EdSource • 14th February 2023

After a year leading Los Angeles Unified, Carvalho faces challenges to improve learning

When Alberto Carvalho became superintendent of Los Angeles Unified last Feb. 14, he promised to close widening academic achievement gaps among students, build community relationships and address enrollment woes. Now a year in, the leader of the nation’s second-largest public school district has launched a wide range of initiatives that his supporters say show a welcomed focus on student needs in the wake of the pandemic’s learning losses. It is too early to prove success — and some, like the ...

EdSource • 8th February 2023

LAUSD’s new magnet film school gives students hands-on learning about entertainment industry

Freshman Aiyanna Randolph wants to be a screenwriter, inspired by her neighbor who was a producer for the ABC show “Black-ish.” That’s why she’s chosen to commute eight miles from her Los Angeles neighborhood to attend the Roybal Film and Television Production Magnet high school in downtown Los Angeles. “I really enjoy writing stories, creating scenarios and stories for us to film,” Randolph said about her experience at the school so far. She also hopes the magnet — part of Los Angeles Unified ...

EdSource • 19th December 2022

Winter break: Los Angeles Unified kicks off optional learning days with spotty attendance

Students across Los Angeles Unified showed up Monday for the first of two optional extra days of catch-up learning the district is hosting over winter break. Although more than 72,000 students signed up to attend Monday and Tuesday to receive academic help and improve their grades, participation turned out to be much lower than expected at some LAUSD schools. The optional effort is part of the district’s plan to get students back on track following the pandemic, which pushed schools online in ...

EdSource • 15th December 2022

Teachers say much is uncertain as Los Angeles Unified’s extra learning days near

In one of its largest efforts to get students back on track academically, Los Angeles Unified is offering students an optional two additional days of learning and catch-up over winter break next week. But teachers and families say they’re uncertain about how these days will unfold and whether the plan will really help students. Some educators and families argue that the extra days of instruction won’t do much to catch students up academically, especially ...

EdSource • 1st December 2022

LA schools grapple with ban on nearby homeless encampments

Do you count on EdSource’s education coverage? If so, please make your donation today to keep us going without a paywall or ads. Principal Andrew Conroy ran down to the lower field at Virgil Middle School in Los Angeles’ Koreatown. It was a Wednesday in November during the middle of the school day, and he had just received notice that smoke was blowing over the fence from the homeless encampment that lined the field’s fence. There, at least 10 tents crowded the sidewalk, packed with bikes, tarps ...

EdSource • 24th October 2022

2022 California standardized test results wipe out years of steady progress

In another measure of the pandemic’s corrosive impact on learning, California students performed significantly worse in 2022 on Smarter Balanced, the state’s standardized test. Fewer than half of students met the state standard in English language arts, with a drop of 4 percentage points to 47.1% from pre-pandemic 2018-19, when the state last required the test statewide. Exactly one-third of students performed at standard in math, a decline of 6.5 percentage points. For Black students, it is ...

EdSource • 12th October 2022

California schools seek to fend off cyberattacks

Do you count on EdSource’s education coverage? If so, please make your donation today to keep us going without a paywall or ads. As ransomware attacks continue to target education systems, school districts across California and the nation are trying to figure out how to best reduce the risk and protect their data and information technology. “It’s not a question of if a school system will experience a cybersecurity incident. It’s only a matter of when,” said cybersecurity expert Doug Levin, the ...

EdSource • 6th October 2022

The youngest readers tackle sounds, words and the science of reading

In the words of Frederick Douglass, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” In EdSource’s next installment of “California’s Reading Dilemma,” we take you inside the classroom at four high-poverty schools fighting to free their students from illiteracy. These schools are one year into an ambitious three-year program to overhaul reading instruction for the youngest learners. The project is funded by a $50 million settlement from a lawsuit accusing the state of denying these children ...

EdSource • 26th September 2022

LAUSD makes push to bring chronically absent students back to school

For eighth grader Cloud Mejia, this school year feels like a reset. He’s slowly gotten back into his daily school routine after a year of chronic absence. It’s been a period of adjustment for him as he’s gone from missing two days the first week of school to one the second to finishing a complete week during the third. He’s missed a few additional days recently too, but now he’s on track to meet his attendance goals early. “It’s been way better,” Cloud’s mom, Aimee Mejia, said. “I mean, less ...

EdSource • 30th August 2022

LAUSD’s hefty school board salaries spared by Senate bill

A Senate bill awaiting the governor’s signature would change California’s education code to align with how Los Angeles Unified pays its school board members, allowing for compensation more than five times the code’s initial cap. LAUSD currently pays $125,000 to school board members who do not have outside employment, in contrast to the $24,000 currently allowed for a district of its size under the education code. LAUSD currently operates by a Los Angeles City charter rule, which says compensation ...

