Schools on the Frontlines

Should students take standardized tests like the Smarter Balanced Assessments during the pandemic? Equally importantly, how would they take them if some students are at home learning online — and some missing in action altogether? California’s State Board of Education has already decreed that students will take shorter, modified versions of the Smarter Balanced tests. But d

Against the backdrop of growing movement focused on eradicating racial inequities in California and beyond, Carl Cohn has a wide-ranging conversation with State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond who says schools should “use education to counter hate.” With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic Thurmond has had to help guide the country’s largest p

In this week’s podcast, Carl Cohn speaks with Michael Feuer, dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development and professor of education policy at George Washington University. They discuss the upcoming presidential election and what it might mean for education. Feuer weighs in on the changes a new administration might bring. While schools grapple with the short

In this week’s podcast, Carl Cohn and his guests address one of the most challenging — and hidden — aspects of the pandemic: the mental health needs of students, and their teachers. Carl speaks with Dr. Jeannine Topalian, president of the California Association of School Psychologists, and Dr. Loretta Whitson, executive director of the California Association of Sc

This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn turns his focus to one of California’s least populous counties, Mono County in the Eastern Sierras. There are only two small school districts in the county — Mammoth Unified and Eastern Sierra Unified — with a combined enrollment of about 1,600 students. In the sprawling county, that is less than one student per square mi

This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn shifts gears and talks with a school board member who is also attempting to combat child poverty. Jackie Thu-Huong Wong sits on the school board o Washington Unified, an 8300 student district in Yolo County east of Sacramento. She is also vice president of advocacy and policy at GRACE, a non-profit organization dedicated to fightin

This week, Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn talks with Cristina de Jesus, the president and CEO of Green Dot Public Schools California. The non-profit is a charter school network of 19 middle and high schools, serving 11,500 students in Los Angeles. The vast majority are students of color. What sets it apart from many charter schools is that its staff belongs to a union, th

This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn talks with Orange County superintendent of schools Al Mijares whose county includes 27 districts serving more than 600 schools and nearly half a million students. In July, the Orange County Board of Education filed a lawsuit to overturn Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order barring in-classroom instruction in counties on the state’

California’s Catholic parochial schools — 700 of them serving close to 200,000 students — get little attention compared to the public schools. But they face many of the same challenges as the public school system does in coping with the pandemic. This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn talks with Paul Escala, superintendent of schools for the Los Angeles Archdi

Fresno Unified Superintendent, Bob Nelson. This week Schools on the Frontlines host Carl Cohn talks with Bob Nelson, the ukulele-playing superintendent of Fresno Unified School District. Nelson, who has been called “the Mr. Rogers of school superintendents,” has taken a hands-on approach to the job, interacting with the community via social media and even reading childr