Ali Tadayon
Ali Tadayon covers West Contra Costa Unified School District and other K-12 issues for EdSource. Prior to joining EdSource at the start of 2020 as a Journalism Resident, he covered the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, Emeryville, El Cerrito and San Pablo for the Bay Area News Group. Tadayon cut his teeth as a crime reporter at the Press-Enterprise in Riverside, CA and the Post Register in Idaho Falls, Idaho. His work has earned several awards, including two John Swett Awards from the California Teachers Association for coverage of the Oakland Unified School District. He holds a journalism degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
All articles by Ali Tadayon
California teachers call on their districts for contractual commitment to community schools
Local teachers unions in the middle of bargaining with their districts want to see community schools included in their contracts.
Ali Tadayon
January 27, 2023
Late-in-term shuffling of teachers harms classes, say faculty and officials
Los Angeles Unified and West Contra Costa Unified hope to move teachers earlier in future years if needed.
Ali Tadayon
October 21, 2022
Stanford admits to anti-Semitic admission practices in the 1950s
Stanford has apologized to the Jewish community and pledges to improve campus life for Jewish students going forward.
Ali Tadayon
October 13, 2022
Coalition says 'science of reading-aligned' core curricula barely used in California
Most districts used the same three core reading programs from the State Board of Education’s 2015 list of pre-approved curricula
Ali Tadayon
October 11, 2022
Healthier options on the menu as California begins providing free meals for all students
California districts are using increased state and local funding to improve the free school meals offered to all students
Ali Tadayon
August 16, 2022
Elementary students are recovering faster from Covid learning loss, research shows
Research shows students in elementary school are further along on the road to learning recovery than middle school students, but both groups are several years away from a full academic recovery.
Ali Tadayon
July 26, 2022
Advocates for community schools support more funding but call for fixes to program
Tight deadlines and rigid qualifications were among the concerns raised by supporters of the state's multi-year community schools initiative
Ali Tadayon
June 17, 2022
How an East Bay school turns into a community school under California's model
Hundreds of campuses are slated to become community schools over the next five years; Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration urges more funding to meet the demand
Ali Tadayon
June 10, 2022
Thurmond rejects any one reading strategy for California, sees phonics as playing "a key role"
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond says phonics is key to early literacy, but he wants districts to be able to choose their reading curriculum.
Ali Tadayon And John Fensterwald
June 3, 2022
Bay Area schools see families leave cities, flock to suburbs
While the Bay Area had modest school enrollment growth over the past 20 years, suburban districts saw an influx of new students while city districts lost thousands as families sought affordable housing.
Ali Tadayon
May 9, 2022
An unmet promise: Early literacy for all in California
Educators and advocates at an EdSource roundtable urged state leaders to expand research-based teacher training on early literacy and "take responsibility" for California's literacy crisis.
Ali Tadayon
April 29, 2022
State literacy task force echoes call for more reading coaches, specialists
State education leaders put their support behind Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposal to pay for literacy coaches and specialists at schools with low reading scores.
Ali Tadayon
March 31, 2022
How one California elementary school sees success after overhauling its reading program
Nystrom Elementary ditched a popular, yet criticized curriculum and put a greater focus on phonics to improve students' reading skills.
Ali Tadayon
March 8, 2022
Oakland students, teachers, community to fight 11 school closures, mergers, reductions
Students, teachers and parents vow to fight the closures, rally state to forgive Oakland Unified's debt
Ali Tadayon
February 9, 2022
What are the best masks for children to wear at school during the omicron surge? | Quick Guide
Due to the omicron variant's higher transmissibility, medical experts are recommending avoiding cloth masks and surgical masks in favor of higher-quality KN95 or KF94 masks.