Ten Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) community schools will be given an opportunity to pilot new approaches to assessments in the 2025-26 academic year.
And once the schools adopt alternative assessments, they won’t have to participate in standardized tests, other than those mandated by state and federal governments, the district school board decided in a 4-3 vote on Tuesday.
Goldberg said that over the past several decades, corporate entities have turned education’s focus away from cultivating a love for learning — and toward test taking, which she believes has become the “be-all and judge-all of schools.”
She emphasized that multiple choice, standardized assessments are not the only way to gauge students’ learning.
“I knew where my students were, what they could read, what they understood, what they didn’t — because that’s what you do when you teach,” Goldberg said, adding that class discussions and projects can also be used to observe progress. “You’re continuously assessing.”
Once the 10 community schools establish new “innovative, authentic, rigorous and relevant” methods of assessment, they will not be required to administer the district’s iReady diagnostic tests, which teachers have criticized for taking up large chunks of instructional time.
Rivas said students would be relieved of some of the anxiety and stress that comes from ongoing standardized testing. She read several messages she had received from students in the district during Tuesday’s meeting.
“If we already take five state tests … in the end of the year, why do we take the end of the year iReady?” one student wrote in a letter to Rivas. “They both are the same reason: to show you what we know.”
“I was really stressed out — worrying about all of these tests. I also gained a lot of anxiety since testing started, and I could not focus on my own life because I was so stressed.”
LAUSD board member George McKenna, however, opposed the measure, questioning how students are supposed to learn without being given tests to work toward. He added that the initiative has “promise” but that he did not trust the policy would be implemented properly.
Board members Tanya Ortiz Franklin and Nick Melvoin also voted against the resolution — which will require LAUSD to establish a Supporting Meaningful Teaching and Learning Initiative that community schools can apply to be part of.
Schools that are part of the initiative would have to select a community school “lead tacher” who is grant funded and would receive additional professional development from both Community School Coaches and UCLA Center for Community Schooling, among others.
The 10 schools in the cohort, according to the resolution, will also have to adapt their instructional programs to “integrate culturally relevant curriculum, community- and project-based learning, and civic engagement.”
“This is just one step,” Gonez said during Tuesday’s meeting. “But I really look forward to the way this resolution will be implemented — to see what innovative ideas that I know our teachers have and see how we may be able to pilot a more joyful education, a transformative education, which really brings the community schools model to full fruition.”
Have you visited Alcatraz? It’s a fun way to spend time in San Francisco. You take a boat ride with other tourists and get a guided visit around the infamous prison. It sits on a 22-acre island known as “The Rock.” To describe Alcatraz as dilapidated would be an understatement. You learn about the notorious gangsters who were locked up there (including Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly), about the many efforts by prisoners to escape, and you see the tiny, grim cells they lived in. Then you visit the gift shop for souvenirs and books about Alcatraz.
While it’s often said that no one ever escaped Alcatraz, despite many attempts, three men built a raft and took off undetected in 1962: Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers. They were never seen again, so authorities think they must have drowned. But it’s possible they they made it to the mainland and started new lives. No one knows.
Trump announced that he wants to reopen Alcatraz because it is time to get tough on hardened criminals. He said he was reacting to the madness of judges ruling that criminals were entitled to due process. This was impossible, he said, because he wanted to toss out millions of criminals, and there are not enough judges to give due process to so many criminals.
At its height, Alvarez housed fewer than 350 prisoners.
Malcolm Ferguson of The New Republic thinks he found out why Trump suddenly discovered Alcatraz as a solution. He saw a movie about Alcatraz!
President Trump may have gotten his half-brained idea to reopen and expand the infamous Alcatraz prison from a movie that aired on WLRN this past weekend.
“REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” the president wrote on Truth Social Sunday evening.
“I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” he continued. “We will no longer be held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals, who came into our Country illegally. The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
A Bluesky user provided some more details on this seemingly random announcement.
“I may have context for this! Last night WPBT in Palm Beach broadcast the 1979 Clint Eastwood film ‘Escape from Alcatraz,’” they wrote. Trump was in Palm Beach on the night in question.
