Anything ChatGPT Can Do, My Students Can Do Better

Why a Media History Professor Is Welcoming AI Into Her Classroom

Zócalo is celebrating its 20th birthday this year! As part of the festivities, we’re publishing reflections and responses that revisit and reimagine some of our most read and most impactful stories.

CSUN media history professor Elizabeth Blakey draws inspiration from UCLA behavioral ecology professor Peter Nonacs’ 2013 essay, “Why I Let My Students Cheat on Their Exams.”

Comedian Steve Martin once said that teaching is like show business. Keeping this metaphor in mind, I try to approach each of my lectures like a live …

by Elizabeth Blakey | August 31, 2023

Cal Poly Humboldt’s Connie Stewart

I’m Always Happy to Be Home in Arcata, California

October 14, 2022

Connie Stewart is the executive director of Initiatives for Cal Poly Humboldt. The former executive director of California Center for Rural Policy, she remains involved with CCRP as its chief …

Small School Districts’ Association Executive Director Tim Taylor

T-Swift All the Way

October 14, 2022

Tim Taylor is the executive director of the Small School Districts’ Association. Before speaking at the Zócalo/California Wellness event “Can Rural Education Survive the 21st Century?,” he joined us in the green …

California Collaborative for Educational Excellence’s Julie Boesch

My Dream Is That Every Single Child Has a Safe Place to Learn

October 14, 2022

Julie Boesch is the assistant director of the State System of Support for the nonprofit California Collaborative for Educational Excellence. She was formerly superintendent/principal of Maple Elementary School District in …

tktk | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

California’s Most Remote Classrooms Are Surviving—How Can They Thrive?

One in Four Attend Rural School. But Sacramento and D.C. Aren’t Giving These Students One-Fourth of Their Time

by Jackie Mansky | October 7, 2022

When it came to the title question of the Zócalo/California Wellness event, “Can Rural Education Survive the 21st Century?,” the panelists were of one mind. Speaking to the live audience …

Californians, Let’s Talk About Ditching School This Fall

Instead of Weighing Bad Options, Put Educational Resources and Personnel Toward Fighting the Pandemic

by Joe Mathews | August 11, 2020

Perhaps we should stop pretending that California is going to educate its children this fall—and instead transfer our educational resources into COVID-19 control.

As the pandemic worsens, California parents, teachers, and …

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