A fifth grade student watches a lesson on her computer during school.
Credit: Allison Shelley for American Education
A fifth grade student watches a lesson on her computer during school.
June 7, 2021
While parents and state officials are pushing to fully reopen campuses this fall, some families are fearful of sending their kids back into classrooms too soon. But options for distance learning this fall are unclear across the state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he expects schools to fully reopen after the distance learning statute expires on June 30 and that students who want to continue with remote learning can pursue existing independent study plans. But some are critical of independent study. Although schools receive funding for students in independent study, some say the model has been used to push low-achieving students out of schools and lack accountability over academic experiences and outcomes for students.
May 21, 2021
Fifteen-year-old Felipe Caceres isn’t fond of shots and needles. But when his school district in Davis opened a vaccine clinic for students his age, he quickly hopped in line.
“We don’t know everything, and there’s always a possibility you could get sick, but the goal is to be safe,” said Caceres, who is the last in his household to get a vaccine. “I’m a little nervous, I’m not that good with shots. But this is for the greater good.”
On May 10, the Food and Drug Administration expanded the emergency authorization of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for adolescents ages 12 and up. Following the announcement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health gave their approvals for using the vaccine in individuals 12 and older.
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An East Bay teacher chose not to teach in person. Parents are asking why she s now heading to Mexico
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A kindergarten teacher at a school in West Contra Costa Unified, which reopened classrooms on a hybrid schedule for families who opted in, has chosen not to teach in person, and parents are asking why she’s now heading to Mexico. The halls of Garfield Elementary School are seen empty ahead of reopening in Oakland on March 23.Jessica Christian/The Chronicle
The East Bay kindergarten teacher’s email to families Monday offered a simple update: She was heading to Mexico for 12 days to attend her son’s wedding and, while she would teach remotely from there, her online classes would be canceled on certain days, given travel or family activities, requiring students to work on their own.
Students in wealthier schools 3 times likelier to be back in school full time
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May 5, 2021
Although 87% of California’s traditional public schools have reopened for some form of in-person instruction, fewer than half of students have returned either full time or part time in a hybrid model. A total of 55% of all public school students, including those in charter schools, were at home, in distance learning, as of April 30, according to an EdSource analysis of new data released by the state.
EdSource found that two-thirds of students in district schools with the largest proportions of low-income families were in distance learning, compared with only 43% of students in schools with the fewest low-income families a disparity that may partly explain a widening learning gap between wealthy and poor students that researchers and teachers suspect the pandemic has enlarged.