Trump potentially making major policy decisions based on the last movie he watched is bleak but unsurprising. Alcatraz is a dilapidated full-time museum off the coast of San Francisco that closed in the 1960s because it was too expensive to operate and many of the buildings were falling apart. Getting it back to a full-time jail would be incredibly costly and labor intensive.
“Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction,” California Representative Nancy Pelosi wrote on X. “The President’s proposal is not a serious one.”
Rachel Maddow had a different theory about why Trump suddenly wanted to revive Alcatraz. She thinks he purposely distracts the public and the media. Toss out a shiny object for people and the media to get excited about, and it distracts them from serious policy failures. Alcatraz is bread & circus for the rubes, like the proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Better to have them talk about something silly than to talk about Pete Hegseth’s latest mess at the Pentagon or RFK Jr.’s relentless war against modern science.
Imagine this: you’re great at teaching. You’ve helped students score better, understand faster, and even love subjects they once feared. But despite your talent, your phone isn’t buzzing with inquiries. No new tuitions. No leads. Just waiting.
Sounds familiar?
If you’re a home tutor or running your own tuition classes, you already know — being good at teaching is not enough. You have to be found. You have to stand out. You have to connect with the right parents and students who need you right now.
So, let’s break down some real, tried-and-tested strategies to help you get more tuition leads in your area.
1. Start Where You Are: Local Visibility is Everything
Before trying to dominate the internet, dominate your neighborhood.
Print Flyers: Yes, old school works. Design a simple, clean flyer and distribute it near schools, local grocery stores, stationery shops, apartment notice boards, and coaching centers.
Word of Mouth: Tell your friends, family, neighbors, and current students’ parents to recommend you. Sometimes, the best leads are one phone call away — you just need to ask.
Pro Tip: Offer a small discount for the first month to anyone who comes via a referral. This motivates people to talk about your classes.
2. List Yourself on Local Tuition Platforms
If your name isn’t searchable, you don’t exist. Simple.
Get listed on platforms like TheTuitionTeacher.com, UrbanPro, or other local tutor directories.
Make sure your profile has:
A clear photograph
A short, genuine introduction
Subjects and classes you teach
Your location, timings, and contact details
Most parents these days begin their search for a tutor online — don’t miss the boat.
3. Show, Don’t Just Tell: Build Social Proof
You don’t need a fancy website. Just simple proof that you can teach and you get results.
Ask current or past students/parents for short testimonials.
Create a free Instagram or Facebook page for your tutoring. Post:
Quick tips or fun facts related to your subject
Student success stories
Study hacks
Photos of handwritten notes or solved doubt
Even posting once a week builds trust. It shows you’re active, approachable, and professional.
4. Get Smart with WhatsApp & SMS
Don’t underestimate the power of a small, polite WhatsApp message.
Collect phone numbers from local WhatsApp groups (school groups, parent groups, locality groups).
Send a message like: “Hi! I’m a tutor based in [Your Area], currently teaching Class 9 & 10 Science. I have a few slots open this month. If you or someone you know is looking for help in studies, feel free to reach out. Happy to help!”
Keep it short. Don’t spam. Send in gaps. And always offer value, not just a sales pitch.
5. Partner with Schools, Bookshops & Stationery Stores
Form meaningful offline partnerships.
Talk to local school teachers or principals (especially in private schools) and ask if they can refer students who need extra help.
Ask stationery shop owners if you can leave a stack of flyers or a small poster at their counter. In return, offer to promote their store to your students.
This creates a win-win, and trust me, people remember those who support them locally.
6. Offer a Free Demo Class — But Make It Memorable
Don’t just give a free class. Give them a glimpse into your teaching magic.
Prepare a short, high-impact lesson.
Use visuals, ask engaging questions, and show how you simplify difficult concepts.
End with a clear takeaway: “In my classes, we don’t just study — we understand.”
A great demo class is your strongest pitch.
7. Follow Up Like a Professional
Sometimes, a parent might say “We’ll think about it.”
Follow up in 3 days.
Don’t wait endlessly. Send a message like
Persistence (without being pushy) shows commitment.
“Hi [Parent’s Name], just checking in to see if you had any more questions about my classes. I’ve got 2 slots open and would love to help your child. Let me know!”
8. Stay Patient, Stay Consistent
Lastly — remember, lead generation is not luck. It’s momentum.
