News & Resources
How can we improve our schools? What will help our children learn? Read about innovations in education and what they mean for your school, your children and your community.
LPS Hayward Keys to Success: Address the cultural barriers that prevent students from entering college by bringing their parents along in the process (Post 5 of 6)
Many students at LPS will go on to be the first in their families to graduate college. At the beginning of senior year, Aguilar and her team meet with every single senior student and their families.
LPS Hayward Keys to Success: Keep track of each individual student as they overcome administrative barriers to college acceptance (Post 4 of 6)
What sets LPS Hayward apart? The culture at LPS Hayward centers on the idea that every student -- regardless of race or income -- is college material. Dr. Claudia Aguilar leads the college counseling program. Her team creates a college-going culture by...
LPS Hayward Keys to Success: School leaders must make college counseling a priority and back it up with resources (Post 3 of 6)
As a charter school, LPS has had the flexibility to work with Aguilar to make changes and allocate resources in a way that builds a world-class college counseling program. And that investment is paying off in their results.
LPS Hayward Keys to Success: Engage student in college preparation early and differentiate each year as graduation gets closer (Post 2 of 6)
Aguilar often hears a common complaint from freshmen: “You talk about college too much! Can’t we talk about something else?” But by senior year, she notices the feedback changes.
Beyond lip-service: How one high school is systematically sending low-income Latinos to college. (Post 1 of 6)
When you walk into LPS Hayward, a charter high school in Hayward, its unwavering focus on college readiness is immediately apparent. Flags and pennants from colleges and universities decorate every classroom door.
Life Academy Oakland: Distributive leadership that elevates teacher and student voice. (Post 5 of 5)
Each and every member of the Life Academy team is a strong leader. Dr. Frank says that is not an accident: “I spent my last three years doing a lot of deliberate leadership curriculum and I see that in our administration and instructional leadership team.
Life Academy Oakland: Strong, student-centered mission with a clear emphasis on social justice (Post 4 of 5)
Social justice is at the heart of Life Academy’s mission. Their aim to set low-income students on track to enter the health and bioscience field is a direct challenge to the status quo.
Life Academy Oakland: Rigorous experiential and interdisciplinary curriculum that builds out college-level skills (Post 3 of 5)
What is different about Life Academy? Principal Aryn Bowman credits much of the school’s success to its small size, social justice emphasis, rigorous interdisciplinary curriculum, and a deeply committed teaching staff.
Life Academy Oakland: Small school environment with built-in individualized student supports (Post 2 of 5)
At Life Academy students feel like family: “It’s a pretty small school so you know everyone. There’s a different type of connection here.
Life Academy Oakland – Preparing students for life (Post 1 of 5)
Life Academy of Health and Bioscience is a small district middle and high school in the Oakland Unified School District that serves 464 Latino students, of whom 78% are low-income.
Are students of color over-identified or under-identified as having a disability? The answer is both.
Research is conflicting — some studies suggest that students of color are over-identified for special needs, while others show they are under-identified. Either way, this misidentification can limit their achievement in school and beyond.
Finding hidden genius: the importance of STEM education for low-income students
Not all students are getting equal access to STEM education. During the 2015-2016 school year, low-income students and students of color were less likely to have opportunities to take advanced math and science classes. A study from the U.S. Department of Education showed that only 55 percent of high schools with high Black and Latino enrollment — compared to 65 percent of all high schools — offered advanced mathematics. For calculus, only 38 percent of high schools with high Black and Latino student enrollment offered advanced math, compared to 50 percent of all schools.
SF Approves Money for Schools
We are happy that the Supervisors voted to sign onto a deal that allocates $13.5 million to fund teacher salary increases and $52 million to a reserve fund for teacher wages in 2020-21. We continue to call on the school district to use any resources they can to support schools with large numbers of underserved students. In particular, we would like to see the funds go to the specific schools that Superintendent Vincent Matthews has identified as PITCH schools.
Windfall Money Should Go to San Francisco Schools
The school district and teachers’ union are calling on the Board of Supervisors to give $60 million of the city’s ERAF windfall money to the school district to pay for teacher raises under Proposition G (which was approved by the...
What Parents Need to Know about California’s New College / Career Indicator
Students have big goals for themselves, 94% want to attend college and 70% have career goals that require a college degree. In our 21st century economy, the reality is that preparing students for good careers generally means preparing them for college.
New Resource for Parents in Southeast LA
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools in Southeast Los Angeles serve over 60,000 students. Low-income Latino students make up the large majority of the student population and over a quarter are English learners. Out of 89 schools in Southeast Los Angeles, only nine reach the statewide average in English and math.
What is the California School Dashboard?
The California Dashboard shows how each school in California is doing to ensure that students can read and do math on grade-level as well as other important measures of school quality. It’s a great place to start when assessing whether your child’s high school does a good job of preparing students for college. You can learn more about each of the ratings in this report by Oakland Achieves.
Voices Opens New School in West Contra Costa
This September, founding principal Jose González welcomed 130 students from Transitional Kindergarten (TK) through second grade to Voices West Contra Costa. Gonzalez is one of 50+ alumni from Innovate’s Start-up Schools Fellowship, which trains and supports principals to start new schools or redesign existing schools.
Students of color are not achieving less — they are being given less.
Most students want to go to college and trust that their schools are helping them get there. They believe that if they show up, do what is asked of them, and earn good grades they will be ready for college. But the work they are given often does not hold them to a...
How can you make sure your child is ready for college?
How to make sure child is prepared for college. Want your child to go to college? Here’s what you need to know.