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Across the nation, many are marking the beginning of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic that has kept us apart for the past 2.5 years. But in education, it’s clear we can’t return to the old normal.
Inequitable school funding is chronic and often severe in most states. In this webinar, school finance reform experts discussed policies to foster equitable and impactful school funding.
In this webinar, experts shared actions states can take to foster coherence and alignment around a whole child vision, including assessing statewide needs and assets and building data systems for continuous improvement. State leaders who have taken on this work also described their process to create a whole child vision and share lessons learned.
David L. KirpMarjorie WechslerMadelyn GardnerTitilayo Tinubu Ali
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A deep dive into the strategies of three high-achieving school districts across the U.S., this book shows how an evidence-based approach of continuous improvement can boost graduation rates and close opportunity gaps.
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Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) educates approximately 72,200 students, 90% of whom are students of color, while 65% are from economically disadvantaged families and 15% are English learners. LBUSD employs critical practices and policies to promote learning, making it one of California’s “positive outlier” districts in which students performed better than predicted on California state tests from 2015 through 2017.
Taylor AllbrightJulie A. MarshEupha Jeanne DaramolaKate E. Kennedy
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Hawthorne School District (HSD) is a small district serving a working-class suburb of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Eighty-seven percent of students are from low-income families, 71% are Latino/a, and 21% are African American. HSD employs critical practices and policies to promote learning, making it one of California’s “positive outlier” districts in which students performed better than predicted on California state tests from 2015 through 2017.
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Gridley Unified School District serves more than 2,000 students in a small rural town in California. The median annual household income in Gridley is just over 60% of the state average. Located in a close-knit community, Gridley Unified has created a culture of support to promote student learning, making it one of California’s “positive outlier” districts in which students performed better than predicted on California state tests from 2015 through 2017.
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Clovis Unified School District (USD) serves about 43,000 California students, with sizeable groups of Latino/a and Hmong students and 40% of all students being eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Clovis USD’s unique culture and its specific approaches to supporting student learning have made it one of California’s “positive outlier” districts in which students performed better than predicted on California state tests from 2015 through 2017.
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Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD) is California’s largest elementary school system with over 30,000 students, 90% of whom are students of color and over one third of whom are English learners. CVESD has made significant investments in capacity building and focused on continuous improvement, making it one of California’s “positive outlier” districts in which students performed better than predicted on California state tests from 2015 through 2017.
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The increased stress, mental health challenges, and inequities observed during the pandemic have reaffirmed the need to create safe, welcoming learning environments for students and educators. Well-designed teacher preparation for a whole-child approach is an important step toward meeting students’ needs and can overcome major hurdles such as teacher shortages.
