Santa Maria, California. Sol Messeguer who works with Fighting Back Santa Maria, a non-profit agency that provides services to homeless youth and families in Santa Maria.
Credit: Iris Schneider/EdSource
This fall my son lost a classmate to the stigma of being unhoused. The family lost their home during the pandemic when a neighbor’s apartment caught fire, leaving their unit uninhabitable. However, what pushed my son’s classmate out of his seventh grade class and into another school were the taunts from his classmates for wearing the same clothes and coming to school without being showered.
My son’s school did attempt to address this situation. For example, when teachers heard students saying mean things, they would ask the offending student to repeat the comment. The students would not repeat taunts. This approach was meant to signal that this type of language is not OK. However, it fails to address the harm caused by the comments or to support the classmate. Addressing bullying in this fashion doesn’t prevent similar comments in the future. Furthermore, bystanders who witness the bullying also fear being bullied.
Not surprisingly, the entire class was aware of the bullying, yet most remained silent. My son’s classmate understood the students bullying him had their own anxieties and frustrations. He understood them because of his own experiences with instability, feeling stuck and isolation. He understood that his classmates who were unkind to him did not have words to express their frustrations in constructive ways; instead, they looked for someone “weak to pick on.” (His words. Not mine). I was surprised by his awareness and understanding of human behavior, particularly his compassion for those who bullied him and those who remained silent. Unfortunately, hostility toward students without a home is not unique to one school or school district. It is part of the general hostility toward such people.
In May, a public meeting about the 7th Avenue Village (a Homekey project in Los Angeles County’s Hacienda Heights designed to get 142 people off the streets and into a home) had to be shut down when it got out of hand. At recent school board meetings, some have voiced opposition to the project such as this comment: “Protect our kids, our residences, our community, and our businesses.” Interestingly, the commenter seems to be requesting the Hacienda La Puente school board to protect “us” (housed people) from “them” (the unhoused).
Another commenter quoted a school board guiding principle emphasizing building a “safe environment” for the student. He urged board members to “think about students first, not other issues, (not the) homeless issue.” There seems to be a lack of recognition that there are students without housing attending our schools and living in our communities.
It is difficult for students to learn when they do not feel psychologically, physically or emotionally safe. Housed and unhoused students are dealing with a lot and need to express their feelings, fears and frustrations about things they don’t have any control over.
Here are some things districts must do to create learning environments to support all students:
All students, housed and unhoused alike, as well as parents, guardians and caregivers, need to be taught to deal with anxiety and frustrations and how to stand with those who are being bullied.
Districts must invest in training for school site leaders, teachers and families to adopt practices such as restorative justice circles, bystander training and ally programs. Districts need to improve communication about the services available for students who are homeless. A student’s situation can change, leaving them unhoused and unaware of services such as laundry or shower facilities that may be available. Schools should consider waiving fees for students who are homeless so they can participate in after-school activities. (Students’ attendance improves when they feel a connection to the school).
School board members need to acknowledge that the district is part of a larger community dealing with a growing homeless population because of a lack of affordable housing. The board should direct the superintendent to create systemic change and to demonstrate to the community their commitment to supporting the learning of all students.
As parents, we chose this school because of the dual immersion program. We want our kids to grow up to be global citizens, to be able “to meet the challenges and opportunities of a changing world.” One of the skills we expect of our kids is to be able to advocate for what is right, including speaking up against bullying.
The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
Thanks to a new program, thousands of students across the central San Joaquin Valley will receive college and career prep throughout their entire high school career and a guarantee that, once they graduate, they’ll have a spot at Fresno State, one of the California State University campuses.
Through Fresno State’s Bulldog Bound Program, students at more than 20 school districts, including the state’s third-largest, Fresno Unified, will get a guaranteed spot at the university, if students meet the minimum graduation requirements, as well as guidance each year of high school.
“We know that Bulldog Bound will completely change how we see and truly live what it is to have a college-bound culture in our (school) system,” said Misty Her, Fresno Unified deputy superintendent, during the Aug. 23 board meeting discussing the program.
“This says to all of our students that we believe in you, that we will cultivate and build your greatest potential, and that as soon as you enter our system, college is already an option for you.”
Jeremy Ward, assistant superintendent for college and career readiness for Fresno Unified, said that while guaranteed admission to Fresno State is the chief “promise” of the program, all students will receive support, resources and tools to be successful Fresno State Bulldogs.
All students — starting in the ninth grade and every year until they graduate — will reap the benefits of the program.
“I believe that Bulldog Bound is going to prepare (students) not just for the requirements for getting into college but into careers,” said Phong Yang, interim associate vice president for strategic enrollment at Fresno State.
The university started the program to ensure students in the Central Valley have a “clear, tangible path” to a college degree.
Throughout much of the Central Valley, less than 25% of adults age 25 or older earned a bachelor’s degree, according to 2020 education and labor statistics. Specifically, 22% in Fresno County hold a bachelor’s degree; 15% have a bachelor’s degree in Kings, Madera and Tulare counties; and 14% earned a bachelor’s degree in Merced County. In comparison, statewide, 35% of adults hold a bachelor’s degree.
The Bulldog Bound program, many believe, can change that by promoting a college-going culture in the region.
“The vision behind Bulldog Bound is that every student gets the same treatment, no matter where you go, no matter where you come from,” Yang said. “You’re going to have the same opportunity.”
The university, Fresno Unified and other school districts launched the initiative in May, but this is the first semester for the program. Here’s what it means for students and families.
What districts are participating?
Fresno State’s partnering school districts are located in Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare counties and include: Caruthers Unified, Central Unified, Chawanakee Unified, Clovis Unified, Cutler-Orosi Unified, Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified, Fowler Unified, Fresno Unified, Gustine Unified, Kerman Unified, Kings Canyon Unified, Kingsburg Unified, Los Banos Unified, Madera Unified, Mendota Unified, Parlier Unified, Porterville Unified, Sanger Unified, Tulare Joint Union High School District, University High School and Visalia Unified.
What can all students, grades 9-12, expect?
High school counselors and Fresno State ambassadors (current students) will lead workshops about the program and the opportunities it will provide. Although the workshops start in ninth grade, the lessons continue throughout students’ high school careers.
Are there any other benefits for ninth graders?
Students will receive a Fresno State ID card and email address. Although the cards will be a different color from the college student ID cards, the cards grant high schoolers access to:
On- campus privileges, such as library use.
Student admission rates at sporting events and for food or other items.
In 10th grade?
Studentscan:
Participate in campus tours.
Explore the majors they can study at Fresno State.
Learn in-person and on-campus during a summer experience at the end of their 10th grade year. During the summer experience, students can take college-prep lessons, learn even more about majors and become familiar with the campus.
