A student at Townsend Elementary School in the Appoquinimink School District in Delaware takes a computer-based test.   Sarah Garland/The Hechinger Report TOWNSEND, Del. – On a recent afternoon at Townsend Elementary School here, a little boy squinted at a computer screen and gripped his mouse. He was stuck. Half of the screen contained an article […]

Under pressure from a lobbying group, schools officials edited environmental curriculum to include positive messages about plastic shopping bags, interviews and documents show.

Public charter schools in California are skirting the worst impact of the state’s budget crisis, even as traditional public schools shorten the school year, increase class sizes and lay off teachers and staff. READ FULL STORY | GRAPHIC: NEW SCHOOLS | GRAPHIC: GROWTH | FAQ

When school started this year, young children in Fontana crowded into classrooms with as many as 30 students, providing another potent signal that a popular and expensive education reform in California has unraveled. READ FULL STORY | GRAPHIC | TAKE ACTION

Most of California’s largest school districts are increasing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, eroding the most expensive education reform in the state’s history.

 California Watch surveyed the 30 largest K-12 school districts in the state and found that many schools are pushing class sizes to 24 in some or all of the early […]

Select any state on the left to see how it compares to California in terms of student-to-teacher ration for public, K-12 schools. Source:  National Education Association (NEA) Rankings and Estimates 2006–07. Figures refer to the ratio between students and all full-time, credentialed teaching staff in a school during the 2006-2007 school year. This is the most recent […]

A California Watch survey of the state’s 30 largest, K-12 school districts found that class sizes in kindergarten through third grade are increasing beyond 20 in many districts. In general, the figures in this map refer to teacher-student ratios set by the district for the 2009-10 school year. Actual class size may vary at individual […]

California Watch’s report on class size appeared in various media, including several newspapers including the Los Angeles Daily News, Modesto Bee and the San Diego Union-Tribune. As a part of our collaboration with KQED Radio, the class size story also aired on KQED’s The California Report. The program was also heard on more than two […]

Get the answers to your questions about California’s class-size reduction program as well as who to contact How did the program start? The program was initiated in 1996, to reduce average class sizes in K-3 grades to 20 students to every teacher. At the time, K-3 class sizes in California averaged 28.6 students, among the […]