High rates of special education teacher attrition negatively impact teachers and students. In an effort to address attrition and support new special education teachers, many school districts pair mentor teachers with novice teachers. Effective mentoring programs have been shown to alleviate some of the stresses of novice teaching and reduce the…

Rural students often face challenges in receiving high-quality education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Yet without meaningful STEM educational opportunities, rural students might not develop the knowledge and skills needed to compete in a technology-driven workforce. The Learning by Making program (LbyM), an innovative…

The disparity between the demographics of California's community college students and faculty is striking. Specifically, underrepresented minority (URM) students represent the largest population at 49%, yet only 22% of faculty are URM. In 1992, legislation was passed to allow community colleges to establish Faculty Diversity Internship Programs…

We examined parents' satisfaction with multiple aspects of their children's individualized education programs (IEPs). Parents (n= 142) raising children ages 4 to 8 years old with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reported their satisfaction with four aspects of their children's IEPs: (a) content of the IEP document, (b) services provided, (c)…

This non-experimental correlational quantitative study was designed to explore the effects of specialized professional development, age, gender, and years of teaching experience on the successful integration of iPads into classroom literacy education among K-6 students. The study uses the teachers' Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge…

The Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) model is a comprehensive, strength-based approach to education that aims to improve achievement for all students by improving a school's effectiveness at building relationships, leveraging real-time student data, and capitalizing on the strengths of each student. The U.S. Department of Education's…

As district leaders search for the best ways to improve student learning with the Common Core State Standards, California districts are leading the way as early implementers of the new standards. The ideas and lessons emerging from their work can help other educators maximize the effectiveness of their own implementation efforts. This brief…

This case study investigated the effects of year-round school on students with learning disabilities at Abraxas High School in Poway, California. Abraxas is an alternative school that operates on a block schedule and year-round calendar. The researcher attempted to answer the question: How does year-round school impact students with learning…

This study employed multiple regression modeling to examine the success of 63 California elementary schools in terms of (a) school-community social capital, (b) student academic performance, (c) student behavioral incident rate, and (d) teacher turnover rate with respect to the extent of school-community partnership programs. Also of interest to…

Implementation of the curriculum-centered, standards-based federally mandated reform, No Child Left Behind, has placed pressure on teachers, particularly those working in schools comprised of highly diverse and impoverished students, to have their students attain predetermined levels on high stakes, standardized tests. When schools have not met…

Early evidence on California's Class Size Reduction (CSR) Program suggests that teacher applicant pools have been depleted and that many teachers who lack experience and credentials were hired. To examine the impact of CSR, a study analyzed whether the experience and qualifications of teachers in reduced-size classes vary across schools and, if…

The Mentor Teacher Program in the state of California is designed to retain capable teachers by expanding their rewards and opportunities. This report focuses on the character and quality of mentoring in an alternate route program sponsored by a large urban school district. A 30-hour required training course for mentors introduces them to their…