In 11th grade?
While continuing to learn from workshops and admission prep, 11th grade students receive:
Conditional admission.
Dual enrollment opportunities.
Summer experience opportunities.
In 12th grade?
As high school seniors in the program, students receive on-the-spot acceptance once they submit their application if they’ve met the graduation requirements.
“That means they’re in,” Ward said. “There’s no waiting, no wondering. They’re a part of the Fresno State Bulldog family.”
Families will also receive early financial aid estimates to plan for the costs of attending.
What do students learn?
Workshops and lessons, which happen each school year, include topics on:
The Bulldog Bound program and how to be involved.
Financial literacy, starting in 10th grade.
Applying for college, starting in 11th grade.
Scholarship opportunities, starting in 12th grade.
Building “college knowledge,” as Ward described it.
The program opens the door for Fresno State to engage with and educate students on college and career readiness, many say.
Oftentimes, first-time students are unsure of what career they want to pursue, said Yang, Fresno State’s interim associate vice president for strategic enrollment. With Bulldog Bound, Fresno State will have the opportunity to engage students about their interests early in high school and inform them of the right classes they should take to pursue those interests.
Other than the workshops, admissions prep and campus tours, students will learn about college life from current students. Fresno State uses a team of student ambassadors, many of whom are from the local Fresno area, according to Yang.
“That is, by far, one of the most effective ways for students to see their potential in going to college because they see individuals like themselves coming from the neighborhood, coming back and sharing their experiences,” he said.
What do students need to do?
Students sign a Fresno State agreement in ninth grade. In Fresno Unified, students are automatically a part of the program, but families can choose to opt out.
What are the graduation requirements to obtain guaranteed admission?
Students must meet the minimum California State University A-G course requirements. Once in the 12th grade, they apply for and are granted admission to Fresno State.
What could be the impact?
Not only does the program guarantee admission, but it also provides “knowledge for (even) a ninth grade student to know, to plan, to prepare” for that acceptance and admission, Ward said.
Claudia Cazares, a Fresno Unified board member, said, “I think it’s opening the eyes of many of our students who hadn’t considered that as an option.”
High school senior Martha Hernandez was born in Baja California, Mexico, and came to the U.S. when she was 10 years old, in fifth grade. She was still considered an English learner when she entered high school, based on California’s test of English proficiency.
When students are classified as English learners, they must take English language development classes to improve their language skills, in addition to English language arts and all other academic classes.
But at Hernandez’s high school, Mountain Empire High School in the mountains of rural San Diego County, English learners enroll in English as a second language classes through the local community college. They earn college credit while learning English.
Researchers and advocates say that dual enrollment — taking college courses during high school — can increase rates of graduation, college enrollment and college success. Yet students who are still learning English in high school often face barriers to dual enrollment courses.
According to one study by Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research at UC Davis, 10% of English learners had taken at least one community college class while in high school, compared with 18% of all students.
English learners are less likely than many other groups to finish the required courses for entering UC and CSU — known as A-G requirements — and to attend college in the first year after graduating from high school. Only 16.8% of students not proficient in English were marked as “prepared” for college and career on the California School Dashboard in 2019, compared with 44.1% of all students.
Hernandez was surprised to get college credit for her English language classes and she says it inspired her to do well in the courses.
“It benefits me more, because if I’m going to learn something, I should gain something, too,” Hernandez said. “I guess that’s a good strategy to make people motivated.”
She says the class helped her learn how to compose a paragraph, structure an essay and give a presentation in English.
After sophomore year, Hernandez tested out of the program. No longer considered an English learner, she enrolled in both AP English and AP U.S. history her junior year. She’s now a senior, and she plans to go to a four-year college after graduation to study to become a doctor.
This dual enrollment program for English learners offered by Mountain Empire Unified and Cuyamaca College is one of several highlighted in a 2020 report by the nonprofit organization Jobs for the Future.
“English learners can rise to the challenge and have better academic outcomes when they have the opportunity to do things like take college courses,” said Sarah Hooker Bentley, director of population-specific strategy for JFF and one of the authors of the report.
Often, Bentley said, district staff believe English learners cannot enroll in dual enrollment courses because they need to prioritize English language development courses or credit recovery courses if they recently arrived from other countries.
“You really can build in the dual enrollments at the same time you’re doing all the other things,” she said.
The report recommended specific strategies as especially beneficial for English learners. One is enrolling these students in college-based English language courses like the ones Hernandez took at Mountain Empire High School.
English learners can also do well if they are able to enroll in advanced college courses in their native languages — Spanish literature, for example, or in courses related to their career interests.
It is crucial to provide extra support for English learners to help them understand vocabulary and grammar that they may need to succeed in college-level courses, Bentley said.
“It’s especially unique if it’s really provided by teachers who have been trained in English learner education,” Bentley said. “That’s the distinction that makes it especially effective for English learners.”
Dual enrollment for English learners works best when courses are specifically designed for them, said April Moore, president of the California Coalition of Early & Middle Colleges, which is dedicated to dual enrollment.
She said English learners need extra time to practice their language skills with each other, learn academic language and help with learning how to take notes.
“If we don’t strategically and mindfully design these pathways for various student groups, we run the risk of perpetuating the gaps that we already see in the data with who is achieving and who is not yet achieving and needs additional support,” Moore said.
Mountain Empire and Cuyamaca College have been offering college courses in English as a second language for high school English learners since 2018.
Superintendent Patrick Keeley said the district noticed that the students enrolled in college English courses had fewer D’s and F’s overall than English learners who were not enrolled in college classes.
“We were trying to draw a correlation: Was that because they were building confidence in themselves that they could achieve in other areas?” Keeley said. “When a student dual enrolls or concurrently enrolls in a college course, I think that has a positive impact for that student because they’re building confidence for themselves taking a college course and walking out with the knowledge, skills and belief that ‘I can go to college.’”
Keeley said students’ scores have also improved on the English Language Proficiency Assessment of California – a test that all English learners must take every year until they earn a high enough score to be considered proficient. He said that 72% of English learners at Mountain Empire High School increased at least one level on the test from 2021-22 to 2022-23. Statewide, 47.5% of English learners increased one level in 2022.
The college courses are held on the high school campus, but once a semester, the students enrolled in ESL courses visit the Cuyamaca College campus.
“They get tours of the different programs at Cuyamaca,” Keeley said. “It’s a way to welcome them to the school and affirm that they are college students.”
Moore said some early and middle colleges also offer dual enrollment English language classes.
“I think that would be a great recommendation or goal for [more] schools to aspire to,” Moore said.
Many school districts are hesitant to offer this type of classes for English learners, in part because the requirements for college-based ESL courses are so different from the requirements for teaching English language development to students in high school, Moore said.
