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"Look around at recess: Who is being left out?"
Q&A with Olenka Villarreal, founder of Magical Bridge Foundation
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Olenka Villarreal with 7-year-old Nicolas
Photo credit: Erin Brownfield, EdSource
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Olenka Villarreal is changing the way people think about playgrounds, an effort that began with a simple question: Shouldn't her daughter Ava, who has developmental disabilities, be able to use swings at the park just like anyone else?
At that time, the answer was that she couldn't. There were no swings at schools or parks in her community that could support Ava safely since she needed a swing with a harness -- and swinging was one of the therapeutic treatments specialists had suggested.
Villarreal thought there ought to be a solution, for her daughter and for others with cognitive and physical limitations. In 2015, after 7 years of planning, designing and fundraising, Villarreal and her team opened Magical Bridge in Palo Alto, believed to be the first fully inclusive playground in the nation. Its motto is, "Where everyone can play."
Now Villarreal is turning her attention to helping schools make playgrounds more inclusive. EdSource talked to her in July.
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Early Education Reports from EdSource
Best way to improve elementary math scores? Change teachers' attitudes, study says
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| Credit: Lillian Mongeau for EdSource |
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Elementary teachers who changed their perceptions about math - such as who's good at it and why it's useful - saw their students' math scores rise significantly, according to a new study by a Stanford University education researcher.
The
study, published in the journal Education Sciences, showed that student scores improved after teachers took an online course explaining how anyone can be good at math, math is fun and useful, and can be taught in a more positive, engaging way.
"Many elementary teachers are math-traumatized. It's amazing how many of them were given terrible ideas about maths as children," said Jo Boaler, co-author of the study and a professor of mathematics education at Stanford's Graduate School of Education.
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Low pay for child care workers puts more than half at poverty level, study finds
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Liv Ames for EdSource
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A majority of child care workers in California are paid so little they qualify for public assistance programs, according to a new
report on the early education workforce.
Fifty-eight percent of child care workers in California are on one or more public assistance programs, such as the
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a federally funded program that helps pay for food, housing and other expenses, the report by UC Berkeley's Center for the Study of Child Care Employment found.
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California kids who didn't learn to read to get day
in court
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Alison Yin for EdSource
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California Supreme Justice Goodwin Liu raised court-watchers' eyebrows two years ago when the court declined to consider
a much-watched lawsuit over the adequacy of state education funding, but Liu hinted he'd welcome another case to define children's right to a meaningful education under the California Constitution.
"The schoolchildren of California deserve to know whether their fundamental right to education is a paper promise or a real guarantee," Liu
wrote in a strong dissent in the case Campaign for Quality Education/Robles-Wong v. State of California. That lawsuit, brought by a coalition of education and student advocacy groups, claimed that the state's insufficient funding of public schools violated students' constitutional right to a quality education.
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California preschool access varies "dramatically" across
the state
A new brief from Karen Manship, Linda Jacobson and Bruce Fuller from University of California, Berkeley and American Institutes of Research breaks down preschool access in California, county by county. According to the report, the availability of early childhood programs "varies dramatically" depending on where you live. In 2016, 77% of 4-year-olds were enrolled in either licensed center-based care or Transitional Kindergarten in Santa Clara County, compared to just 42% in Tulare County.
Spaces for 3-year-olds were scarce, with only 28% attending a licensed center statewide. Licensed care for infants and toddlers is even more difficult to find, according to the report.
Read more
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California communities making strides in quality early education highlighted in report
Hechinger Report highlights the work of three cities, San Jose, Oakland, and Fresno, that are developing innovative preschool approaches for children who are dual-language learners, live in low-income homes or have experienced traumatic events.
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