January 14, 2015

Suspensions, expulsions down statewide

New state data show a steep drop in suspensions and expulsions of California students, continuing a downward trend. Altogether, 20 percent fewer students were expelled and 15 percent fewer students were suspended in 2013-14 than in the previous year.

Susan Frey

January 8, 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 7, 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 6, 2015

Ferguson protests cast shadow over Berkeley

Louis Freedberg

November 30, 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 24, 2014

Network on school discipline launched

In response to efforts in many California school districts to reduce suspensions and expulsions, EdSource is convening an Educators Network for Effective School Discipline to help school and district officials as well as teachers share best practices and collaborate on successful strategies.

Louis Freedberg

November 18, 2014

Students in high poverty schools lose learning time

Even though schools across California offer similar amounts of instructional time each week, and instructional days during the school year, students in high poverty schools get far less time for actual learning, a new report concludes.

Louis Freedberg

November 9, 2014

Hayward community tackles truancy

Hayward school officials, police, businesses and churches are taking a gentle approach to reducing high truancy rates among students. Merchants are refusing to serve school-aged youths during school hours, and if students persist, police take them back to school to get them help staying in class.

Susan Frey

October 8, 2014

Judge orders state to fix troubled L.A. school

A state judge Wednesday ordered the California Department of Education to intervene at a south Los Angeles high school where some students have spent eight weeks in classes during which they received no instruction.

Jane Meredith Adams And John Fensterwald

October 6, 2014

Online resource offers help with discipline

Educators who want to implement more positive disciplinary practices can now access an online national repository of research-based alternatives to suspension and expulsion: the National Clearinghouse on Supportive School Discipline (NCSSD).

Susan Frey

October 2, 2014

State introduces tools for school change

With districts working this fall to put into action their first locally created school accountability plans, the California Department of Education rolled out a new online resource center on Thursday designed to help schools change.

Jane Meredith Adams

September 28, 2014

New law limits student discipline measure

A new law that limits the use of “willful defiance” as a reason to expel or suspend students signifies a growing commitment on the part of the state to find more positive approaches to disciplining students.

Susan Frey

September 2, 2014

NAEP scores indicate cost of missing school

Fourth- and 8th-grade students who reported more absences from school had poorer scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), generally referred to as the nation’s report card, in reading and math in 2013, according to a report released Tuesday.

Susan Frey

August 28, 2014

Chronic absenteeism bill faces veto threat

Legislation that would make it easier for the state and school districts to track chronic absenteeism, an early indicator of students at risk of dropping out, will soon reach Gov. Jerry Brown, where it faces an uncertain fate.

John Fensterwald

August 21, 2014

Compton latest district with assault rifles

The decision of the Compton Unified School District board to allow campus police to keep semi-automatic rifles in the trunks of their cars has sparked controversy. But Compton is just the latest school district in California where school police are authorized to use assault-style weapons.

Jane Meredith Adams