Every flyer, every message, every call adds up. Maybe not today. But over time, you’ll become the go-to tutor in your area.
“Success in tuition is not just about knowledge — it’s about visibility, trust, and consistency.“
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re teaching from your living room or running full-fledged batches, the tuition business is all about one thing: impact.
And the more people you reach, the more students you can help.
So start small, but start today.
Want to reach more students faster? Get listed on TheTuitionTeacher.com — and let parents in your area discover your expertise in minutes.
👉 If you’re a tutor based in Lucknow and looking to get more home tuition leads, TheTuitionTeacher can help you connect with the right students. Whether you’re just starting or trying to grow your tutoring business — this is the platform where your journey begins.
In 1994, I was the press secretary for the U.S. Department of Education when Republicans took over Congress and threatened to shut us down. My then boss, Secretary Dick Riley, would joke in almost every speech he gave that each morning his wife would open the newspaper and say, “Hey! looks like they’re trying to fire you again!” He regularly talked about it because it quickly became clear to us that people deeply believed in the Education Department’s mission and that the threats against us were bad politics.
I was thinking of this when I watched Donald Trump’s 10-point plan for education. I was struck by its contradictory nature of wanting to dismantle federal involvement in schools, while simultaneously trying to dictate curriculum and impose ideological policies. The department was established in 1979 to ensure resources were being spent on our nation’s poorest children.
Now, three decades after my time at the department, the same battle is resurfacing with a new twist. At its heart, what Trump’s really proposing is a hollowing out of the department’s founding mission — not a true decentralization of power to states, but a reimagining of federal oversight as a tool for ideological control instead of a protection for our nation’s most vulnerable.
But here’s the paradox: Without a Department of Education and federal resources, there’s less leverage to enforce his ideological agenda. As a result, we may be in a bizarre quandary of having to choose between these two opposite visions. Given the choice between a Department of Education that no longer champions equity and no department at all, perhaps it’s time to consider the latter.
The plan, as I understand it, is to move higher ed funding (Pell Grants and student loans) and education research to other agencies while providing equity-driven K-12 federal funds as block grants to be spent however states want.
In California, the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) ensures that schools serving students with the greatest needs — low-income students, English learners and foster youth — receive additional resources. With LCFF, we’ve built a system that both works and meets this moment (though we may also need to codify our clear commitment to special education). As someone who has spent decades in education policy, I don’t say this lightly — in fact, it breaks my heart. But this moment calls for different thinking. The U.S. Department of Education has been a force for good in countless lives. But it should not stand if it’s dictated by ideological agendas. Quality education for all children must remain our North Star in California, because when we center our most vulnerable students, we all succeed.
•••
Rick Miller is the CEO of CORE Districts, a collaboration of nine large California urban districts. He previously served as press secretary for the U.S. Department of Education and as deputy state superintendent at the California Department of Education.
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.
Many colleges and universities in California are currently expanding the ways students can receive credit for prior learning, an increasingly popular practice of awarding college credit to students for knowledge they acquired outside a college setting.
Proponents of granting credit for prior learning, often referred to by its acronym CPL, point out that Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests are very common ways that students receive credit for college classes before they attend college. But there is an effort to broaden the ways that students may be able to receive credit for what they’ve learned outside a college classroom, whether on the job, through volunteering or even a hobby, such as photography or playing an instrument.
In the past few weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the notion of giving credit for prior learning as an important way to recognize the skills that adults pick up in the military or even volunteering through the California Service Corps.
Many educators say this is an important step toward promoting equity in their institutions. It’s a way to recognize the academic value of work, particularly for students who may have left college to work or started college later in life. Proponents say it can save students time and money, making graduation more likely.
Does my college or university offer credit for prior learning?
Because this is an arena of education that is rapidly evolving, it can be difficult for students to figure out whether they may qualify for credit. Right now, that depends on the policies at any given institution or academic department.
College advisers or faculty members are a good starting point. Veterans may also want to speak to the department that supports veterans. Many institutions are currently refreshing their policies for giving credit for prior learning and outlining them in their course catalogs.
How can credit for prior learning help students?
