News From the Field
Catch top headlines sharing relevant news and stories about Linked Learning practices, schools, and students.
To Help Fight a Mental Health Crisis in Schools, Community Groups Step In
With an influx of federal pandemic relief funding and potential money from the state budget surplus, many districts in California find themselves flush with more resources for mental health services than they’ve had in years. But that funding is running up against a familiar problem: staffing shortages. To fill the gap, some districts are partnering with community organizations to bring essential services to struggling students using human infrastructure that already exists.
Hit hard by Covid, California high school seniors struggling toward graduation
This year, many seniors are either struggling to earn enough credits to graduate or, because of a new state law, are graduating with fewer credits and requirements than classes before them.
California lawmakers may stop tying K-12 schools’ funding to daily attendance
After decades of linking K-12 school funding to daily student attendance, California lawmakers are poised to consider abolishing that standard, choosing instead a new method that could provide a significant boost to big districts.
Aging Teacher Workforce Further Whittled Down by Pandemic Staff Shortage
Staff shortages exacerbated by COVID-19 have strained almost every industry over the last 20 months, but the demographic of American educators could result in a troubling future for the nation's public schools even after the pandemic.
Geometry before algebra? Schools will try more new angles in 2022.
Algebra and geometry, two high school courses most of us have taken, have been taught in that order since they were installed by U.S. colleges two centuries ago and by U.S. high schools one century ago. But now, some schools have boldly reversed the sequence: geometry first, then algebra.
Long disparaged, education for the skilled trades is slowly coming into fashion
One trend reviving interest in education in the trades appears to be growing doubt among high school students and career switchers about the value of a four-year college; the proportion of high schoolers who are considering a four-year education has plummeted from 71% to 48% since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey by the ECMC Group, a nonprofit student loan guaranty agency that also operates three career schools.
We face another lost generation if we don’t do something about college enrollment
With free community college out, let’s make sure early college is still in Build Back Better, writes Deborah Delisle and Chris Gabrieli.
AP Computer Science Principles is Diversifying Computer Science
When The College Board, the company who administers Advanced Placement (AP) courses and the SAT test to thousands of future college applicants each year, began developing the AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) course, they hoped to not only meet the growing need for computer scientists in the workforce but also address the systemic inequities in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
More students question college, putting counselors in a fresh quandary
The pandemic has made counselors reflect on how to help students evaluate many different paths and opportunities, then figure out what interests them.