Purpose: The purpose of this explanatory mixed methods study was to identify and describe what exemplary female presidents in California community colleges do to stay grounded and maintain physical, emotional, intellectual, social, vocational, and spiritual health. Methodology: This mixed methods study identified and described the perceptions of…

This brief emphasizes the importance of including the voices and experiences of students, families, staff, and community partners in educational decision-making processes. It provides five key considerations for schools to effectively engage with their educational partners, such as making authentic connections through listening sessions and…

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…

As a result of the changing educational expectations and regulatory environment, there is a need for elementary school teachers to consider carefully curriculum development. The purpose of this research is to identify key transformational leadership strategies for curriculum development in elementary schools. Other than the requirements of…

While current community literacy scholarship foregrounds the importance of listening carefully to communities in the process of establishing, developing, and sustaining equitable and ethical community partnerships, the field does not yet offer explicit methods for practicing community listening, especially in the early, preparatory stages of the…

The researchers investigated the effects of adult language input on the quantity of language, vocabulary development, and understanding of basic concepts of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children who used listening and spoken language. Using audio recording and Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) software, the study involved 30 preschool DHH…

How do infants use their knowledge of native language sound patterns when learning words? There is ample evidence of infants' precocious acquisition of native language sound structure during the first year of life, but much less evidence concerning how they apply this knowledge to the task of associating sounds with meanings in word learning. To…

Teachers experience significant amounts of stress that can lead to burnout or attrition (Milhans, 2008). Creating time and space to engage in self-reflection helps teachers to reduce stress (Chang, 2009; Nollett, 2009). Courage to Teach was developed in 1994 by Parker Palmer and the Fetzer Institute in response to an identified need for developing…

The Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) conducted an investigation of the Intersegmental Committee for the Academic Senates (ICAS) Statements of Competencies for Mathematics and Academic Literacy. The purpose of this work is to understand how the ICAS competencies relate to college and career readiness, as represented by the augmented…

Informal "teacher talk" about students is ubiquitous, but it remains largely unexamined. This study critically examines casual, everyday teacher discourse about students perceived to be racially or culturally "different." Data were collected through participants' journal entries, group discussion, and interviews. Findings…

The intense focus of academics currently in practice in elementary schools limits the opportunities for developing social skills and abilities that are necessary 21st century skills. Through a specifically structured Morning Meeting a teacher can create a space in the classroom that encourages the growth of important social skills that will…

In times of economic uncertainty, community colleges have consistently turned to the experience of past generations as an avenue toward innovation and the modernization of their programs and services. Community colleges have been able to continuously reinvent themselves to serve the ever-changing needs of society. With President Obama's increased…

The California Department of Education is in the process of revising the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Model Curriculum Standards. The Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) conducted an investigation of the draft version of the Health Sciences and Medical Technology Standards (Health Science). The purpose of the study is to…

This article is about interaction, culture, and creativity. The ethnographic setting is a set of jazz performance classes at a California university. Although I write about jazz music, the reader need not have a background in studying or performing jazz (or music in general) to understand this article. In the title of the article, the term…

This article problematizes conventional school-family partnerships, as geared toward narrow school agendas or mandates for collaboration, and documents efforts to lead more authentic partnerships as part of socially just urban schools. Just as meaningful parent involvement needs to go "beyond the bake sale," so, too, must leadership for…