Describes services and operation of the Family Protection Act Unit in San Mateo County, California. After three years, the number of children receiving financial aid in foster care decreased by 33 percent and the number of children placed in institutions decreased by 40 percent, while guardianships and adoptions increased by 16 and 25 percent,…

Nonprofit Prophets is a program in which teams of California high school students select social or environmental topics and collaborate with nonprofit organizations to develop mutually beneficial World Wide Web sites. Discusses the technology, particularly interactive videoconferencing, used to train and support those involved in the project.…

Chico, California, schools adopted multimedia distance learning using ISDN (integrated services digital network) to resolve a serious problem: the shortage of well-qualified science and math teachers. Problems encountered with using the equipment included audio signal difficulties, user-unfriendly conferencing equipment, stationary cameras,…

Although politicians and educational leaders are pressured to devise quick-fix educational reforms, significant change takes time, and reform efforts may not be fully measurable for 10 years or more. Case study of a California school district given 10 uninterrupted years to develop and implement an outcome-based instructional model suggests that…

Discusses the introduction of shared governance in California in 1988, noting that it ultimately did not materialize into an anticipated model of collegiality. Provides recommendations for institutions dealing with shared governance, underscoring the need to accept the past and present in managing change. Contains 13 references. (YKH)

This paper explores what lessons we can learn from the experiences of states that instituted NCLB-like accountability systems prior to 2001 (here called first-generation accountability systems). We looked at the experiences of three smaller states (Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina), four larger ones (California, Florida, New York, Texas), and…

In 2001, the U.S. Department of Education and the Ministry of Education in China entered into a bilateral partnership to develop a technology-driven approach to foreign language learning that integrated gaming, immersion, voice recognition, problem-based learning tasks, and other features that made it a significant research and development pilot…

In fall 2004, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) officially launched its own customized version of the online Career Portfolio, originally developed by Florida State University (Lumsden and others, 2001). This launch represented the culmination of nearly sixteen months of planning and development by a multidisciplinary team comprising…

The study reported in this document was conducted to identify, describe, and assess the potential of innovative approaches to integrating vocational and academic education as one way of helping students to understand the utility of academic learning. Research activities included case studies of five integrated-curriculum programs in California,…

A school district's long-range facilities plan is a compilation of information, policies, and statistical data about the district. The plan enables the district to determine and select among the alternatives for allocating facility resources to achieve the district's objectives while meeting community needs. This guide contains information on the…

This paper draws from a case study of first year district implementation of the California Mentor Teacher Program in one of the largest districts in California. The paper focuses on the opportunities offered to teachers who work with mentors. Through the presentation of a selection of vignettes of teachers who worked with mentors, the paper…

This document is a transcript of an oversight hearing on the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). This session, the second in a series designed by the House Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities to evaluate the program, focuses on the local and state implementation of the act. Testimony was heard from various representatives of organizations…

Outlines California's major educational reform legislation during 1980's and describes a Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) study of policy implementations. Results show that nearly all schools correctly implemented key provisions of S.B. 813, that state level reform can be effective when accompanied by cohesive local strategizing,…

Policy problems do not exist as social fact awaiting discovery. Rather, they are constructed as policymakers and constituents interpret a particular aspect of the social world as problematic. How a policy problem is framed is important because it assigns responsibility and creates rationales that authorize some policy solutions and not others.…

Achieving full compliance with the accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal legislation poses major challenges for most of the nation's states. Structured, open-ended interviews were conducted with ranking representatives from a number of so-called high-readiness states: California, Florida, New York, South Carolina,…