Students can fulfill general education or major requirements before even showing up to school. This means that they’re able to graduate with a degree or credential more quickly — which also means that they’re more likely to graduate. This can save students time and money.
A study by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning found that students who started school with 12 credits could save between $1,500 to $10,500 and nine to 14 months, depending on the institution.
The study found that 48% of students over 25 years old who had obtained credit for prior learning completed their degree or certificate within 7.5 years, compared with 27% of students who had no credit. The completion rate was even higher, at 73%, for credit received outside the military.
There are also important psychological benefits to students who start college with credit under their belts. These students begin their college careers with a sense of momentum and accomplishment, according to Tina Barlolong, career center co-coordinaor at Palomar College in San Marcos.
Are there any drawbacks?
Taking a college course just for the sake of taking a course has risks, and the same is true for pursuing credit for prior learning. It takes a lot less time and money than a full course, but students on financial aid or veterans on the GI Bill, for instance, could run out of funding before they’ve attained a degree if they pursue unnecessary credit.
Proponents of credit for prior learning encourage students to discuss their best options with a counselor, adviser or a faculty member in a student’s field of study. They can ensure that the credit in question will serve a purpose, such as fulfilling a general education or major requirement.
What are some common methods of receiving credit for prior learning?
It may be as simple as passing a challenge test required by a department. The College Board offers a way to test out of college-level material through its College-Level Examination Program, usually referred to as CLEP in the field.
Portfolio reviews are common in the arts. That means a professor or committee may review paintings, photography or graphic design before deciding to award a student credit. A portfolio could also be used to assess a student’s business skills.
Playing music or acting out a scene may be a way to earn credit in the performing arts. Beginning piano is a popular course.
Some students may have obtained a certificate or license in their job that is the equivalent of what they would learn in a college course. Certifications offered by Microsoft or Google that allow students to receive credit for basic computing are common.
The American Council on Education offers many colleges and universities guidance on how to award credit. That can include deciding whether military or corporate training meets academic standards.
Are veterans eligible for credit for what they have learned while in the military?
Yes. In fact, the study by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning found that 68% of students who received credit for prior learning earned it through the military.
Credit for prior learning has a long history among veterans. The military offers service members extensive training that tends to be highly standardized. When they are discharged, veterans receive a Joint Services Transcript, which translates military experiences into civilian language. This can be used for a resume or for receiving college credit. Veterans can also receive credit for college through free examinations called DSST tests.
Every public university or college in California accepts the Joint Services Transcript — though whether any given course is eligible for credit may depend on the institution or department.
Veterans may be able to get credit for physical education requirements, for instance. Depending on their training in the service, veterans may also receive credit for courses in engineering, law enforcement, computer science or health care.
One branch of the military bypasses this whole process: the Air Force has its own community college, so most of its members simply receive a college transcript upon being discharged.
Can I get credit for work experience?
Not exactly. The idea behind getting credit for prior learning is that it is awarded for learning and skills acquired, not just for work experience.
Someone working as an auto mechanic might have picked up a lot of knowledge and skills, but that experience may not correspond to everything covered in an automotive repair course, such as safety procedures, ethics and professionalism. Credit is granted for that knowledge and training — not just the years working in a given field.
How do California’s colleges and universities view credit for prior learning?
Thanks to legislation, community colleges and the campuses of California State University and the University of California all have policies on the books for credit for prior learning. But how those policies are implemented varies from system to system, school to school and even department to department.
All three systems will consider the veterans’ Joint Services Transcript and offer credit for any equivalent courses that are offered on their campus.
California’s community colleges have perhaps the most generous guidelines for awarding these credits. Colleges may award credit for skills learned through work experience, employer-training programs, military service, government training, independent study or volunteer work.
The community colleges have set an ambitious goal of ensuring that at least 250,000 Californians receive credit for prior learning by 2030. The Mapping Articulated Pathways Initiative supports community colleges in these efforts through training, technology and policy.
California State University overhauled its policies for granting credit for prior learning in 2023, and it has required each campus to have its own policies. The system does accept exams such as the CLEP and DSST for credit. It will also accept any training or instruction that corresponds to American Council on Education guidelines.
