Talladega County Schools (TCBOE) spans 760 square miles and serves about 7,000 learners, 71 percent of whom receive free and reduced-priced meals. It also is a member of the League of Innovative Schools, a network of forward-looking school districts that have declared their commitment to improving and advancing equitable outcomes for students…

Virtual learning and personalized learning have been at the forefront of education reform discussions for over a decade. Backed by almost $200 million philanthropic dollars from the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, the Gates Foundation, and others, Summit Public Schools has aggressively marketed its Summit Learning Platform to schools across the United…

This paper provides a narrative account describing how a first-year teacher's empowering care in her mathematics classes in an inner-city high school in Southern California contributed to better student learning and helped raise district-wide test scores. The purpose of the article, chronicled from a practitioner's point of view, examines how…

By most measures, students with disabilities (SWDs) are not receiving the education they need and deserve in California schools and districts. In 2019, 187 of 333 (56 percent) districts were identified for differentiated assistance because SWDs did not meet standards for two or more priority areas on the California School Dashboard. California…

The primary purpose of this study was to analyze the professional development program at one transitional kindergarten through eighth grade school undergoing a system-wide, major programmatic change. Specifically, how the school organized its professional development opportunities, the frequency in which teachers implemented new learning from the…

The best hope for accelerating much needed improvement in student achievement is by using a range of pedagogical and technological innovations that deliver personalized learning to each student. The authors examine three school initiatives across the country that are using technology and new teaching methods successfully to drive student…

This article traces how the work of instructional leadership in the urban high school embodies a response to particular pressures in the school's environment. Based on evidence from multiple-case study research in four urban districts, the article demonstrates how supervisory and nonsupervisory leaders fashioned responses to the district (and…

In the light of budget reduction, some southern California public school districts have elected to continue serving their identified gifted and talented (GATE) population through GATE programs. Researchers, who purport acceleration, are concerned that the gifted and talented student who will remain in the regular classroom without cluster groups…

A portion of high-school students do not experience success or encounter extenuating circumstances that do not allow them to attend a traditional comprehensive high school to complete their high-school diploma requirements, so they enroll in some kind of alternative education to complete these requirements. These alternative education…

This quantitative research study examined Iu Mien high school students of one high school in the Sacramento Valley for possible connections between their acculturation level and academic achievement to address the following research questions: 1. What impact does the degree of acculturation have on the academic success of the Iu Mien high school…

This quantitative study explored the academic progress of at-risk students in English language arts (ELA) when they were given differentiated instruction (DI) and universally designed curriculum (UDC) to address their academic needs. The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a significant change in passing rates on the California…

The K-8 Cajon Valley Union School District (Cajon Valley USD) is one of forty-two school districts in the greater San Diego, California metropolitan area. Serving approximately 16,000 students, the Cajon Valley USD is extremely diverse; 36 percent of students are Hispanic, 46 percent are white, 7 percent are African American, and many students are…

When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in 2004, it eliminated the requirement that individualized education programs (IEPs) include short-term objectives or benchmarks, except for students with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards. Instead, the IDEA regulations…

The California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) was developed to ensure that graduating students can demonstrate competency in reading, math, and writing. The high failure rates have created concern among stakeholders. The study was to identify factors that contributed to student success on passing the CAHSEE for students enrolled in SIATech in…

It's not often that the goals of closing the achievement gap, providing professional development opportunities to teachers, and benefiting children by using innovative and effective instructional methods coincide. But at Sutterville Elementary School in Sacramento, CA, they do. This article describes the School-Wide Success (SWS) program, its…