For example, the California Department of Education requires a different number of hours of English language development for students in K-12 than the number of hours required in a college-level course.
Lack of information is also a barrier to English learner participation in dual enrollment courses.
James Espinoza, principal of Middle College High School in San Bernardino Unified School District, said more district staff need to be made aware that they can and should design dual enrollment courses for English learners and other under-represented groups.
“People don’t know they’re supposed to actually target students that are first generation and under-represented. A lot of the success rates are students that might be successful already,” Espinoza said.
Bentley said the more adults at schools know about dual enrollment opportunities for English learners, the better.
“Whether it’s a guidance counselor, their ELD teacher, or a newcomer liaison when a newcomer first starts high school, if those individuals are not well-connected or don’t have strong understanding or knowledge of dual enrollment opportunities and the potential benefits for English learners, it’s even more difficult for that information to get down to students and families,” she said.
This map only includes schools that had 10% or more kindergartners not fully vaccinated.
Note: Unvaccinated includes students with overdue vaccinations and those in the process of getting vaccines. Numbers do not include special education students and those with medical exemptions.
NA: Accurate information was not immediately available from CDE.
More than 500 California public schools are being audited by the state because they reported that more than 10% of their kindergarten or seventh-grade students were not fully vaccinated last school year. Schools that allow students to attend school without all their vaccinations are in jeopardy of losing funding.
The audit list, released by the California Department of Public Health, includes 450 schools serving kindergarten students and 176 schools serving seventh graders with low vaccination rates. Fifty-six of the schools serve both grade levels. Another 39 schools failed to file a vaccination report with the state.
“Schools found to have improperly admitted students who have (not) met immunization requirements may be subject to loss of average daily attendance payments for those children,” the California Department of Public Health said in an email.
Students who are overdue for their vaccinations or who have been admitted to schools conditionally while they catch up on vaccines are not fully vaccinated, according to the state. Students who are in special education or have a medical exemption are not required to be vaccinated.
California law requires school staff to report vaccination rates to the state each fall and to check up on those catching up on vaccinations while attending school at least every 30 days. If the student who is catching up on their vaccines does not have a second dose of a vaccine within four months of the first dose, they must be excluded from school, according to a state audit guide.
“After the personal belief exemption was gone, we found a significant number of schools were behind on their reporting and were allowing a lot of conditional admissions and weren’t following up,” said Catherine Flores Martin, director of the California Immunization Coalition.
More than 30 Oakland Unified schools make audit list
More than half of Oakland Unified’s 48 elementary schools and eight of its schools serving seventh graders are on the audit list for 2022-23. This includes Markham Elementary where 65% of the 66 kindergarten students were not fully vaccinated last school year. The school had the highest percentage of kindergartners in California’s traditional public schools — with over 20 students — who were not fully vaccinated.
Of the 27 Oakland Unified elementary schools on the list, more than 20% of kindergarten students in a dozen schools did not have all the required vaccinations last school year.
Oakland Unified district spokesperson John Sasaki did not comment on the audit list for last school year by publication time. Previously he told EdSource that lower vaccination rates at some schools in 2021-22 were due, in part, to the difficulty families had getting medical appointments during the pandemic, and a district backlog logging vaccinations.
The Bay Area district isn’t the only large school district struggling to get students fully vaccinated, according to state data. Los Angeles Unified has 75 of its non-charter schools on the audit list, while Pomona Unified has 13, San Francisco Unified 14 and San Juan Unified in Sacramento County eight.
Pandemic still affecting school vaccination rates
The state’s vaccination rate, which had grown steadily since the state eliminated personal belief exemptions in 2015, plunged in the months after the Covid-19 pandemic closed schools. Thousands of California students were unable to start the school year in 2022 because they did not have their immunizations.
The state did not relax vaccination requirements during school closures, but not all school officials cooperated with the requirements, Martin said. She isn’t sure that has changed.
“Some schools may be out of practice and, in some areas, their leadership has changed and it isn’t a priority,” she said.
The state’s kindergarten vaccination rate was 92.8% in 2020, down from 95% in 2018. But districts sent information about vaccinations home and held vaccination clinics and made up some ground. In 2021 the vaccination rate rose to 94%.
A vaccination audit has been part of the state’s annual financial and compliance audit of public schools since the 2021-22 school year, according to the California Department of Public Health. That year the vaccination audit found that 45 school districts did not meet state vaccination requirements. Seventeen were further reviewed for potentially allowing students to attend school unvaccinated, said Scott Roark, spokesperson for the California Department of Education.
Schools in violation of the state law must submit corrected attendance reports that reflect the reduction in average daily attendance cited in the audit finding, which will likely reduce their funding, Roark said.
Parents opposed to vaccines are often drawn to charter schools
Parents against vaccinations found few options for their children as California laws became increasingly more restrictive. Some decided to home-school their children or sought independent study or virtual learning options, mostly provided by charter schools. Students who learn from home without any in-person instruction or school-related activities are not required to be vaccinated.
About 90% of the state’s 1,300 charter schools offer in-person instruction to students, according to the California Charter School Association; 67 of those are on the 2022-23 audit list.
Of all California schools, Agnes J. Johnson Charter School in Humboldt County had the highest percentage of kindergartners who were not fully vaccinated last school year. Ninety percent of the 11 kindergartners still needed at least one vaccine. Mountain Home Charter in Oakhurst had the second-highest percentage of kindergartners — 83% — who were not fully vaccinated, followed by Gorman Learning Center – 76% – serving 140 kindergarten students in the San Bernardino and Santa Clarita areas.
Gateway Community Charters has been trying to improve vaccination rates at Community Outreach Academy by working with a nearby health care provider to offer immunization clinics for the students, and to ensure there is a nurse on-site daily. Despite that, almost a third of the 219 kindergartners who attended Community Outreach were reported as being behind on their vaccinations last fall.
Vaccination rates at the school, which have been low for years, began improving before the pandemic but decreased after schools closed and have remained low, said Jason Sample, superintendent of Gateway Community Charters, which operates the school.
Community Outreach Academy offers in-person instruction in buildings on a former Air Force base in Sacramento County. The school primarily serves the Slavic community, whose members are often suspicious of the government and vaccines, Sample said. Its enrollment ballooned to 1,200 students in recent years as refugees from Ukraine, Russia and Afghanistan moved to the Sacramento area.
Community Outreach Academy isn’t the only school in the Gateway Community Charter system on the audit list. Community Collaborative School, which offers both in-person and online instruction, had 39% of its kindergartners and 14% of its 42 seventh-grade students not fully vaccinated last fall. Two other schools run by the charter system — Empowering Possibilities International Charter School and Gateway International School — each had more than 28% of their students without all their vaccinations last school year, according to the audit report.