The University of California has the strictest guidelines on credit for prior learning. Its guidance states that credit will only be offered for courses that meet the same high standards of the UC system — this stance is typical of selective universities. It does not award credit for vocational or technical training or for results on CLEP or DSST tests. It will accept credit for courses on veterans’ Joint Services Transcript for any equivalent courses UC offers.
“The more traditional, the more selective an institution is, the more they tend to not have generous policies,” said Su Jin Jez, CEO of the nonprofit California Competes, a nonpartisan policy and research organization.
How much does getting this credit cost?
This is another factor that varies by institution. It might be free for students who have already matriculated. Many institutions charge a fee for tests or other assessments. Some might charge for each credit unit. Generally, it will be considerably cheaper than tuition. However, funding can become a barrier when financial aid does not cover these fees, according to a recent survey by the American Council on Education.
Will this credit transfer from one institution to another?
Theoretically, it should, just like any other course. When a student receives credit for prior learning through an institution, their transcript will show that they received credit for a specific course number.
But no matter how a student earns credit, transferring credits can be potentially tricky. It largely depends on the institution or major a student is transferring into.
Does giving credit to students for prior learning end up hurting college enrollment?
It may sound counterintuitive, but giving credit to a student for prior learning actually means it is more likely that the student will take more courses. The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning study found that students awarded credit for prior learning actually tended to earn 17.6 traditional course credits more than students without those credits.
Verde Elementary School in West Contra Costa Unified School District
Top Takeaways
Raising attendance would improve student outcomes and help the district achieve a balanced budget.
The district will focus on boosting attendance of all students, not just those who are “chronically absent,” using a range of attendance-improvement strategies.
Improving attendance will require an investment of funds and offering incentives, experts say.
To boost student attendance, the West Contra Costa Unified School District has launched a comprehensive plan to increase attendance by 2 percentage points this school year.
The challenge is in part an educational one. If students aren’t in class, they’re far less likely to succeed. It is also a financial strategy that is crucial to the district’s attempts to fend off insolvency and a state takeover for the second time in 30 years.
That’s because the main source of state funding for schools in California is based not just on how many students are enrolled, but on how many students actually show up each day for class.
But bumping up attendance, even by a few percentage points, is not as easy as it might seem, regardless of the district.
So what happens in this 29,000-student district in the San Francisco Bay Area, which includes Richmond and several adjacent communities, also holds lessons for numerous other financially struggling districts in California and nationally.
According to interim Superintendent Kim Moses, the math is simple: For every 1 percentage point increase in attendance, the district can raise $2.75 million in additional state funding.
Raising attendance by nearly 3 percentage points would generate over $7 million — about the same amount the district is projecting it will have to reduce its budget during each of the coming two years to achieve a balanced budget.
“It’s the biggest lever that we have,” board President Leslie Reckler, who is fully behind the attendance strategy to avert even more cuts in programs and staff than the district has already made, said in an interview. “We get paid by who shows up.”
Moses told the school board at a recent meeting, “If we are successful in increasing our attendance, that is a way to increase revenue. Then we can rescind the reductions we are proposing.”
Until now, the district’s attendance improvement plan has focused on “chronically absent” students — those who miss 10% or more instructional days per year. That has yielded results, pushing overall attendance rates in the district to 92.3% last fall, just below the state average.
But over the last few months, attendance rates in the district have started to drift down again, to 89.5% in February, according to district figures.
Natalie Tovani-Walchuk, vice president of local impact for Go Public Schools, an advocacy organization working in several Bay Area school districts, including West Contra Costa, speculates that some of the decline could be related to illnesses — the flu, Covid, norovirus and RSV — that simultaneously struck the district in recent months. It could also be that some immigrant parents fear bringing their children to school because of the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
“All of this creates conditions which you can’t control,” said Tovani-Walchuck, a former school principal born and raised in Richmond.
Aiming to boost attendance of all students
After initially focusing on chronically absent students, the district is now aiming to boost the attendance of all students, and to focus on schoolwide attendance-improvement strategies, including:
Targeting schools with the lowest attendance and developing “individualized action plans” for those schools.
Expecting schools to implement activities that reinforce positive attendance habits, such as recognizing students whose attendance improves and working more closely with families “to build stronger connections between school and home.”
