The Latest from IDEA

UCLA, in collaboration with Alliance for a Better Community, released a report this summer on the status of Los Angeles Unified School District's new graduation policy.

The Road Ahead: A Snapshot of A-G implementation within the Los Angeles Unified School District provides information on the district's progress toward graduating its students with successful completion of the A-G requirement. A-G is the college-preparatory curriculum that is required for admission into a California State University or University of California campus. Students must pass a minimum of 15 yearlong (or 30 semester) courses.

Eight years ago, the LAUSD Board of Education passed a resolution that would require its students beginning with the Class of 2016 to successfully complete A-G for graduation. 

The Road Ahead is timely because the Class of 2016 just completed its freshman year. This report uses 2010-11 data to gauge where the district is and what new policies and practices must be implemented in order for the district to address the gap between the proportion of students who graduate and those who finish high school having successfully completed the A-G sequence.

A new UCLA IDEA report examines how students who graduated from Linked Learning pathways are moving along in their postsecondary education attainment, employment and civic engagement.

Exploring the Educational, Labor Market, and Civic Trajectories of Young Adults who Attended Linked Learning Pathways: Survey and Interview Findings compared Linked Learning alumni with random sample of students who did not attend those pathways. Overall, the study found that, on average, students who attend Linked Learning high schools graduate at higher rates than students statewide. This is remarkable in itself, but even more so given that Linked Learning schools enroll greater numbers of students from groups at risk of not graduating. 

Moreover, Linked Learning alumni are more likely to attend a postsecondary institution (2- or 4-year) versus not attend college at all compared to the random sample. However, we also found that attending a Linked Learning school does not increase the likelihood of employment for recent graduates or protect some of them from becoming disconnected altogether (i.e., neither in school nor working). Neither did attending a Linked Learning school increase the chances that recent graduates would become engaged in their communities.

Linked Learning is an approach to schooling that is gaining popularity as many high schools throughout the state seek to stem the tide of dropouts and a lack of college and career preparedness among graduates. Linked Learning brings together rigorous academics, a challenging theme- or career-based curriculum, and an opportunity to apply learning through real-world experiences. The participating sites were identified as part of IDEA's 2008 study.

Contact Jorge López
politics.pedagogy@gmail.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Los Angeles Students and Teachers Organize Social Justice Conference
Student-led workshops to promote student activism and challenge injustices

LOS ANGELES (May 23, 2013) — Students from across the Los Angeles area will teach community members about a range of social justice issues at a June 1 conference that positions youth voice at the forefront of social change efforts.

Organized by a group of Roosevelt High School educators and students, the conference—East Side Stories: A Grassroots Vision for Education & Community—seeks to foster youth empowerment and community activism. The conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at Roosevelt High School, 456 South Mathews Street, Los Angeles. Admission is free.

“We aim to include what is often absent in the conversation on public education, which is powerful, transformative student voice,” said conference organizer and Roosevelt teacher Eddie Lopez.

In the conference, Los Angeles youth from a range of high schools and community groups will share their stories of oppression and resistance in student-led workshops on quality education, food justice, LGBTQ issues, injustices facing undocumented students, and more. Also, the conference will feature a People’s Curriculum Fair for teachers organized by the People’s Education Movement, along with two prominent guest speakers: Curtis Acosta and Dr. Patrick Camangian. Acosta is a teacher in Tucson, AZ, who has been at the forefront of the movement to save ethnic studies. Camangian is a professor at the University of San Francisco whose research focuses on critical pedagogy. 

East Side Stories will provide a space for agents of change of all ages to converge, learn, unite and strategize. Youth leaders and activists will analyze problems and develop plans of action, generating power and finding solutions to make Los Angeles a more just place.

“The students will not simply be presenting. They will be transforming the space into a place of action,” said Roxana Dueñas, a Roosevelt teacher.

In addition to the workshops, conference attendees will be treated to craft vendors, along with performances of spoken word poetry. 