Empowering Possibilities International Charter lost average daily attendance funding for two students for three months of last school year after its audit was completed, Sample said.
Students who do not have all the required vaccinations are given information about the state vaccination guidelines to take home, Sample said. A health services team then reaches out to the family to connect them with vaccination resources. Students who still don’t provide proof of vaccination are excluded from school, he said. The charter system has a non-classroom-based virtual academy as an alternative until students are up-to-date on their vaccinations.
Vaccine hesitancy has hurt vaccination rates
Vaccine hesitancy has helped to reduce vaccination rates across the country and sparked outbreaks of infectious diseases, including measles outbreaks in Disneyland in 2015 and another Ohio in 2018. Last year, 121 cases of measles were reported, up from 49 cases in 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A UNICEF report released in April shows that 67 million of the world’s children missed out on one or more vaccinations between 2019 and 2021 because of strained health systems, scarce resources, conflict and decreased confidence in immunizations. The report says that while overall support for vaccines remains strong, vaccine hesitancy seems to be growing.
Vaccine hesitancy stems from growing access to misleading information, declining trust in expertise, uncertainty about the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and political polarization, according to the report.
Bernardo Lafuente said he isn’t worried his son, Gavril, will be infected by measles or other childhood diseases. He doesn’t trust reports about outbreaks.
“I don’t believe what they are saying. I don’t believe it,” he said. “We don’t see an epidemic. I haven’t seen anyone with measles or smallpox; they are virtually nonexistent in America.”
Lafuente and his family left California in 2018, in part, because of its vaccination requirements and moved to Nevada where vaccines are not required to attend school.
“The government in Nevada pushes vaccination of not just kids, but everybody, but in Nevada we have a choice,” Lafuente said.
Gavril, now in fifth-grade, had some vaccinations when he was younger. His father set up a schedule he devised, instead of the vaccine schedule endorsed by the CDC. But he doesn’t intend for his son to get any more.
“He’s vaccinated except for boosters,” Lafuente said. “I’m not against vaccines if someone else wants to get them. I’m personally against vaccines. I don’t think everybody should have to get a vaccine, unless there is an outbreak, but even then, it should be a choice.”
Pockets of unvaccinated students dot most districts
Even districts with high overall vaccination rates often have schools that have vaccination rates low enough to land on the audit list. In 2021, the last year overall student vaccination rates were available, 95% of Sacramento City Unified students were fully vaccinated. Yet last school year, it had eight schools on the audit list.
“We encourage everyone to get vaccinated,” said Susan Sivils, lead nurse for the Sacramento City Unified vaccination clinic. “If they are opposed for any reason, we follow up. The vast majority of people are not opposed to getting their vaccinations.”
The district is working to increase its vaccination rates with weekly free vaccination clinics throughout the year and two weeks of clinics before the beginning of the school year. In an effort to get more students vaccinated, the district increased the number of vaccination clinics last year and called parents directly to make them aware of the vaccination requirement and clinics.
Cecilia Reyes and her older sister Chzaray, nervously waited for their turn at a vaccination clinic at the district headquarters on Aug. 22. Cecilia was preparing for her first day of kindergarten, but this would be the first time she got a vaccination. The Covid pandemic prevented the family from getting needed appointments, her mother said. Chzaray, who would be entering seventh grade, would need four shots to be up to date. The girls may need several appointments before they are fully vaccinated.
The Sacramento City Unified vaccination clinic immunized about 50 students that day in preparation for the first day of school. The number of students who visited a district vaccination clinic skyrocketed from 1,154 in 2021-22 to 1,739 visits last year, Sivils said. Students who are uninsured or are on Medi-Cal qualify for the clinic.
Damien Burkholder blinked back tears as a nurse gave him his Tdap booster last Tuesday. The shot is required for all seventh-grade students. His mother, Vanessa Martinez, had tried to get Damien an appointment for the shot with the family’s primary physician but would have had to wait a month.
“This is very convenient,” Martinez said of the clinic. “He would have had to miss a whole month of school if this weren’t here.”
Kids get a chance to stretch their legs and skills during physical exercise in Los Angeles in 2023.
Courtesy LA84 Foundation
Millions of young people across the nation have returned to school, yet students are still struggling to navigate the return to normal. Research shows us that educators and policymakers can bring back joy in schools by prioritizing sport and play to build a supportive learning environment. One where we all win.
The role of sports and play extends far beyond physical fitness. It profoundly impacts student social and emotional health and school connectedness. By instilling valuable life skills, fostering social bonds and promoting emotional well-being, sport and play contribute to a holistic educational experience that nurtures well-rounded individuals capable of transcending life’s challenges and thriving in diverse circumstances.
With parents, educators and administrators now back in school, let’s not forget the Covid-19 pandemic ushered in a new set of challenges for youth, leading to a mental health crisis as declared by the U.S. Surgeon General in late 2021.
While issues concerning the mental health of our kids had arisen long before the pandemic, nearly three years of isolation and increased screen time, death and uncertainty only magnified students’ stress, anxiety and depression. We warned this was a mounting mental health emergency in schools last year, but today it is in clearer focus. Results released in February from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey indicated startling trends. Nearly 3 in 5 teen girls (57%) said they felt “persistently sad or hopeless.” More than 40% of boys and girls responded they had felt so sad or hopeless within the past year they were unable to perform regular activities.
According to a 2022 State of Youth Mental Health report which surveyed 2,000 parents, 68% have seen their children face significant mental and emotional challenges. Yet, recent studies have also found 60% of youth with major depression do not receive mental health treatment, many of them youth of color.
These findings require us to not rush into school with a singular focus on closing the learning loss. Let’s instead look to accelerate opportunities through sport and play to help our kids reconnect to themselves, to their friends and to their schoolwork.
Sport and play hold a profound significance in fostering social and emotional well-being and enhancing school connectedness for students. Beyond mere physical activity, engagement in sport and play cultivates essential life skills and nurtures interpersonal relationships.
Policymakers across the country have recognized the value of sport and play in schools and are advancing this framework. California state Sen. Josh Newman authored Daily Recess for All, Senate Bill 291, which ensures students have access to a 30-minute recess for unstructured play and that it cannot be withheld as a form of punishment.
The joy and spontaneity inherent in play promote emotional release and stress reduction. Engaging in recreational activities allows students to unwind, alleviate anxiety and recharge their mental faculties. This, in turn, equips them to navigate academic pressures and personal trials more effectively. One study found that 6-to-8-year-olds who exercised frequently had fewer symptoms of major depressive disorders two years later.
