The long range plan outlined in this report is intended to influence the design of services in school and classroom environments in order to promote consistency of use of educational technology across diverse regions and school settings in California. The introduction discusses some of the major needs facing education today, and mandates, general…

A comprehensive program is proposed to increase the supply and quality of minority group teachers. The first step of the program is the early identification of minority and low-income students who have a commitment to teaching. As early as high school, students expressing an interest in teaching as a career would be selected to participate in a…

This essay is just one story in the ongoing conversation of how to approach teaching indigenous literatures in colonial educational institutions. Through sharing her experiences in teaching Richard Van Camp's "The Lesser Blessed," the author hopes to reveal the power of this particular text and the way its effects on students who…

In the spring of 2003, University of California President Richard Atkinson forwarded to the U.C. Academic Senate a proposed revision of the existing regulation bearing on how university teachers should treat contentious and disputed issues, both political and academic, in their classrooms. The existing regulation on this matter, APM-010, had been…

This reports presents a detailed description of curriculum reform efforts in four states that exemplify particular approaches to developing curriculum. In California and South Carolina, curriculum standards are influenced most heavily by subject-matter professionals through a top-down process; the lay public is asked to review and make recommended…

In this article, the author discusses the experiences of Marian Sauer as one of the teachers during World War II. Marian Sauer, began teaching at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Richmond, California, in 1942. During World War II, Richmond's population skyrocketed, as a direct result of homefront mobilization and school enrollments grew six…

The federal "No Child Left Behind Act" (NCLB), the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, seeks to improve student learning by setting high standards for academic achievement and putting into place basic school and district requirements to frame the improvement effort. Among those requirements considered to…

The paper reports findings of a California committee on the need for differential graduation standards for students with learning disabilities and/or other educational handicaps. The committee proposes minimum levels of proficiency in career education, vocational education, work experience, and independent living skills to help students gain…

Under federal and California law, cost alone cannot be used as a defense for modifying or denying education and support services to a student with a disability. This has contributed to growth in special education spending. However, funding has not kept up with costs, forcing school administrators to "encroach" upon general education…

An overview is presented of the mechanisms for financial support, institutional resources, and institutional accountability that are needed to improve the teaching and learning environment in the California community colleges. Introductory material outlines the educational reforms that have affected the colleges, underscores the need to reaffirm…

Hugh Burkett, director of The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, recently was asked to give the keynote speech at On the Right Track 4, an annual school improvement symposium for California school practitioners. In this month's newsletter, Dr. Burkett shares highlights from his remarks. He sets forth six things that should…

Community college reform legislation in California mandates the development and implementation of a comprehensive accountability model. The reform model implemented during the 1991-92 academic year will provide the legislature and state officials with outcomes and process data in five areas of community college services: student access, student…

This article looks closely at one instantiation of a poetry-centered practice as supported by June Jordan's Poetry for the People, specifically in the context of an inaugural poetry contest. It builds on an earlier empirical study, which investigated the partnership between Poetry for the People and one East Bay Area high school and the rich…

In 1983 California enacted a comprehensive bill containing dozens of education reform provisions (Senate Bill 813). A sample of 17 secondary schools was selected in order to understand if a number of state-level education reform features could be implemented locally. The major study findings listed below are described in greater detail in the…

Erin Rasmussen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Idaho State University where she teaches learning, behavioral pharmacology, senior seminar, and introductory psychology. She received her MS and PhD in experimental psychology (with a minor in behavioral pharmacology and toxicology) from Auburn University. She taught at…