East Side Stories is the second annual conference of the Roosevelt-based Politics & Pedagogy Collective. The group created the conference in order to challenge injustices facing students and communities of color, such as inequitable access to educational resources and the criminalization of young people of color.

When:  Saturday, June 1, 2013

Where: Roosevelt High School, 456 South Mathews Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033

Admission: Free

Schedule: 8 a.m. – 9 a.m. Registration and breakfast

9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Opening ceremony

9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. Workshop session I

11 a.m. – 12 p.m. Workshop session II

12 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. Youth panel

12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. Lunch, spoken word poetry, live music, vendors, etc.

2 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Keynote speaker and closing ceremony

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On Saturday, Jan. 26, approximately 100 school and community leaders filled the Robert F. Kennedy Complex Library for a panel discussion on alternative approaches to school discipline. RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AND SCHOOL LEADERSHIP—Building Safe and Inclusive Public Schools was sponsored by Los Angeles Communities for Public Education Reform and the UCLA Principals’ Center. The panel discussion featured community leaders Maisie Chin of CADRE, Alberto Retana of the Community Coalition, and Esthefanie Solano of InnerCity Struggle. It also included princpals Leyda Garcia of the UCLA Community School, Chuck Flores from the NOW Academy, Ben Gertner of CNMT at Roosevelt High School, and Jose Navarro of the Social Justice Humanitas Academy. UCLA Professor John Rogers facilitated the panel. His introductory comments are copied below.

I welcome you on behalf of UCLA’s Principals’ Center and the Los Angeles network of Communities for Public Education Reform. Communities for Public Education Reform is a network of community-based organizations in cities across the United States that advocate for well-resourced, equitable, safe, and inclusive public schools. We have brought together both school and community leaders for this conversation because school discipline and school safety are issues we share together.

This is an important conversation, but a difficult one. One of the panelists told me earlier this week that:  “This area of schooling brings out the best and worst of everybody.” It is about our profound commitments to do right by young people within a broader political and cultural environment that often valorizes violence while undervaluing young people, particularly young people of color.

I wanted to begin this morning with the words of Sylvia Rousseau, a former principal and district administrator here in LA. I interviewed Sylvia last week about the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. One question I asked was what lessons she draws for school leaders today from Dr. King's philosophy of non-violence? Here’s what Dr. Rousseau said:

“Discrimination and oppression have hurt a lot of children for a very long time, and they bear the marks from generations past. Some students come to school with their hurts, which cause them to act in ways that are harmful to themselves and others. School doesn't mean a whole lot to them. When they manifest these issues in their behavior, you can't let them tear up the schools, and you don't want to suspend them. So we need to have resources that are preventive, recognizing the issues our students face. The classroom has to be a place of respect, shaped by a curriculum and pedagogy that respects their lives. It’s about creating better schools where students have opportunities to be problem-solvers and creators. They require support in managing their challenges while they adopt identities as high achieving students. That is the role of a liberating education. Anything less reduces students to widgets or what Freire would call mere objects.”

I start here with Dr. Rousseau because her words highlight the complexity of the issue we come here to discuss today. The problems that present themselves in schools have deep roots that require nuanced understanding and holistic responses. Dr. Rousseau’s comments also suggest that the stakes are high here. The way that we approach school discipline has a profound effect on how we think about the humanity of young people and the possibilities for their development.

Today, we are fortunate to be able to engage this topic with a panel of school and community leaders that have a history of grappling with these issues.

There are two measures on the state's November ballot that aim to raise revenues for public schools. Proposition 30 will raise about $6 billion for public k-12 schools and community colleges. Proposition 38 will raise about $10 billion for public k-12 schools. The campaigns have caused confusion for many voters. There's real concern that voters will reject both measures. And, however unlikely, should both initiatives pass, the one with the most votes will take effect.

We encourage all Californians to learn about the different propositions so they can make informed decisions come November 6.

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