The Oakland Ed Week in Review: 3/22-3/28

last week– the reopening saga continues, stories from community and families, its school choice time for next year and a look at the data, the state has new guidance on reopenings and a new ethnic studies curricula, all that and more, please read share and get involved

Oakland:

California:

Other Stories:

Resources:

Oakland:

California:

  • California approves ethnic studies curriculum for K-12 schools after years of debate
    • Ending years-long and often divisive debate over ethnic studies coursework in California’s K-12 schools, the State Board of Education on Thursday unanimously approved a model curriculum to guide how the histories, struggles and contributions of Asian, Black, Latino and Native Americans — and the racism and marginalization they have experienced in the United States — will be taught to millions of students.
  • California adopts 3-foot-spacing rule for classrooms, changing reopening equation
    • Students in California are now allowed to sit three feet apart in classrooms — instead of four or six feet — in guidelines state officials issued over the weekend, a major change in policy that will exert pressure on local officials to consider a faster and more complete reopening of campuses that have been closed for over a year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Special-needs children still seek help after year adrift
    • One year after schools shuttered, the fears of many parents of California’s special-needs students have been realized. Many of those students — whose disabilities can range from autism to deafness, and most of whom have gone more than a year without in-person services such as speech therapy — appear to have regressed physically and academically.
  • Coaches, mentors at California schools key to helping keep recent immigrant students engaged during pandemic
    • Fernanda Salazar, 19, struggled to learn English after moving from Guatemala to Los Angeles about three years ago. She was finally feeling like she was able to communicate freely with classmates and teachers when the pandemic hit and learning became a mix of new school schedules, video calls and virtual connections.

Other Stories:

Resources:

  • Elementary Schools that Showed Progress with Latinx Children, You Should Have Gotten Your Offers, Now Make Your Choice
    • Where you send your child to school is one of the most important decisions you can make.  We haven’t had new school quality data from the state due to distance learning, so the data is from the 2018-19 school year and I wanted to highlight some of the schools making progress with Oakland children, and encourage families to visit.  Every child is different, and I will break it down into subgroups (schools showing progress with Black, Brown and low income students) in the next few weeks and highlight these schools that have open seats for next school year. You can also take a look at the schoolfinder tool to find local schools.
  • Elementary Schools that Showed Progress with Black Children, You Should Have Gotten Your Offers, Now Make Your Choice
    • Where you send your child to school is one of the most important decisions you can make.  We haven’t had new school quality data from the state due to distance learning, so the data is from the 2018-19 school year and I wanted to highlight some of the schools making progress with Oakland children, and encourage families to visit. Every child is different, and I will break it down into subgroups (schools showing progress with Black, Brown and low income students) in the next few weeks and highlight these schools that have open seats for next school year. You can also take a look at the schoolfinder tool to find local schools.
  • Middle Schools that Showed Progress with African American Children, You Should Have Gotten Your Offers, Now Make Your Choice
    • Where you send your child to school is one of the most important decisions you can make.  We haven’t had new school quality data from the state due to distance learning, so the data is from the 2018-19 school year and I wanted to highlight some of the schools making progress with Oakland children, and encourage families to visit.  Every child is different, and I will break it down into subgroups (schools showing progress with Black, Brown and low income students) in the next few weeks and highlight these schools that have open seats for next school year. You can also take a look at the schoolfinder tool to find local schools.
  • How is Your School Doing by Black Families, Create your State of Black Education Report Card to Find Out
    • The first step to healing is admitting we have a problem.  It’s not a district problem, or charter problem, or a private school problem.  It’s a problem that underlies our societal fabric, and infects our institutions.  And until we step on the scale and look in the mirror, we probably won’t even know the true extent of the problem, much less how to address it.
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