California educators and policymakers have limited availability of data related to online and blended learning. Through the use of an electronic survey, incorporating closed- and open-ended questions, the study examined the nature, extent, and barriers of online and blended learning in California public schools from the perspective of the district…

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…

Research on administrators' influence on the performance of their organizational units has accumulated evidence on principals' influence, but the influence of superintendents is largely neglected. Results from a sample of California school districts demonstrated that superintendents exerted little influence on academic performance. Constructing…

Provides a brief overview of the current status of class-size reduction programs; summarizes research that has moved districts and states to seek class-size reduction; calls attention to the misapplication of the research in some contexts; discusses questions about smaller classes that remain unanswered; describes current research into the…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA) focused attention on the academic achievement of more than 5 million students with limited English proficiency. Obtaining valid test results for these students is challenging, given their language barriers. This testimony describes: (1) the extent to which these students are meeting annual academic…

Commission reports show that females outnumber males in college enrollment and graduation, both nationally and in California--a gap that continues to widen, especially for males in underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Recent Commission research described this disparity and how it varies by race/ethnicity, academic discipline, and…

This report is intended to complement a much briefer companion volume, "A Research Agenda for Year-Round Schools: Executive Summary." Together both volumes fully describe the second phase of a national study of year-round schools (YRS) that was initially begun by the National Council of Year-Round Education in 1975. The bulk of this…

This study analyzes the ways in which school boards assess and utilize evaluation data and their attitudes toward testing. Interviews with 27 school board members from 10 districts indicate that board members tend to rely on informal working knowledge over formal information, and on district administrators' judgments. Findings suggest that simple…

Because current fiscal constraints call for inexpensive approaches to achieving equity, school finance research should, in addition to engaging in traditional analysis, address the relationship of curriculum and instruction to equity and economic efficiency. Problems of equity are posed by curriculum decisions and classroom management techniques…

Reviewing the current status of educational computing, this report makes 48 specific future policy recommendations for schools in Alberta, Canada. The first section discusses educational computing in Alberta and the other Canadian provinces and in Minnesota, Texas, and Florida. The second section describes aspects of the educational delivery…

This study compares the criteria utilized by private and public school officials in the selection of beginning teachers. A similar study undertaken in Oregon (Webb 1980) was extended by incorporating private schools. Of the 117 California school districts sent questionnaires, 88 responded--a return rate of 75 percent. Twenty-nine of the private…

Three successful school program models designed to help language minority students conserve the language skills acquired in their homes and continue normal native language development are described. The programs were developed to counteract a trend toward wasting valuable existing language skills and resources. The programs include: (1) an…