Helping schools use a toolkit developed by the district, including prepared scripts in communicating with parents, along with “action plans” for targeting lagging attendance to promote “Stronger Together: Show Up, Rise Up,” the theme of the attendance campaign.
Recruiting more parents, representatives of community-based organizations and community members to participate in the district’s Student Attendance Review Board, to which students who are repeatedly absent or truant can be referred.
But Michael Fine, CEO of the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, an agency set up by the state to help districts in difficult financial straits, said, “There is a limit to how much improvement in attendance can be made.”
A year ago, his agency issued a report concluding that, despite financial and other improvements, West Contra Costa faced a high risk of insolvency.
A realistic goal, Fine said, would be to increase attendance by 1 percentage point each year over the next three years. He pointed out that the district will probably have to spend money on extra staff time and incentives to generate interest among students, parents and schools.
“Programs like this cost money, so you have to spend to be successful,” Fine said.
Fine recalls that when he was a deputy superintendent at Riverside Unified, the district persuaded local businesses to award a used car to high school seniors who achieved perfect attendance across their entire K-12 careers, or other incentives like computers and bicycles for meeting less ambitious goals. His district spent about $250,000 a year on the program, but generated $1.2 million in increased attendance revenue.
Increasing attendance is especially challenging because there are many reasons why students don’t show up for school, all detailed in a presentation to be considered by the board at its monthly meeting this week. These include lack of transportation, illness, parent work schedules, child care constraints, and students feeling disengaged, unsupported and bored at school, plus, in some cases, severe mental health issues.
As a result, any initiative to reduce absenteeism demands a range of strategies to address its underlying causes.
Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit organization focusing on attendance, said West Contra Costa Unified appears to be on the right track by surveying parents and identifying why individual students don’t come to school. Another plus, she said, is the district’s creation of so-called community schools, which already work with social service organizations that can also help.
“It looks like the district has some things in place,” she said. But she also cautioned that schools with large numbers of low-income students, like many in West Contra Costa, will likely experience higher absenteeism rates and have to come up with multifaceted responses to overcome them.
Building positive relationships with parents
The district says one school that has made notable strides is Verde Elementary, a community school serving transitional kindergarten through eighth grade students in North Richmond, an unincorporated area of the district.
The efforts of Martha Nieto, Verde’s “school community outreach worker,” have been central to the school’s efforts to boost attendance.
Nieto, a mother of six who was born in Mexico, says that a key to getting kids to school is building positive relationships with parents. Each day, the school systematically records which students are absent. Attendance clerk Patricia Martines then calls parents’ homes, sometimes with the assistance of school secretary Patricia Farias, who attended the school and still lives in the neighborhood.
Each Friday, Nieto offers what she calls a “School Smarts” class for parents to learn how to get involved in the school. As for students, Nieto provides incentives to improve attendance with modest gifts like a soccer ball, or free ice cream or nachos, which she also hands out on Friday mornings. Students with perfect attendance are awarded medals at “Celebration of Learning” events held regularly in the school cafeteria.
The challenge, Go Public Schools’ Tovani-Walchuk says, is to extend efforts like these across the entire district.
“These are moments of real strength, and we’re seeing what is truly possible,” she said, referring to Verde Elementary. “But it has not been yet systematized where every school has their school community outreach worker doing this work. That’s really determined site by site, depending on its priorities.”
Verde Elementary school secretary Victoria Farías, who attended the school as a student, assists with keeping track of attendance.Credit: Louis Freedberg / EdSource
School board member Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy says that in addition to boosting the attendance of existing students, there needs to be more emphasis on attracting new ones to the district. That’s because the district’s financial plight is largely due to student enrollment that has declined by an average of 3.1 percentage points over the previous four years, according to the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team report.
“It has to be a two-pronged approach,” he said. “We need to get families moving into our community to come to our schools. We don’t want to be a place where we have to be closing schools.”
“If we want to continue to thrive as a district, we have no other option,” he said.
