K–12 | Daily Report

If a child is hungry or abused, or how well can he learn? If a teacher doesn't understand her students, how well can she reach them?

Factors such as culture, history and environment can play a crucial role in the future of students and schools, a growing body of experts say.

Many of today's reform ideas don't include or discuss those factors, but that could be changing.

Last week, the California Department of Education released an 152-page workbook that offers to help school districts improve the academic performance of impoverished and minority children.

The book, called "Improving School Climate & Closing the Achievement Gap," seeks to improve the quality of teaching of immigrants, minorities and special-needs children by helping educators better understand students in these groups.

The book also gives tips to districts on how to improve their interpretation and implementation of the existing data tools at their disposal.

The report is the result of a partnership between the Department of Education and a non-profit organization called WestEd. It also embodies a commitment made years ago – by state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell – to address how California educates the underprivileged.

A study released last month pointed out that California was one of the worst state in the nation when it came to the education of minorities and the poor.

"There are many factors that go into effective teaching and learning," said O'Connell in a statement. "If students feel disconnected from their teachers or unwelcome at school, these factors can interfere with learning and contribute to the achievement gap. To give schools more insight into conditions and issues related to race and the achievement gap, we expanded and improved the state's school climate surveys for students and staff ... Our school climate Workbook can help foster crucial conversations at schools and districts that can lead to changes that will help all students feel safe and supported in their schools and better engaged in learning.

The workbook can be downloaded as a PDF.