This same study found 73% of parents believe that sport benefits their child’s mental health. Participating in sports teaches invaluable lessons in teamwork, communication and perseverance. Through wins and losses, individuals learn to handle success and setbacks, building resilience and boosting self-esteem. These experiences translate into the ability to cope with challenges outside the sports arena, contributing to a balanced social and emotional state.
Sports and play serve as powerful catalysts for building social bonds. Students develop a sense of camaraderie and shared purpose in collaborative activities, breaking down barriers and forming connections that transcend differences. This inclusivity enhances the feeling of belonging, which is vital for a positive school environment.
In a world increasingly driven by digital interactions, the physicality of sports and play offers a refreshing counterbalance. Face-to-face interactions during games and playtime nurture emotional intelligence and empathy, enriching interpersonal skills that are essential for healthy relationships in school — and later in life.
Although it’s never been more needed in the educational environment, many public schools have defunded sports programs and offer physical education far less than they once did. That reinforces the pay-to-play model and leaves out the kids who have the least.
Our data shows that as household income increases in LA County, so does activity levels for the children in the home. Children from homes with income under $35,000 a year play far less than kids from affluent households, and they are unable to access the resources they need to be active.
These children are our future engineers, musicians, teachers, caregivers and leaders. Talent is universal, but opportunity is not. We can mend the kids’ lives who are suffering by providing access to the transformative power of sport and play, and help change a significant number of their destinies.
•••
Renata Simril is president & CEO of the LA84 Foundation, the legacy of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and a national leader advocating for the role of sport and play in positive youth development.
The opinions expressed in this commentary represent those of the author. EdSource welcomes commentaries representing diverse points of view. If you would like to submit a commentary, please review our guidelines and contact us.
An elementary school student demonstrates using a swab for the rapid Covid antigen test.
Credit: California Department of Public Health
COVID-19 cases are on the rise throughout Los Angeles Unified and the county. Public health experts are urging caution while school officials are looking to keep children in the classroom for their academic progress and emotional well-being.
“We want kids in the classrooms learning,” said Sarah Van Orman, the University of Southern California’s vice president and chief campus health officer. “That’s what we’re all doing — whether that be in K-12 or in higher ed — balancing the need to prevent … respiratory illnesses within our communities with the need for people to … engage in the activities that they need to engage in, which includes learning at the K-12 levels.”
Despite the surge in cases, LAUSD has maintained a 95% attendance rate this school year as of Wednesday, according to the district’s attendance tracker. Over the past five days, that number was lower at 93%. And 94% of students went to school on Wednesday.
“Obviously, the unexcused absence student is going to take a higher level of priority, but in terms of impact, there’s really no difference,” LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said. “Kids who are absent are absent.”
Increased rates of COVID-19
In a weekly update issued Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health reported an average of 569 daily Covid-19 infections and 559 daily hospitalizations excluding Long Beach and Pasadena — topping five weeks of steadily rising cases.
EG.5, a variant of Covid related to omicron already infecting more people than any other single strain in the country, remains dominant, accounting for nearly a third of current cases in the sector of the U.S. including California.
An Aug. 24 news release from the county public health department attributed the rise of Covid infections to higher rates of summer travel, the emergence of a new variant and a return to the classroom.
With increased Covid-19 transmission in the community, schools are another place where outbreaks are possible due to large groups of people being indoors together for extended periods of time, according to the release. And while many children may not experience severe illness associated with a Covid-19 infection, other family members and school staff may be at higher risk.
The county also urged parents and guardians to “keep children home if they are sick, including when they have a fever, bad cough, extreme fatigue, or a sore throat.”
Students who are exposed to Covid or have respiratory symptoms should get tested, the department stated, noting that many districts were already distributing tests to their campus communities.
Positive test results, the department said, should be reported to the school, and the sick student should isolate for at least five days.
Keeping students healthy could also be critical in maintaining a healthier community. One study published earlier this year suggested that about 70% of U.S. cases begin with a school-age child being infected.
More than a year ago, the beginning of the 2022-23 school year also was associated with a surge in Covid infections.
For then-4-year-old Jackson Siegel and his older sister, that fall marked a return to in-person learning as both had been kept home the entire preceding year. It also marked the beginning of a wave of sickness.
During the first week of school, Covid made its way from Jackson’s sister’s third grade classroom to her and then to Jackson.
He missed 10 days of transitional kindergarten and was out again for another 10 days roughly every three weeks — sometimes sustaining a fever of over 104 degrees.
“To be honest, I think that I’ve been sick … more times in school than my friends,” Jackson said. “It makes me feel like I should be safer.”
That routine repeated itself another seven to eight times, according to his mom, Sabrina Siegel.
“The fact that they caught it in the first week, I was devastated,” Siegel said. “To the school, [I] said, ‘Look, if you don’t care enough about my kids’ health to, you know, require masks or have kids [sent] home when they’re sick … I don’t care about the attendance.’”
Jackson said he looks forward to not being sick this year.
But as of Thursday, LAUSD alone had 828 positive tests over the past seven days, which comes amid changes to the district’s public health guidelines that contradict public health guidelines, where parents are now encouraged to send their child to school even if they are experiencing cold symptoms.
Current district guidelines require students to stay home if they sustain a fever of above 100.4 degrees — or if they vomit, have diarrhea, severe pain or labored breathing.
Keeping students in class
As Covid cases continue to rise, LAUSD and districts across the state have been working to recover from pandemic learning losses and keep students in school.
“The greatest effect from the pandemic that I have seen in children has been the emotional trauma from missing school,” LAUSD’s chief medical officer, Dr. Smita Malhotra, said in a message to the district community at the start of the academic year.
“Schools are foundations of resilience, and I look forward to ensuring that schools continue to be the safest places for children to be so that all students thrive academically, are engaged and are ready for the world.”
LAUSD experienced a 40% absentee rate in the 2021-22 academic year. The following year, that number fell by 10 percentage points to roughly 30%. The district has largely attributed the decrease in chronic absenteeism to iAttend events, where school officials go door to door to encourage students, mainly with unexcused absences, to return.
“This new wave of Covid is coming in at such a difficult time,” said USC education professor Julie Marsh. “You know, schools have just started, and I think that’s also historically a time where you try to make up for summer learning loss.”
Keeping students in school is also critical because “for many kids, it’s their only place where they have access to regular food resources, health care, after school care,” Marsh said.
Part of LAUSD’s incentive to curb chronic absenteeism also could lie in its coffers, Marsh added, noting that school funding is linked to students’ attendance.
“If the financial implications are really what’s driving some of these decisions, then I think it’s calling for larger policy change,” Marsh said. “There’s been a long-standing debate about whether California should fund the schools based on enrollment versus attendance. Lots of states do it based on enrollment. But I just have to wonder, if a district felt a little less concerned about losing funding, whether … we’d be seeing different kinds of policies.”
