In educational contexts where many domains subject to improvement are interdependent and causal evidence is frequently lacking it is difficult, if not impossible, for policymakers and educational practitioners to decide which domain should be invested in. This paper proposes a new method that uses Conditional Mean Independent Correlations (CMIC)…

For the past decade and a half, the fight to improve America's schools has been fought largely on two fronts: academic standards as one battleground, and accountability the other, with the issue of mandatory testing adding heat to a very public--and increasingly politicized--debate. The questions for policymakers and educators are as direct as…

Cooperative learning is a well-known instructional technique that has been applied with a wide variety of subject matter and a broad spectrum of populations. This article briefly reviews the principles of cooperative learning, and describes how these principles were incorporated into a comprehensive set of cooperative learning activities for a CS1…

This study analyzed skills, strategies, and theories that new middle school principals used to be successful during their transition period (the first 90 days) in turnaround schools. Based on research on transitions, three research questions guided the study: 1. Do middle school principals in a turnaround school situation find the transition…

This report presents results from the second year of CRESST's three-year evaluation of the WebPlay program. WebPlay is an online-enhanced arts education program for K-12 students. The evaluation occurred during the three-year implementation of the program in Grades 3 and 5 in California schools; this report focused on results from the second year…

The impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is usually understood in relation to schools and districts, but the legislation has also affected community-based organizations that operate school-linked programs. This case study of an after-school program in California demonstrates how educational accountability systems that emphasize students' academic…

This report of the Joint Committee on Educational Goals and Evaluation to the California Legislature discusses the need for educational goals and evaluation, the committee investigation, and the collection of information. As a result of the investigation, it was concluded that: (1) it is essential that the goal-setting process include the…

This study was a direct response to a 1970 resolution by the California Community College Board of Governors that all community college districts refrain from implementing any new programs in the area of specialized training for marine technicians until the success of existing programs could be evaluated. A needs assessment survey was conducted to…

The University of California's census survey of undergraduates, UCUES [University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey], presents an opportunity to measure both disciplinary and institutional differences in students' academic experience. Results from nearly 60,000 responses (38% response rate) from the 2006 administration found greater…

This manual develops an analytic model, based on historical materials, within which the past movement and present location of an individual school district in relation to desegregation can be charted. The use of the model is illustrated in depth by its application to the case of Riverside, California, a community which has developed a program of…

This report includes several contributions concerned with the PACE program of the Elementary Secondary Education Act, Title III. One editorial reviews five previous studies of PACE and another is devoted to the need for "process evaluation" of Title III projects. Also included are descriptions of three PACE projects, in Los Angeles,…

This paper reports on a large-scale project of research and evaluation of a program for disadvantaged minority group students conducted by the Center for Educational Opportunity at the Claremont Colleges. The Program of Special Directed Studies for Transition to College (PSDS), a five-year experimental project, is aimed at providing a four-year,…

A 2-WEEK, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR WAS HELD JULY 25-AUGUST 5, 1966, AT TAHOE CITY, CALIFORNIA, FOR SELECTED FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL EDUCATORS WHO HAVE RESPONSIBILITY FOR VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS. THE AGENDA AND PROCEDURES OF THIS SEMINAR WERE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME AS THOSE USED AT THE VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL EDUCATION LEADERSHIP…

California's school-to-career (STC) efforts were examined in a statewide evaluation study that was initiated in December 2000 and scheduled for completion by June 2002. The study's first phase was assessed in an interim report that focused on the following major activities: (1) development of a white paper describing the STC's national and state…