Moreno Valley College, a two-year community college in Southern California, experiences an annual migration of cliff swallows. The presence of these birds inspired the development of the undergraduate research program Flying with Swallows. The assessment of the project indicated significant increases in qualitative student outcomes such as…

Although a growing body of work addresses the current role of neoliberalism in displacing democratic equality as a goal of public education, attempts to parse such impacts rarely draw from historical accounts. At least one tenet of neoliberalism--the application of business models to public institutions--was also pervasive at the turn of the 20th…

This report presents the results of a thorough study conducted by American Institutes for Research (AIR) to investigate the cost of providing an "adequate" education to California students attending public elementary, middle, and high schools. The study addresses the following question: "What is the cost of providing all California…

Background: Inclusive STEM (traditionally known to stand for "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math") high schools are emerging across the country as a mechanism for improving STEM education and getting more and diverse students into STEM majors and careers. However, there is no consensus on what these schools are or should be,…

This document contains the following nine appendixes of the main report, "What Does It Cost to Educate California's Students? A Professional Judgment Approach. Technical Report. Getting Down to Facts II": (1) Professional Judgement Panel General Instructions; (2) Professional Judgement Panel. Task Instructions; (3) School Resource…

This report constructs a model public agenda to address the mounting challenges facing California higher education. It is intended to inspire broad discussion potentially leading to an official public agenda for California higher education. The report describes some of the structural barriers that are preventing more dramatic progress in meeting…

The nation is in an era of policy reform aimed at improving the productivity and effectiveness of higher education. Major philanthropies and policy groups have converged around variations of the ambitious college completion goals announced by President Obama at the beginning of his administration. But at the same time, many state governments,…

When a recent accreditation review report and an assessment consultant report both identified issues with assessment and shared governance, the three faculty governing bodies of National University met with the Provost and President to brainstorm and discuss a shared governance action plan to address these issues. As a result of this meeting, the…

The educational achievement and attainment of young people in the United States has been a long-standing issue of concern. While analyses of long-term trend data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that students in the United States have made gains in reading and mathematics over the past few decades, a sizeable…

Discusses and addresses the implications for Jewish education within the context of public education. Highlights a case in which a California school district tried to improve student test scores. Argues for the importance of vision and purpose as a means to change Jewish education. Includes references. (CMK)

This report of the Temple City, California, differentiated staffing project contains several articles describing progress made in the first three years of operation. The major article traces the history and development of the project, outlines the financial plan and schedule through 1972, and describes several characteristics of the model: (1)…

This report presents an analysis and evaluation of some aspects of the goal-setting processes that were followed by California school districts in developing community-based goals, subgoals, and priorities. Data for the evaluation project were obtained from questionnaires distributed to school districts throughout the state. These questionnaires…

A study examined five local work training programs in California that have combined resources from both the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and the public education system. The programs studied are located in San Diego County (Ramona), Montebello, San Francisco (Chinatown), Shasta County, and southeast Los Angeles County. In these…

Prepared to ensure that California's community college professionals are aware of present and emerging requirements and options for a statewide accountability system, this paper provides an overview of accountability systems in other states and proposes a model for a California accountability system and specific measures that could be used to meet…

A framework is presented for district long-range instructional planning which takes into account the financial uncertainty caused by the funding cuts of California's Proposition 13--the Jarvis-Gann initiative of 1978. (SJL)