A balancing act
Balancing students’ health with being in the classroom is critical, experts say.
Marsh said she and her colleagues conducted a study at the start of the pandemic that found clear communication with the community, mental health support for staff and partnerships with local organizations and public health departments were critical.
She added that schools should continue to take advantage of technological tools popularized during the height of the pandemic, while parents should “trust [their] gut” when deciding whether to send their child to school.
“You also don’t want to send your kid to school if they’re not well enough to learn. Is your kid impacted by the symptoms?” Marsh said. “You kind of have to understand where your child is at and whether they’re ready to learn.”
Three months ago, in a confrontation over the inclusion of LGBTQ+ content, Gov. Gavin Newsom warned the politically conservative Temecula Valley Unified school board that either it replaces an outdated history social studies textbook for elementary school students or the state would buy an updated version on the district’s dime, and fine it for its recalcitrance.
There was no High Noon, as it turned out. The school board backed down within days and agreed to purchase a more inclusive textbook that a committee of 47 Temecula Valley teachers had recommended.
But Newsom is about to gain the formal authority to head off similar actions by other like-minded school boards. On Thursday, the Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1078, which his advisers helped craft. The nearly party-line votes of 30-9 in the Senate and 55-16 in the Assembly provided the two-thirds “urgency” margin the governor wanted for the bill to take effect as soon as he signs it.
The bill, authored by first-term Assemblymember Corey Jackson, D-Perris, in Riverside County, would expand existing state law, includingthe 2011 FAIR Act, which requires instructional materials to accurately portray the history, viewpoints and experiences of California’s diverse and underrepresented racial, ethnic, and other groups, including LGBTQ+ Californians. It says that school boards that refuse to include materials or remove library books or textbooks that would interfere with the FAIR Act would be committing censorship and discrimination.
“Schools may not adopt textbooks or other materials or sponsor instruction or activities that promote discriminatory bias against or reflect adversely on persons” on a range of characteristics, including race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identity, gender expression, and religion, wrote Newsom, Attorney General Rob Bonta and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, a sponsor of AB 1078, in aJune 1 letter that referred to the FAIR Act. It was sent to all county and district superintendents and charter school administrators.
AB 1078 would create a new complaint process for parents and other residents to ask the state superintendent of public instruction to investigate and overrule a board’s book ban if found to violate the FAIR Act or other anti-discrimination laws. California school librarians report that orders to remove books more often come not from school boards but from principals pressured by parents angered by sexually graphic novels or what they consider age-inappropriate books on gender.
In a situation where the superintendent determines that a district school board failed to provide students with sufficient instructional materials in order to avoid FAIR Act compliance, the state department of education would order and provide the textbooks that students needed and fine the district.
Newsom praised the quick passage of the bill Thursday, saying it would send a message to school boards not to put their own political agenda ahead of the education rights of children.
“California is the true freedom state: a place where families — not political fanatics — have the freedom to decide what’s right for them,” Newsom said. “With the passage of this legislation that bans book bans and ensures all students have textbooks, our state’s Family Agenda is now even stronger. All students deserve the freedom to read and learn about the truth, the world, and themselves.”
But Bill Essayli, a first-term Republican assemblymember from Norco, in Riverside County, said that the real intruders on freedom are Newsom and state leaders who are running roughshod over school boards that families chose to elect.
“You have Sacramento politicians who do not like decisions being made by duly elected school boards, and are trying to erode their control and attack their authority,” Essayli said. “This should be viewed as nothing short of an attack on democracy. And that’s something that we must be very vigilant of.”
While Newsom had Temecula Valley and rear-guard tactics of conservative boards in mind, the new complaint system could prompt people with opposite politics to demand action against materials and curriculums they claim are discriminatory. Jewish groups have characterized Santa Ana Unified’s ethnic studies treatment of the Arab-Israeli struggle as anti-Semitic. The newly formed Los Angeles-basedCoalition for Empowered Education, which says it opposes “dogmatic, politicized agendas in K-12 education across the country,” could be motivated to file complaints of bias in the Liberated Ethnic Studies curriculums adopted by some California districts.
Jackson said he foresees complaints against districts that have banned the teaching of critical race theory, a school of thought that analyzes white privilege and the persistent and enduring forms of institutionalized racism. Jackson said districts are banning critical race theory as a means to suppress honest discussions of race. But only an investigation could establish a school board’s true intention, he said.
The problem, Essayli countered, is that “the complaint process is extremely subjective. It puts the determination in the hands of another politician (the state superintendent of public instruction) who has political motives.” Disputes like these should be done by an impartial judge through a lawsuit, he said.
Troy Flint, the school boards association’s chief information officer, said the uncertain scenarios that the bill could produce are a reason CSBA opposed the bill.
“There are a number of different ways that people could apply this law beyond what was intended. That’s a byproduct of the fact that AB 1078 was reactive,” he said.
Flint said the school boards association is troubled that complainants will be able to file directly with the state superintendent, who could intervene without giving school boards an opportunity to respond before making a finding.
Jackson said he wasn’t concerned about people filing complaints. “I really think that no matter what a parent’s concerns are, they deserve to be investigated. Now, they might not like the outcome of the investigation. But this is not meant to exclude people.”
He said he would watch the complaint process unfold. “If the state superintendent or the governor feels like this is becoming a problem, then we will address it with cleanup language next year,” he said.
Incensed by Temecula Valley’s board
Newsom was drawn into the issue by the resistance of Temecula Valley’s newly conservative majority to buy an urgently needed new history-social studies series.
The committee of teachers and parents who volunteered to review proposed textbooks had vetted and recommended Social Studies Alive! Its fourth-grade textbook on California history included a section on the gay rights movement, including the struggle for gay marriage. The majority said they opposed “sexualized” materials for elementary students and the inclusion in a teacher’s guide of material on gay rights activist Harvey Milk, the first gay elected official in California, whom board President Joseph Komrosky denigrated as a pedophile.
The board’s plan to delay that approval meant Temecula Valley would have begun the year with a 17-year-old out-of-print textbook with insufficient copies for every student, a violation of state law. The state already had the authority to order new textbooks and charge the district in such a situation.
The delay also created a dilemma for teachers. As Carolyn Thomas, a Temecula Valley Unified teacher, told EdSource in May, “We also find ourselves in the precarious position of determining how to teach the required state standards while simultaneously complying with our employer’s decision to restrict us from teaching about the historical contributions of diverse individuals.”