EdSource • 24th August 2022

Los Angeles Unified carrying focus on recovery into new school year

Los Angeles Unified is focused on academic recovery as Covid-19 takes a back seat for the district this new school year. As LAUSD moves into its second week back, attention is on ensuring all students return to the classroom and on addressing the gaps in learning made evident by the district’s most recent round of testing. “The last couple of years we focused on Covid protocols,” school board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin said at a news conference last week. “We worried about whether we would ...

EdSource • 12th August 2022

Los Angeles Unified to enter school year with fewer classroom vacancies, district says

Just over 200 classroom teaching positions remain open across LAUSD’s nearly 1,000 schools following a summer of ramped-up recruitment. That leaves the district at a 99% fill rate as it welcomes students back to the classroom Monday to start the new year amid a nationwide staffing shortage that’s ongoing since before the pandemic. “We are doing very, very well, even when comparing ourselves to small districts,” Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said when discussing staffing ...

EdSource • 1st July 2022

Local organizations bring STEM programs to Los Angeles Unified

Students across Los Angeles Unified are participating in programming from a group of museums, aquariums and STEM organizations from across L.A. County this summer. From learning about engineering with Tinker the Robot to tackling marine life with the Aquarium of the Pacific, students are able to explore a variety of STEM topics. Having started with 12 organizations in 2020, the group has now grown to more than 40 and has officially established itself as the LA STEM Collective as it heads into ...

EdSource • 23rd June 2022

Tutoring options in Los Angeles Unified leave families frustrated

At Manchester Avenue Elementary in South Los Angeles, Rebecca Jacobo Lopez’s fifth grade daughter had access to support from a tutoring nonprofit. At Melvin Avenue Elementary in Reseda, Arianna Jurado’s first grade daughter received small group tutoring from her teacher. At Bell High School in Bell, Cristina Sanchez’s ninth grade son had access to homework assistance. In response to the learning loss students across L.A. County have dealt with as a result of the pandemic, LAUSD has largely left ...

EdSource • 22nd June 2022

Strategic plan aims to prepare students for life beyond Los Angeles Unified

Los Angeles Unified will spend the next four years building an environment to prepare students for life beyond the classroom. The district’s strategic plan, adopted unanimously alongside the budget Tuesday, will not only focus on providing support for the student through a focus on academic achievement and wellness, but also on creating an environment that will foster that success by equipping community, staff and district with the necessary information and tools to supply that foundation. ...

EdSource • 15th June 2022

Los Angeles Unified’s proposed budget focuses on student achievement

Los Angeles Unified’s new superintendent is proposing directing an additional $1.9 billion to targeted investments next school year as the district continues to push to close achievement gaps, focus on student wellness and invest in staff for the 2022-23 academic year. District officials provided a snapshot of new investments for the proposed $18.5 billion budget Tuesday ahead of its expected adoption next week. This is the first budget proposed by Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who joined ...

EdSource • 27th May 2022

Schools adapt in a shrinking Los Angeles Unified

When music teacher Julio Sequeira attended Belmont High School before graduating in 2002, there was a constant hum that echoed through the school hallways. It was the backdrop to every conversation and school lesson. The Westlake school was home to more than 5,000 students at that point, making it easy to get lost in the craziness of the school day, Sequeira remembers. But numbers have dwindled since then. Belmont is no longer the largest school in California — though in part due to Los Angeles ...

EdSource • 27th April 2022

How LAUSD superintendent’s online presence fosters connections

For Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, social media is like second nature. Sometimes a conversation will trigger an idea or sentiment he finds valuable to the LAUSD community, and he’ll turn to his phone to share his thoughts. Other times, he’ll scroll through posts to find where his voice can help quell confusion or clarify goals. “I’m meeting them where they are, and they’re meeting me where I am,” Carvalho said. “For me, that’s the power of social media. It can be ....

EdSource • 22nd April 2022

LAUSD expects to finish reassigning staff to vacant teaching roles this week

Los Angeles Unified is temporarily reassigning staff to 420 vacant classrooms across the district. The move comes as part of Superintendent Alberto Carvalho’s 100-day plan, which flagged the shortage of teachers as an issue he would address within the first few months as superintendent following his arrival in February. LAUSD has successfully redeployed staff to half of the vacant positions flagged with the intention of finalizing all the reassignments by Friday, Carvalho said. The staff will ...

EdSource • 1st April 2022

LAUSD ahead of California timeline on expanded TK rollout

Los Angeles Unified is expecting roughly 5,000 additional students next school year as it grows its transitional kindergarten program to include more 4-year-olds in the first of several planned expansions to the eligibility window as part of its stronger focus on early education. Unanimously approved by the school board in April 2021, LAUSD is on track to provide schooling for all 4-year-olds regardless of family income by 2024 as it expands TK and early transitional kindergarten, known as ETK ....