Jane Meredith Adams
Jane was a senior reporter covering student health at EdSource Today. Her work with data journalist John C. Osborn on “How Vaccinated are California Kindergarteners” won first place in data reporting from the Education Writers Association in 2014. Jane is a former staff reporter for the Boston Globe. She is also the co-author of The Last Time I Wore a Dress (Putnam/Riverhead), the story of a teenage girl’s journey through the mental health system. The book won a Lambda Literary Award. Previously, she was a contributing editor at Health and Parenting. She has reported for the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsday, Baltimore Sun and other publications. Prior to joining EdSource, she worked for five years at a K-8 school in Oakland. She holds an A.B. in government from Harvard University and an M.A. in English and an M.F.A. in Writing from San Francisco State University. She has been a USC Annenberg Health Journalism Fellow.
All articles by Jane Meredith Adams
Schools help families enroll in Covered California, Medi-Cal
With huge numbers of California children still uninsured, schools are beginning to take the lead in letting families know that affordable health care coverage is available.
Jane Meredith Adams
February 8, 2015
Lawsuit seeks instruction intervention at 5 high schools
After winning a court order to improve academic conditions at one Los Angeles high school last fall, lawyers in a class action suit asked Thursday for an additional court order to compel the state to improve instruction time at five other California high schools in the 2015-16 school year.
Jane Meredith Adams
February 7, 2015
Lawsuit agreement to force schools to provide physical education
As schools tout the importance of exercise in an era of childhood obesity, a California parent and his lawyer have agreed to a settlement with dozens of districts across California that will force elementary schools to prove they are providing at least the minimum amount of physical education required by state law.
Jane Meredith Adams
February 1, 2015
Districts detail plans for suspension reductions in local plans
Nearly every school district says it wants to reduce student suspensions, but only some have created plans with the kind of detail, funding and statistical savvy that make it more likely they'll succeed, according to a report released Wednesday that analyzed plans to improve "school climate" in the 50 largest school districts in California.
Jane Meredith Adams
January 29, 2015
Measles outbreak prompts schools to push immunizations
The largest outbreak of measles in California in years is prompting school officials to redouble their efforts to convince parents to vaccinate their children.
Jane Meredith Adams
January 26, 2015
Study: Suspensions harm 'well-behaved' kids
It’s a belief repeated every day by teachers, principals and parents of rule-abiding children: Suspending disruptive students will allow the rest of the class to settle down and learn. But a new, large study calls this rationale into question.
Jane Meredith Adams
January 8, 2015
New laws to improve student health supports
A slew of new laws affecting students’ physical, emotional and behavioral wellbeing will change how schools operate this year, in ways large and small. The laws regulate basic needs grants for truant students, pesticide use and expulsions for "willfully defiant" behavior, among other issues.
Jane Meredith Adams
January 7, 2015
Funds for school health centers target asthma
School-based health centers in California will take the lead in educating school staff and families nationwide about asthma attacks triggered by dust, mold, smoke and chemical cleaning products, according to a new federal grant.
Jane Meredith Adams
December 31, 2014
State to fight lawsuit by low-income students
State finance officials last week granted the California Department of Education $3.4 million to fight a lawsuit that demands the state fix disruptive conditions in some high-poverty schools where students allegedly are being denied the fundamental right to an education.
Jane Meredith Adams
December 17, 2014
State likely to support existing lunch standards
California's enthusiasm for healthy school lunches appears unlikely to change under a proposed Congressional budget bill that would allow states to weaken new federal school nutrition requirements, including one that schools serve only breads and pastas that are "whole grain rich."
Jane Meredith Adams
December 15, 2014
Schools work to improve vision health
While vision screening is mandatory for California students, they often don’t get the glasses they need. Increasingly, schools and nonprofit organizations are working together to help.
Jane Meredith Adams
December 7, 2014
'Farm-to-cool' grants aim to spur healthy eating
Eight California farm-to-school programs received federal grants on Tuesday with the goal of making broccoli cool on the North Coast, bringing traditional Karuk Tribe foods into Humboldt County schools and supporting local farmers across the state, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced.
Jane Meredith Adams
December 2, 2014
Positive discipline gets boost in district plans
With a big push from the state’s new approach to education spending, many California school districts appear to be ramping up investments in positive approaches to discipline.
Jane Meredith Adams
November 30, 2014
Report: School kitchens need equipment
Nearly every school kitchen in California needs equipment to be more successful at serving lunches that meet federal nutrition standards, according to a report released Thursday.
Jane Meredith Adams
November 13, 2014
School lunch programs ordered to spend more
At long last, some school food service departments in California are going shopping, under orders from the California Department of Education to spend millions of dollars in federal and state school lunch funds that districts have failed for years to use for student meals.