AB 1078 would additionally impose a financial penalty, not for a FAIR Act violation per se, but for a district’s intentional inaction to provide all students with enough textbooks at the start of a year. The penalty would amount to what a district received a decade ago when the state still earmarked funding for textbooks and materials, adjusted for inflation. The Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that would amount this year, in today’s dollars, to about $95 per student or $950,000 for an average district with 10,000 students. For 27,000-student Temecula Valley, that would have been about $2.6 million.
Jackson said he believes other districts with “extremist” boards have adopted Temecula Valley’s strategy of delay — ignoring buying new textbooks because they include covering the deep history of racism in America and perspectives on ethnicity and gender. “So they are gaming the system,” he said.
Essayli said that Jackson is reading into their motives, and “I don’t think that is proper to do.”
AB 1078 had the support of the California Federation of Teachers, the ACLU and some organizations advocating for students of color. Opponents included the county school boards in County and Placer counties, the California Policy Center and the state school boards association.
Packed crowd anticipates discussion on Orange Unified Parental Notification Policy on Sept. 8, 2023.
Credit: Mallika Seshadri / EdSource
In a unanimous 4-0 vote, the Orange Unified School District passed a policy Thursday evening that would require school officials to notify parents and guardians if their child asks to use a name or pronoun different than what was assigned at birth, or if they engage in activities and use spaces designed for the opposite sex.
The policy, which has now percolated through a half dozen California districts, has its origins in Assembly Bill 1314, proposed by Assemblymember Bill Essayli, R-Riverside, which was denied a hearing at the state level in April.
Rocklin Unified School District passed such a measure Wednesday. Previously, Temecula Valley Unified (Aug. 22), Anderson Union High School District (Aug. 22) Murrieta Valley Unified (Aug.10) and Chino Valley Unified (July 20) passed almost identical policies.
The policies passed by Chino Valley Unified and Murrieta Valley Unified have garnered backlash from state officials – who called the decisions a violation of students’ civil rights and have initiated an investigation into Chino Valley Unified. A Superior Court judge in San Bernardino County has also temporarily halted Chino Valley Unified’s policy.
It would specifically require parents and guardians to be notified if their child asks to use a different name or set of pronouns, or if they ask to use a different sex’s segregated spaces, such as bathrooms or locker rooms.
The policy would also mandate school principals be informed of pupils experiencing gender dysphoria or gender incongruence.
District officials would be required to tell school principals or counselors if a student makes any attempt or threat of suicide. The principal would then have to seek out medical or mental health treatment for the student, ensure that they are supervised until their parents, guardians or another support agency intervenes, and notify emergency assistance – such as law enforcement – if necessary.
Verbal and physical altercations, along with complaints of bullying, would have to be relayed to parents within three days.
But the policy’s opponents say denying student’s a source of support at school – especially if they come from toxic home environments and non-accepting parents – could exacerbate their mental health.
“When our lawmakers fail, when our families don’t accept us, when our friends leave us…I just want to feel safe at school,” said an Orange Unified School District high school student at the previous Aug. 17 meeting.
School Board Member Angie Rumsey said the majority of teachers would also back the policy.
“As a [someone in education], I hold and hide nothing from the parents of my students. The relationship begins with a realization that, as the teacher, I am not going to hide anything or keep information from a parent,” Rumsey said during the meeting. “Teachers should communicate with parents regarding any change in behavior.”
However, before the Aug. 17 meeting, the Orange Unified Educators Association released a letter, arguing the policy would violate various aspects of California law as well as “student privacy rights grounded in the California Constitution.”
The union added that the policy would burden teachers with the difficult task of discussing sensitive issues about their students with parents.
“In addition to the legal issues, this policy requires certificated employees to have the appropriate knowledge, training, and time to have communication with students and guardians about sensitive and confidential issues,” the letter stated.
“With the number of requirements and expectations already placed on certificated staff, this is an unreasonable and highly concerning expectation.”
Thursday evening, California Attorney General Rob Bonta also issued a letter to the board opposing the measure.
The school board meeting was heated – and dozens of activists spoke passionately for the measure, including many who didn’t have a direct connection to the district.
The three board members who opposed the policy walked out of the meeting before the vote, following a disruption.
“There’s a chilling effect that occurs for folks who then are unsure about what they can say and not say or what they’re required to do, and…. it creates a lot of stress on top of what is already a very stressful job for teachers,” said USC Professor of Education Julie Marsh.
“…But the broader ripple effect is that you know, might it dissuade potential teachers from actually going into the teaching profession.”
The policy
Orange Unified School District is now the sixth district in California to pass a policy that would require parental notification when students show signs of being transgender.
The district had originally considered that same policy at its meeting on Aug. 17, but Thursday’s agenda included a version where school counselors or psychologists would be informed instead of parents and guardians.
The board ultimately decided to revert back to a parental notification policy between Thursday’s closed and open sessions.
In response, several board members objected to discussing the item and tried to postpone the vote to a later meeting, after the Superior Court heard arguments for Chino Valley on Oct. 13. Those board members also claimed that they did not have enough time to adequately review the policy.
The version that ultimately passed reverted back to the policy’s original intention.
After the proposed AB 1314 was denied a hearing at the state level, Essayli – who spoke at Thursday’s meeting – vowed to bring it to local districts and encouraged parents to pursue litigation.
“In a state like California… a blue state, it becomes really the only option for these kinds of policies and actions to be occurring,” Marsh said. “And it shows us that we’re not immune.”
The protocols outlined in the policy in response to bullying and threats of suicide have become a common argument in favor of its passage – but detailed policies and protocols to support students through these challenges already exist in Orange County and other districts.
The 2023 Lead-Up at Orange Unified
January – The new Orange Unified School Board fired then-Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen during a closed session meeting without a stated reason. She was out of the country at the time. Angered by that board decision, parents have dubbed that night the “Thursday night massacre.”
Later that month, the board suspended the district’s digital library in response to parents’ complaints about the book “The Music of What Happens.”
February – Orange Unified School District’s interim superintendent Edward Velasquez resigned after one month in the position.
The board also faced a Brown Act complaint for allegedly not providing enough notice prior to a meeting, among other claims.
March: The district faced two lawsuits about alleged Brown Act violations as well as one from parents about the Superintendent firing.
June – The Orange Unified School Board adopted a policy that would ban Pride flags and other flags, calling them divisive.
August – The OUSD School Board appointed Ernie Gonzalez as its new superintendent and held an initial discussion of the new parental rights policy that would require school staff to inform parents if their child indicates they are transgender.
For the past several months, community activists have been calling for a recall of Board Members Rumsey, John Ortega, Madison Miner and Rick Ledesma, the president.
“All that we’re seeing in Temecula and Chino and Orange and other places around the state are examples of the same thing, where we’ve got a very concerted effort that started with trying to elect conservative members to the board to get a majority and to then advance policies that are more conservative in nature,” Marsh said.
