Remedial math and English classes were designed to help students prepare for college-level courses, but research has shown that they actually made it harder for students to finish college. Students would get stuck in these remedial courses, that they often didn’t actually need, get frustrated and drop out.

Despite efforts to limit remedial classes in California, many colleges are still offering them. A new bill would go further to almost completely eliminate these classes. What would it take to get rid of remedial courses and why does it matter?

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: Dozens of community colleges offer remedial classes; bill to ban them awaits Newsom’s signature

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

Students from low-income families are more likely to have uncredentialed teachers than students from wealthier households. A teacher shares how credentialing impacts quality of teaching and classroom management, and we discuss what California and its school districts are doing to address this issue.

Guests:

Thomas Courtney, 4th and 5th grade teacher, San Diego Unified School District

Read more from EdSource:

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

On the one-year anniversary of Education Beat, we take a moment to look back at the year’s episodes. Education Beat has brought you the voices of students, teachers, parents and administrators, with stories from the very heart of California schools.

Listen to John Fensterwald discuss this first season of the podcast, with host Zaidee Stavely, and hear snippets of some of our most memorable episodes.

Guests:

Listen to full episodes mentioned in this episode:

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

High schoolers in California have been organizing to give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in local school board elections, giving students more say in their school districts. Two measures were passed by voters in Oakland and Berkeley in recent years, but the teens who organized to put them on the ballot are still waiting for them to be implemented. What now?

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: Hope, frustration and hard lessons as youth try to lower voting age for school board

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

Fresno County is the hub of a statewide pilot project to help early childhood educators, child care providers and elementary school teachers teach math concepts at an early age. A teacher at one child development center shares how she uses math concepts all day, even during a diaper change.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: Can infants learn math? State-backed pilot project in Fresno aims to find out

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

Compton Unified School District in Los Angeles County is taking a creative approach to helping students become proficient in English faster —a journalism class for English learners. Students learn to interview and write articles, and at the same time, get a boost to their confidence, crucial for participating fully in class.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: How a journalism class in Compton boosts students’ English skills

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

California school districts received millions of dollars this year in federal and state Covid relief funding to address the impacts of the pandemic. One district, Lodi Unified, spent a chunk of the funds to send students to a two-week summer camp at a local university. Students took college classes taught by university professors, and they got a taste of dorm life.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: How one district used Covid funds to send kids to camp — on a college campus

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

When college students have mental health crises, a call to 9-1-1 is often the only option, resulting in a visit from the police. One California State University campus, Cal State Long Beach, is changing that and will begin sending mental health professionals to respond to crisis calls. Why is this change important?

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: CSU Long Beach makes mental health priority

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

California voters passed Proposition 13 in 1978 in response to rising property taxes. A new analysis concludes that Prop 13 has contributed to a widening wealth gap, a severe housing shortage and — for decades — inadequate funding for public schools.

On this episode, we discuss the legacy of Prop 13 and possible paths forward.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: California Prop. 13’s ‘unjust legacy’ detailed in critical study

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

Tutoring that’s either one-on-one or in very small groups and happens at least three times a week has been shown to greatly improve students’ learning.

Many academic and advocacy groups say this is a critical way schools can help students recover from learning loss, after a year of distance learning. But many parents haven’t found tutoring options at their children’s schools.

Guests:

Read more from EdSource: Tutoring options in Los Angeles Unified leave families frustrated

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