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
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.
Ali Tadayon
January 31, 2022
How California districts seek to recruit, retain Black teachers amid shortage
California districts are using pathway programs to hire more Black teachers and taking other steps to retain them.
Ali Tadayon
January 21, 2022
Parents scramble for higher-quality masks for children amid nationwide shortage
Though experts say higher-quality masks are crucial to preventing the spread of the Omicron variant, few districts are providing those masks to students leaving parents looking for them.
Ali Tadayon
January 20, 2022
Several school districts push back vaccine mandate deadlines
Districts opted to push back their vaccine mandate deadlines rather than accommodate thousands of independent study transfer students.
Ali Tadayon
December 17, 2021
Thousands of California students still lack proof of vaccination despite deadlines
California school districts with strained independent study programs could be scrambling to find enough teachers for unvaccinated students.
Ali Tadayon
December 10, 2021
Proposed transgender restrictions at Chino Valley Unified fail after student outcry and state warning
An Inland Empire district's proposal would have excluded transgender students from facilities and activities for the gender they identify with.
Ali Tadayon
November 19, 2021
A Bay Area school district's plan to reduce violence through nonviolent means
West Contra Costa Unified is prioritizing teaching students the social and emotional skills they need to avoid violence.