“Some would argue it’s a politics of distraction to distract us from the core work of what schools are supposed to be doing around teaching and learning. And others would even go further to say this is an explicit effort to undermine public confidence in the public school system.”
Marsh added, “I feel like it’s a wake-up call for folks to just pay a little bit more attention to school boards.”
A student sounds out the word ‘both’ during a 2022 summer school class at Nystrom Elementary in the West Contra Costa Unfified School District.
Credit: Andrew Reed / EdSource
Turning the tide on years of lagging elementary school reading scores at West Contra Costa Unified has become Superintendent Chris Hurst’s “No.1 priority.”
Hurst, in his third year as the district’s superintendent, says he is committed to improving elementary reading test scores by 5% each year, having reached the same goal during the 2022-23 school year. That goal is one of several in the strategic plan Hurst and his Cabinet have been developing to improve outcomes at the school.
“The research is very clear that once a student is behind, they typically will stay behind unless something significant happens in their K-12 experience that changes the trajectory of learning,” Hurst told EdSource. “So for me, literacy is a gatekeeper.”
In February, the district’s iReady assessment showed that only 42% of West Contra Costa Unified kindergartners, 26% of first graders and 39% of second graders were reading at or above grade level. Those scores were up from the previous year, according to a presentation Hurst made to the school board in April.
A history of low scores
Hurst said literacy scores at West Contra Costa Unified have been “stagnant for over a decade.” In the 2021-22 Smarter Balanced reading tests, 24% of third grade students scored below grade level; 56% tested near standard; only about 10% tested above standard. In the same year, the district’s scores from the Smarter Balanced tests for English language arts in reading and writing for grades three-11 were lower than 75% of other California districts.
Smarter Balanced results show that third grade reading test scores at West Contra Costa Unified have nearly steady since 2014, with no more than 17% of students reading above grade level. Similarly, only 18% of students in California scored above standard on reading; 57% statewide scored near standard, and 25% statewide scored below standard in 2021-22, the most recent year available.
Preliminary Smarter Balanced results for the 2022-23 school year show a slight uptick in English language arts scores: 33% of students in grades three-11 met or exceeded grade level, up 1 percentage point from the previous year, according to a district presentation at Wednesday’s school board meeting. Twelve of the district’s schools showed increases in the percentage of students who scored at or above grade level in English language arts.
West Contra Costa Unified serves mostly low-income students living in the cities of Richmond, El Cerrito and San Pablo. Before California adopted a universal free meal policy, 70% of the students qualified for free and reduced-price meals. Also, about a third of students in the district are English learners.
Some data points on the iReady assessments last year are “hard to swallow” Hurst said. For instance, only 2% of fourth grade English learners were reading at grade level.
The superintendent said he was aware of the district’s low scores before taking the leadership position but was unaware of “how little and few resources we actually have here in West Contra Costa.”
Like other districts in the state with similar demographics, West Contra Costa Unified has grappled with high-cost programs straining its budget, despite receiving $4.2 million in state grants to improve literacy scores at sevenof its elementary schools, as well as supplemental funds from the state for serving a high number of disadvantaged students.
“I really believe that my life has been about giving myself to a community, to work with the community to change outcomes for kids,” Hurst said. “And we need bold, passionate leaders to position ourselves to do that.”
The district will be using iReady and STAR assessments, to track its 5% growth goal; assessments will be done at various times throughout the year. At the Sept. 6 school board meeting, board President Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy said those assessments provide a better picture of students’ reading abilities than the Smarter Balanced tests.
Meeting the goals
Meeting the superintendent’s goals would require the district to focus more on phonics instruction and increase its teacher training, Hurst said. The district will hold weekly meetings with staff, as well as informational sessions with the school board and the public, to develop a comprehensive literacy plan over the next year for implementation in the 2024-25 school year.
The WCCUSD board is demanding that the district pursue its goals with an equity focus and concentrate its efforts on four primary groups: African-American students (13% of the district’s enrollment); Hispanic students, (57%) English learners and students in special education, whose reading scores have been historically low and troubling, Hurst said.
Hurst said the district is stressing phonics and phonological awareness — the theory (supported by developing research) that learning to read is not a natural process and that a heavy emphasis on phonics is the most effective way to teach students how to read.
That research falls under the umbrella of the “science of reading,” which approaches how reading is taught differently from the balanced literacy approach, which also calls for explicit phonics instruction, but coupled with plenty of time for students to develop their love of reading.
West Contra Costa Unified is, at the moment, primarily using a balanced literacy approach, and the superintendent did not indicate if and when the district would switch to the “science of reading” approach.
In 2021, Nystrom Elementary in West Contra Costa Unified district ditched balanced literacy and adopted the “science of reading” approach, thanks to grant funding. Nystrom continues to see modest improvements in reading scores.
The district introduced a program called Systematic Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Phonics and Sight Words, or SIPPS, in all its elementary schools last year. SIPPS is supplemental to the core reading curriculum and focuses on foundational reading skills in order to support struggling readers. Nystrom Elementary used SIPPS to include more explicit phonics instruction in its lessons and attributes much of its progress to this curriculum.
The district also brought in experts on teaching phonics over the last year to train teachers and school leaders, Hurst said.
“We’re really trying to focus on becoming an evidence-based culture, so focusing on phonological awareness is one research-based best practice,” Hurst said. “What we’re really trying to do is to have research and study teams where we come together and look at other research.”
The district will also reevaluate the elementary curriculum it has used since 2019 – Units of Study for Teaching Reading English/Language Arts, also known as readers/writers’ workshop — which has been criticized in recent years for not focusing enough on phonics. Some experts say students who struggle to grasp phonics often get left behind.
While Units of Study’s publisher, Heinemann, has responded to the criticism by changing the curriculum for the 2022-23 year, including adding structured phonics lessons for early grades and information for teachers on the research behind the importance of explicit phonics instruction, critics insist that what is needed is a correction, not a revision. Critics say that’s because the Units of Study curriculum is based on debunked research.
By continuing to use the Units of Study curriculum, West Contra Costa Unified is thrust into the middle of the argument on the best way to teach reading.
Despite the criticism, some school board members expressed hesitation to get rid of Units of Study, arguing that the program is still relatively new and that several teachers and administrators in the district still support it.
Hurst said while the district is not about to drop Units of Study just yet, it is now “starting that conversation” about the possibility of doing so. He wants to gather more information and hear more voices before making a recommendation to the school board.
“I am looking at everything with a critical eye,” Hurst said. “And I’m trying to get everyone else to look at everything with a critical eye as well, and to really have those powerful conversations about what’s really best for our students.”