Education

Just 2.5% of California community college students successfully transfer to a university within two years. Fully implementing a 2021 law aiming to reform the transfer system and clean up its convoluted processes could help students shorten their timeline and avoid unnecessary costs.

After the number of homeless students dropped during the early part of the pandemic, experts say the lack of affordable housing is fueling an increase that may continue to escalate.

Marion Joseph battled for years to improve the reading skills of California youngsters through phonics instruction. She died last year but phonics is becoming the state's favored method of overcoming California's literacy crisis.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to tweak the state's program for improving educational outcomes of at-risk students, but his proposal doesn't fix its fundamental flaws.

One of only three anthropology libraries in the country is slated for closure under a planned transformation of the University of California library system. UC Berkeley students, faculty and alumni say the plan is a poor reflection of priorities and worry it would undermine the discipline.

The California Teachers Association has consistently opposed legislation that would require dyslexia screening for all students in early grades. Yet many teachers say early intervention is key to heading off later academic struggles.

A federal judge last year found that the room scans performed by some remote proctoring software are unconstitutional. But some California colleges continue to use the software, which is designed to prevent cheating in online exams.

California is one of only 10 states in the country that does not require schools to screen children for dyslexia. Experts agree early diagnosis is key to helping dyslexic students learn to read, yet the statewide teachers union and others have blocked those efforts.

CalMatters for Learning is a free learning hub for library staff, educators and community organizers.

Last year, a bill would have directed more funding to the student group with the lowest standardized test scores, which would have been Black students. Instead, the governor is proposing extra money for high-poverty schools, not Black students specifically.