The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Culturally Sustaining Leadership." Contents include: (1) Why Emergent Bilingual…

Latinos are the fastest growing college population in California, but less than one-quarter of all Latino adults in the state earn a college degree. To reverse this trend, both the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and the California State University (CSU) Office of the Chancellor launched new initiatives in 2017 to raise Latino…

The Expanded Success Initiative (ESI) evaluation was designed with two overlapping and interacting components: (1) a study of the initiative's implementation in the participating high schools; and (2) a study of its impact on student experiences and other outcomes. As the document of record evaluating an important, large-scale initiative, this…

The purpose of this paper is to inform the community about teacher appraisal methods in the School District of Philadelphia, outline the difficulties of the current system, and suggest approaches that would strengthen the teacher appraisal process. The authors gathered their information over three months in mid-2009 from multiple sources:…

This guide for community coalitions is designed to help them assist college and university officials address alcohol and drug problems on their campuses. The guide answers: (1) "How do college officials think about alcohol and other drug prevention?"; (2) "Why should community-based prevention coalitions include campus representatives?"; (3) "Who…

Three surveys assessing 100 California charter schools were conducted in 1997-98. Interviewees included teachers, principals, and parents. Findings include: 7 out of 10 charter-school principals report that their schools boast waiting lists; overall, parents selected the school's curriculum as their primary reason for selecting a charter;…

Opinions of kindergarten through third-grade teachers concerning the use of free materials sponsored by businesses and companies were investigated. The investigation specifically attempted to determine and compare the following information: (1) respondents' teaching positions; (2) membership in professional organizations; (3) years of…

A public policy seminar discussed how to match small towns and small computers. James K. Coyne, Special Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Private Sector Initiatives, offered opening remarks and described a database system developed by his office to link organizations and communities with small computers to…

A University of Alaska staff member, two local teachers, and two community members used on-site visits, observations, questionnaires, and interviews to assess development of the Manokotak school from its inception in 1947 to 1984 as perceived by community members, school staff, and students. Rural and cross-cultural, the Alaskan school served 117…