November 3, 2011, 12:05 AM
While California's math and reading scores have improved slightly in recent years, they still rank near the bottom on a national test, according to a report released this week. According to the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, which tested fourth- and eighth-graders, state...
+ read more
October 24, 2011, 12:05 AM
More than a decade after voters approved an initiative to limit bilingual education in public schools, the state is using a hodgepodge of programs. Meanwhile, critics contend, young students pay the price.
+ read more
October 24, 2011, 12:05 AM
BALDWIN PARK – El fin del día escolar en la clase de kindergarten de Patty Sánchez en la Escuela Primaria Geddes no es tan diferente al de otras clases de kindergarten de todo el estado. Los niños se reúnen en una alfombra mientras Sánchez sostiene un libro sobre un coyote y una tortuga y lee en...
+ read more
October 23, 2011, 12:23 AM
En una fría mañana de invierno Nicole Miller recorrió el salón de clases de cuarto grado en esta pequeña ciudad en el Valle de Salinas, haciendo preguntas a sus estudiantes sobre temas que probablemente encuentren en las pruebas del estado en la primavera.
+ read more
October 23, 2011, 12:04 AM
Figures suggest that huge numbers of California’s Hispanic students, the majority of whom are English-language learners, are missing a key benchmark that could affect the state’s long-term future: the ability to read fluently by third grade.
+ read more
August 31, 2011, 12:05 AM
Only after the governor ordered an independent examination did Georgia officials catch widespread cheating by teachers, principals and administrators on standardized tests in the Atlanta Public Schools system. The resulting scandal has sparked resignations, a criminal investigation...
+ read more
August 24, 2011, 12:05 AM
Only about 30 percent of last year’s California high school graduates who took the ACT college entrance exam tested proficient in all subject areas. The state’s best subject was English – 72 percent of students were considered ready for college freshman classes. In science,...
+ read more
June 8, 2011, 8:00 PM
Despite years of efforts to equalize spending in California schools, some districts receive thousands of dollars more per student than others. But the bigger expenditure didn't assure higher test scores. Browse the spending per student and test score data by county for all school districts in the...
+ read more
February 18, 2011, 12:05 AM
Thousands of California eighth-graders who have been pushed into taking high school algebra lack the preparation they need to succeed in those classes, and are being set up for failure. That is one of the key findings of a report by EdSource released today, titled "Improving Middle Grades...
+ read more
October 21, 2010, 12:05 AM
Community college students arrive uninformed and unprepared to take a battery of tests that assign them to either college-level or remedial classes – high-stakes exams that could have a profound impact on their future. That's the finding of a new report by WestEd [PDF], an...
+ read more
October 15, 2010, 1:27 AM
For the past year, the Los Angeles Unified School District has contracted with an outside consulting firm that has been doing its own "value-added" analysis of how effective schools are contributing to student outcomes. The researchers with the firm, Education Strategy Consulting,...
+ read more
October 5, 2010, 12:05 AM
More than 200 colleges across the country, including all California State University campuses, have been using a controversial technique to judge the effectiveness of college instruction on student performance. For the past three years, CSU's 23 campuses have participated in a little...
+ read more
September 28, 2010, 1:55 AM
Passions ran high on the best way to evaluate teacher effectiveness at the first public discussion held in the wake of the Los Angeles Times' pathbreaking series, which included publishing the names of 6,000 elementary school teachers and ratings of their "effectiveness" in...
+ read more
September 27, 2010, 12:18 AM
Regardless of where you stand on the controversy triggered by the Los Angeles Times series rating the effectiveness of 6,000 teachers based on their students' test scores – and publishing their names – what is undeniable is that it had more of an impact than few education...
+ read more
September 14, 2010, 12:05 AM
Underscoring the unworkability of California's current school "accountability" system, test scores at California schools are going up, at the same time as the number of failing schools as defined by the federal government are going up dramatically as well. The number of schools...
+ read more
