record, January 16, 2020 At least 70% of Oroville’s high school students are considered socioeconomically-disadvantaged. In Chico, Between 400 and 500 children are categorized as housing insecure at any time during the Chico Unified School district’s school year. Across the county, thousands of students often rely on each district for help just to get to school and to get a meal. In these statistics a tragic side is seen in the Butte County homelessness...
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How Closed Schools Are Creating More Trauma For Students [kqed.org]
By Cory Turner Apr 21 The high school senior sitting across from Franciene Sabens was in tears over the abrupt amputation of her social life and turmoil at home. Because of the coronavirus, there will be no prom, no traditional send-off or ceremony for the graduates of Carbondale Community High School in Carbondale, Ill. And Sabens, one of the school's counselors, could not give the girl the one thing Sabens' gut told her the teen needed most. "I want to hug them all, but I really wanted to...
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How Free Food Programs at MJC, Stan State are Coming to Rescue of Hungry Students [modbee.com]
By Chrisanna Mink, The Modesto Bee, January 4, 2020 Nancy Carranza, a third-year student at Modesto Junior College, is happy to give back to hungry families. She knows first-hand what it feels like to study with the distraction of a growling stomach. “Sometimes my mom skipped (meals),” Carranza said tearfully. “My mom planned out the month and made things work with food stamps.” [ Please click here to read more .]
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In rural California, children face isolation, hunger amid coronavirus school closures [latimes.com]
By Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2020 With schools closed because of the coronavirus, educators in vast stretches of rural California are struggling not only to teach their students but to reach them. From the mountain hamlets of Northern California to the farming communities of the Central Valley to the desert towns near the U.S.-Mexico border, small schools are grappling with how to serve far-flung, impoverished students with less access to at-home internet, spotty...
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Re: California's First Surgeon General: Screen Every Student for Childhood Trauma [nbcnews.com]
I hope she focuses some of her energy on the primary prevention of unsupportive, harmful parenting. In other words a new kind of parenting education...one that reaches everyone, everywhere, all the time. Visit advancingparenting.org.
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Re: Action Alert! Campaign for restorative discipline in schools deadline TOMORROW!
Thank you for letting us know, Gail. I've signed, tweeted and shared on FB. ~Lisa
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Re: Action Alert! Campaign for restorative discipline in schools deadline TOMORROW!
Awesome, thank you so much!
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With masks and social distance, these special ed students have already returned to school [edsource.org]
By Louis Freedberg, EdSource, May 27, 2020 While educators across the state are struggling over how and when to bring students safely back to school in the fall, teachers in at least one California classroom have already figured it out. At San Jose Middle School, located in Novato in Marin County, Cindy Evans’ class for special education students has been in session for ten days. Educators interviewed by EdSource say they know of no other similar effort in the state. The students in the...
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Supporting Students Means Taking Care of Parents, Too. Here's How Schools Can Help. [edsurge.com]
By Meredith Liu and Valentina Helo-Villegas, EdSurge, May 26, 2020 Over the past month, educators across the country have come up with creative ways to support the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of children. From “ teacher caravans ” to virtual office hours, read alouds, and dance breaks, they have provided students with much-needed support to complement their education during a time of unprecedented disruption. But what about the wellbeing of parents? Should schools play a role in...
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Tackling Food Insecurity among K-12 Students during COVID-19 [ppic.org]
By Caroline Danielson and Niu Gao, Public Policy Institute of California, May 28, 2020 Food insecurity—either concerns around having enough food or outright hunger— has increased sharply this spring. Nationally, among children age 12 and under, the rate is up 14 points—from about 3% in 2018 to 17% in April 2020. During California’s COVID-19 school closures, even large districts appear to be serving fewer free and low-cost meals than before the pandemic, while rural or small districts face...
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Students should expect masks, temperature checks and a lot of hand washing under California guidance [edsource.org]
By Diana Lambert, EdSource, June 8, 2020 California schools will look different when they reopen next year, according to new statewide guidance. Students should expect to wash their hands and have their temperature taken often. They will likely wear masks and only attend classes a few days a week with a small group of classmates. Signs and taped marks on the floor will tell them which direction to walk and where to stand in hallways and in the cafeteria. A 55-page guidance document, “...
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Despite pandemic, one struggling California elementary school saw bright spots [edsource.org]
By Ashley A. Smith, EdSource, June 12, 2020 For Richmond’s Stege Elementary, the end of this school year was about showing progress as it begins a complete overhaul to a safe and enjoyable school where children want to come to learn. But like many schools across the country, the pandemic forced the teachers and students to adapt on the fly. Special education teacher Hannah Geitner found herself helping her students learn to read in less-than-ideal situations over Zoom. In one of her...
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Cerritos College opens California's first housing exclusively for homeless students [edsource.org]
By Ashley A. Smith, EdSource, June 12, 2020 More than half of Cerritos College’s 22,000 students are either homeless or struggle to pay their rent and other housing utilities. That fact was the driving reason why the college, located in Norwalk, south of Los Angeles, opened the state’s first housing project for community college students facing housing insecurity. College officials held the grand opening of the housing development Thursday. “The homeless crisis in LA is pretty big,” said...
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The Role of Community Colleges in Supporting Mental Health [ppic.org]
By Olga Rodriguez, Public Policy Institute of California, June 17, 2020 Mental health is the biggest issue students at California community colleges say they are facing during the pandemic. That is, 67% of students report higher levels of anxiety, stress, depression, or other mental distress. The sudden transition to an online learning environment drives some of this stress, as do struggles with job and income loss or paying for housing and utilities. For some students, the loss of income...
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Students speak out: California educators host first-ever statewide talk about institutional racism [sfchronicle.com]
By Brett Simpson, San Francisco Chronicle, June 18, 2020 On Wednesday afternoon, over 300 California educators, parents, and students tuned into Facebook Live to hear high school students speak honestly about their own experiences of racism, implicit bias, and trauma at school. The “ Student Support Circle: Institutional Racism and Implicit Bias ,” was co-hosted by the California Department of Education and the National Equity Project, and is the first among several initiatives state...
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Community colleges struggle with students' food needs as pandemic increases demand [edsource.org]
By Betty Marquez Rosales, EdSource, July 1, 2020 With reduced work hours and a baby on the way, Maraya Bermudez stocks up on groceries for the week at the food pantry on her community college campus. She frequented the Fullerton College food pantry sparingly during the school year, but she now goes every week to pick up bags that often include rice, beans, vegetables, fruits, milk and snacks. A former foster youth, she has also been eligible for debit cards from her college that she can use...