The new year is a time of rituals and traditions. Some people swear by eating black-eyed peas or lentils every January 1st to bring good luck. Others eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. At EdSource, we turn to John Fensterwald and his annual predictions column.

Every year, John tells us what he thinks might or might not happen in California education this year. Sometimes he's wrong. But he often gets more than a few things right. Listen in to find out what he foresees for 2025.

Guest:

Read more from EdSource: California education issues to watch in 2025, plus predictions on how they may play out

Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

This week we’re re-running a special episode from 2023 that recently won 1st place for best longform storytelling in audio from the Society of Professional Journalists of Northern California.

The last couple of years have seen an expansion of bachelor’s degree programs in prison.

Inside the first women’s program at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, incarcerated women are working to rebuild their lives by pursuing these higher degrees.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource:

Education Beat is a weekly podcast. This episode is hosted by EdSource’s Ashley A. Smith and produced by Coby McDonald.

This week we’re re-running an episode from 2023, that won several awards this year, including a 1st place in immigration reporting and one of the best podcasts in the state from the California News Publishers Association, and 3rd place in immigration and border reporting from Best of the West.

About 1 in 10 children in California have at least one undocumented immigrant parent. The immigration struggles of parents have real impacts on children, including on their education.

This is the story of a Central Valley dad who had been undocumented but went to apply for his green card and ended up separated from his wife and four kids, because of a change in immigration policy under the first Trump administration. His forced absence created emotional and financial burdens for his entire family and derailed some of his children’s college plans.

Voices:

Read more from EdSource:

Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

Jennifer Molina contributed to the reporting for this episode.

When Gabriela Rodriguez was in third grade in San Jose Unified, her teacher recommended her for a scholarship to join the New Ballet school. Now, at 19, she is starring in The San Jose Nutcracker and dreams of teaching others the joy of dance.

How can dance and other arts inspire and impact students' education and life trajectories?

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: Ballet opens doors for children to chase the joy of dance

Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

Alice Keeney had to study for months in the Navy to learn how to operate nuclear reactors that power submarines and aircraft carriers. But when she tried to transfer her classes over to Cal Poly Pomona, they wouldn't give her credit.

Why is credit for learning outside the classroom important? And how did Alice — and her allies — eventually change how CSUs evaluate transcripts?

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Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

Tulare County, in California's Central Valley, struggles with very high poverty rates and youth mental health issues that were exacerbated by the pandemic. It also has one of the lowest numbers of school mental health workers in the state.

So now the county is giving internships to graduate students in social work and placing them in schools, in an effort to tackle the shortage.

How can this strategy help students? What challenges do school social workers face in counties like Tulare?

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: Tackling the student mental health crisis in rural Central Valley

Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

This week we are re-airing an episode from 2023 that won an Excellence in Journalism Award for Education Reporting in the Radio/Audio/Podcast category, from the Society of Professional Journalists of Northern California.

A high school drama teacher was removed from the classroom in Temecula Valley Unified, after a parent complained students were reading the Pulitzer-prize-winning play, “Angels in America,” about the AIDS epidemic in New York during the 1980s.

What happened in the months after the teacher’s removal? And how did it affect other teachers and students?

Guests:

Read more from EdSource:

Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

Students who graduate with a college degree in a STEM field are well-positioned for careers where they will make high wages.

But community college students can’t get a STEM degree or even transfer to a university without first passing calculus. That’s been a huge hurdle for many students, especially Black, Latino and Pell Grant students.

Some studies have shown that students who start college with calculus, rather than preparatory courses, are more likely to pass the course. The California Community College system, spurred by AB 1705, a new law that takes effect in 2025, is pushing its 116 campuses to place more STEM students directly into Calculus.

Some community college students and math faculty are concerned that this push will leave students unprepared for the advanced math they need for their STEM majors. But other math professors who are early adopters say that they’re optimistic that this law is exactly what California students need to get on track for success in STEM fields.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource:

Education Beat is a weekly podcast. This episode is hosted by EdSource's Emma Gallegos and produced by Coby McDonald.

Many California children and their families, including immigrants, transgender students and others, are feeling fear and uncertainty after the election. During and after his campaign, Trump has promised numerous actions that, if followed through on, could impact California’s schools, students, and educators.

For example he’s threatened to eliminate the department of education, to deport undocumented immigrants en masse, and to cut school funding to states that protect transgender students and promote diversity, equity and inclusion in their schools.

How could these threats impact California? How does California plan to respond?

Guests:

Read more from EdSource:

Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.

Millions of California voters found a blank spot on their ballot where they might normally see candidates for school board.

EdSource analyzed data from 1,510 school board races in 49 California counties and found that 56% did not appear on ballots because either no one ran for the seat or a single candidate ran unopposed, making that person an instant winner.

What's keeping people from running for school board? What's lost when school board members are appointed rather than elected? Are there any upsides?

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: Lack of candidates means many Californians won't vote for school board

Education Beat is a weekly podcast hosted by EdSource’s Zaidee Stavely and produced by Coby McDonald.