Between April and December 1915, Maria Montessori and her son, Mario Montessori, spent time in California. Historical accounts of this period have emphasized Montessori's participation in San Francisco's world's fair, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE), and identified this event as the crux of her travels. The following text and…

Even before the pandemic slowed learning for many, only 39 percent of California students demonstrated proficiency on the state math assessment. During the pandemic, the proportion of math-proficient students fell to one-third. At the same time, the STEM workforce faces shortages and a lack of diversity, which call into question the longstanding…

This brief emphasizes the importance of English learner reclassification in California, where over 19 percent of students are classified as English learners. It outlines the high-stakes nature of this process, particularly under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which mandates uniform criteria for exiting English learner programs. The four…

This article outlines a series of lessons the author led to help students understand gerrymandering, which is the practice of drawing district boundaries to favor a particular group or party and which undermines the fairness of a representative democracy. These lessons were developed to capture student interest and engagement by linking…

As teacher educators on the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, our goal is to (re)conceptualize a pedagogical approach for bilingual teacher development informed by teacher education research in the borderlands and anchored in the myriad of historical, sociopolitical, cultural, and linguistic realities of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands -- a border pedagogy.…

What would it look like to engage in more humanizing assessment practices, practices that support the positive development of students' identity, agency, and belonging? In a Southern California school district, a group of teachers have been working toward doing exactly that. One of the first things the teachers did was to recognize that the…

This STEM research project asks middle school or high school students to work towards creating ecologically friendly packaging. Packaging that can be composted instead of thrown away and collected in landfills and oceans like plastics. This inquiry uses nanocellulose and focuses on water permeability. The fibers of nanocellulose can be dried to…

For the last several years, teacher-researchers Jessica Jasper, Laura Dvorak, Steven Athanases, and Sergio Sanchez have partnered with a program called Globe Education, Shakespeare's Globe London. Practitioners in the program use teaching practices that engage learners with Shakespeare's works and other complex texts through drama practices. Jess…

This case provides an opportunity for classroom discussion of ethical issues addressed by computing technologists and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Code of Ethics as the authors describe a recent lawsuit brought against Sutter Health. Security issues, data breaches and compliance with industry privacy rules are common concerns for…

With a motivation to immerse students in engineering design, graphics communication, and computer aided design (CAD) skills early-on in the biomedical engineering curriculum, we launched a new 2-unit laboratory course on "Graphics Design in BME" in the Spring 2020 quarter for UC Davis sophomores. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the course…

This article describes the motivation and design for introductory coursework in computation aimed at midcareer professionals who desire to work in data science and analytics but who have little or no background in programming. In particular, we describe how we use modern interactive computing platforms to accelerate the learning of our students…

As the country continues to transition into a new normal because of the the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that schools and educators adopt a "whole child" approach to education, incorporating teaching methods that account for the ways that children grow and learn in their relationships, identity, emotional understanding, and overall…

The Smarter Balanced Assessment System consists of three components: (1) interim assessments designed to support teaching and learning throughout the year; (2) a suite of tools and resources in Tools for Teachers that support classroom-based formative assessment practices; and (3) end-of-year summative assessments designed for accountability…

Career-connected learning is an educational strategy that combines high-quality academic instruction, skill-based learning, and real-world experiences to prepare students with the knowledge and skills that they need to pursue their college and career goals. Career-connected learning can be delivered in a variety of ways, including in core content…

This article explores the parallels between improvisational theater, commonly known as improv, and active teaching. Specifically, it focuses in the impact of improv techniques on instructor and teaching assistant professional development. The implementation of an active teaching seminar is analyzed, where improv techniques were used in developing…