When schools close, students don’t have to stop learning. In recent years, eLearning has made huge advancements that make it more accessible, personalized, and engaging than traditional learning. Plus, with digital reporting tools built into the program, teachers can instantly see how students are progressing. However, before choosing or implementing a new eLearning program, first, follow these three key steps:
1. Prepare teachers with professional development
Although eLearning often involves students working individually at home, teachers are still vital to the process. Teachers are involved in monitoring students’ progress, reacting when they struggle with particular concepts, and adjusting their learning path as necessary. Teachers should also plan to communicate regularly with their students’ parents. To properly prepare teachers for these new responsibilities, put a professional development plan in place. This professional development doesn’t need to take place in person. Just as students are able to learn through digital methods, so can teachers. As part of the professional development, teachers should learn:
What does the curriculum look like?
How is the curriculum personalized for each student?
How can teachers monitor their students and navigate the available reports?
Which alerts indicate that students need additional help and what should be done that happens?
How can teachers adjust what students work on?
2. Get parents on board
Because eLearning typically happens at home, parents need to be involved and on board with the program. To do so, schools should send home information to the parents in advance. This communication should include:
Why the school is choosing to implement eLearning
What this program will look like for students and what technology is needed
How students access the program
Any expectations on how frequently students should use the program or how much progress they should make
How often the teacher will send reports or communicate with parents on their child’s progress
Supporting research and proven effectiveness of the program or of eLearning in general
How to contact the teacher or school with additional questions, concerns, or issues
3. Keep students accountable
Get students excited and invested in eLearning! Show off the program’s engaging features, such as:
Digital rewards to keep them motivated
Variety of content to prevent boredom
Personalization of the curriculum
Student choice to encourage personal responsibility
If possible, introduce students to the program and help them log in for the first time in the classroom. If not, consider holding a livestream or creating a video tutorial. Students should also understand how often they’re expected to use the curriculum or how much progress they’re expected to make, and who they can contact if they get stuck or have any questions.
How does Wowzers Learning fit in?
Wowzers Learning is the perfect fit for eLearning. With its complete K-8 math curriculum, extensive professional development program, experience working with schools around the world that are using eLearning, focus on student engagement, and built-in reports and tools for teachers, it makes the move to eLearning easy. Wowzers doesn’t require access to a VPN, which makes it available worldwide. Recently, international schools in China are using Wowzers while students work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have experience working with both virtual schools and traditional schools that are looking to put eLearning to more widespread use.
For more information on how Wowzers works, and what makes it a great choice for eLearning, check out the video below or sign-up to get started:
Coming up with solutions to the transportation problems of homeless students would go a long way toward reducing chronic absenteeism, advocates say.
Credit: KATE SEQUEIRA/EDSOURCE
A quiet place to complete homework, free and stable transportation options, and not immediately being penalized for missed work are among the things that Te’yana Brown said could have helped her as she faced homelessness at different points between elementary and high school.
Instead, Brown spent most mornings trying to figure out how to get to her high school. Sometimes, a family member could drive her the 45 minutes to an hour to school, while on other days she took the bus. She missed so much school at one point that she was deemed chronically absent, meaning she’d missed at least 10% of the school year.
“I think they knew periodically because I would always have absences or I would always be tardy, but I don’t think they were really concerned because, either way, I usually got my work done,” Brown responded in a recent interview to a question about whether her school knew she was experiencing homelessness. “I guess they didn’t really want to make me feel bad about it, but I wish they would have provided a little bit more resources.”
Te’yana Brown was awarded a scholarship from SchoolHouse Connection, a national homeless advocacy organization that addresses how schools can increase attendance among students experiencing homelessness.
Brown was far from the only one finding it difficult to get to school as a student experiencing homelessness: Of the more than 246,000 homeless students in California during the 2022-23 school year, 40% were chronically absent, according to data analysis by SchoolHouse Connection and Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.
To prevent experiences like Brown’s is the reason for a new partnership between Attendance Works, a nonprofit aimed at boosting school attendance, and SchoolHouse Connection, a national homeless advocacy organization, to address how schools can increase attendance among students experiencing homelessness.
A federal law, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, was implemented decades ago to ensure homeless students are identified and supported. If a homeless student falls through the cracks, they miss out on services that could help them stay in school, even if their housing situation remains tenuous.
The two organizations spent months analyzing data and interviewing districts nationwide to understand how to bring homeless students back to school.
“There’s a way in which all of McKinney-Vento is about attendance. The entire effort is about increasing attendance, as well as supporting success,” said Barbara Duffield, executive director of SchoolHouse Connection.
Among the top strategies they gathered are training school staff to identify whether a student might be homeless, working together across school departments to avoid penalizing students for challenges arising from homelessness, and focusing on transportation access.
Some specific examples of districts taking homeless students’ needs into account include a county in Virginia that coordinated bus routes to motels where homeless students were living. Students admitted to being embarrassed when their classmates would see where they lived, so the bus schedule was changed to make the motels the first stop each morning and the last stop after school.
In Fresno, a team of school officials at Coalinga-Huron Unified School District meets weekly to review academics, attendance and other factors related to homeless students’ education and then take steps to support those students through that week.
While identification of homelessness is required under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, the people doing this work at schools are often understaffed and underfunded. Usually, they have to gather funding from sources unrelated to McKinney-Vento to comply with the law.
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act’s Education for Homeless Children and Youth grant is a steady stream of funding targeted at this student population, but at $129 million nationwide, it does not reach all schools that enroll students experiencing homelessness. During the 2022-23 school year, for example, California received $14.6 million to support the educational needs of homeless students, but it reached only 127 of the state’s more than 2,000 districts. The year prior, California received $13.2 million in competitive grants that went to 136 districts.
A significant amount of federal pandemic recovery funds set aside for homeless students was also available starting in March 2021 — over $98 million that went to 92% of California’s school districts, though that was one-time funding.
A federal Department of Education study published this year found that local educational agencies that received those pandemic recovery funds saw a decrease of 5 percentage points in homeless students’ chronic absenteeism rate.
The study attributed this national trend to schools’ access to increased funding. Duffield pointed out that these decreases occurred even as student homelessness rose over the same period.
Brown was eventually able to get to school consistently and is now in her second year at Pitzer College, a private institution that is part of the Claremont Colleges in Southern California, studying management engineering on a full-ride scholarship.
Her path there, however, required transferring to a high school that offered her flexibility in managing her schoolwork and provided resources that helped her focus on school even as she looked for stable housing.
Brown’s story is not uncommon
Te’yana Brown speaks at her high school graduation.
Brown was never identified as homeless in high school despite showing signs that her basic needs were not being met, including being chronically absent and missing school assignments despite generally maintaining good grades.
She struggled academically in the first two years of high school, a time in which she and her family were doubling up with other families, eventually moving between motels. She said she didn’t receive resources outside of what all other students were offered, such as referring families to social services programs like CalWorks.
But her educational experience and her college aspirations changed when she transferred to a school that offered her more flexibility and support. Brown had started working part time at a Goodwill store at age 15, but she stayed on top of her academics because her new school was a hybrid program that required in-person classes only twice a week.
“Not all students have the flexibility to go to school eight hours a day,” Brown said. ”That can be really challenging when it comes to students from underserved communities.”
At her new school in the Pasadena area of Los Angeles, Brown had 24-hour access to tutoring platforms, regular check-ins with her teachers and academic counselor, and a college preparatory program that included university tours.
“I had a lot of other tasks that I needed to do, whether it be research for my family or working to actually support myself,” she said.
The research that Brown referred to was the time she spent searching for affordable housing for herself, her mother, and her sister.
Once Brown got into college and moved to on-campus housing, she turned to figuring out how her mother and sister could remain stable.
“It was really stressful because I had a lot of worry about how my family was going to survive. It really hurt my heart if I was able to go to college and have a roof over my head but they didn’t have a place of their own,” said Brown.
Brown’s sense of responsibility has permeated her academic life, her college application process, and her decisions now as a college student. For example, when she got an Amazon scholarship that included a housing stipend and a monthly salary, she saved most of her pay for a down payment on a home for her family.
Advocates say efforts to increase attendance will continue to fail if homeless students are not the central focus. Just last week, Fresno Unified’s school board voted to provide rental subsidies to 10 unhoused families with kids who were were chronically absent. This is the type of strategy that the partnership between Attendance Works and SchoolHouse Connection aims to highlight and help expand.
“If we’re devising strategies but we’re not paying attention to the specific circumstances of the youth who have the highest chronic absence rates and some really unique barriers,” Duffield said, “then those overall attendance efforts aren’t going to be successful.”
