Objective: Misperception of sexual intent is linked to incidence of sexual assault. The present study tested the effects of gender, alcohol consumption, and leaving a party together, in isolation and in interaction, on perceptions of sexual intent. Participants: Undergraduates (N = 438) completed an online survey between Winter 2017 and Winter…

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…

Acknowledging the importance of students simply being in school, California has made student attendance part of its accountability system. This brief covers a session in which it was pointed out that using chronic absenteeism as an accountability measure is new and its underlying causes are not well understood. Even as many schools face the…

Existing research identifying common student ideas about forces focuses on students' misunderstandings, misconceptions, and difficulties. In this paper, we characterize student thinking in terms of resources, framing student thinking as continuous with formal physics. Based on our analysis of 2048 written responses to conceptual questions, we…

"Remedial Trap." "Bridge to Nowhere." "Completion Divide." Such language used to describe the field of Developmental Education (DE), especially by those outside the field, is undeniably deficit oriented. In this manuscript, we initiate a dialog that critiques such portrayals of DE, particularly those that appear in…

California is one of just two states (with Kansas) that does not use a student-level growth model to measure school performance. This brief lays out a number of common beliefs about growth models and provides evidence that these beliefs are inaccurate or unsupported. In so doing, the brief makes a positive case that the state should adopt such a…

The intent of this study was to understand the experiences of female superintendents, including those of color, serving in public school districts across California as they navigate the politics associated with culturally divisive conflict. The sample comprised 12 female superintendents serving various lengths of tenure in nine counties in…

This study investigates climate change perceptions of secondary science teachers in a Blue state and a Red state. A total of 832 secondary science teachers, 456 from California, and 376 from Texas public schools responded to an online questionnaire regarding their climate change perceptions. Findings indicate that a significant proportion of…

The claim that charter schools cause financial harm to school districts is a major element in the debate around charter schools in California. Critics allege that enrollment in charter schools drains resources from school districts, forcing them to make cuts to staff and services and eventually contributing to fiscal distress. The charge that…

Background/Context: To adapt to increasingly diverse classrooms, some school districts are trying to offer additional curriculum that represents the diversity of their students. California, where half of school-age children are Latinx, is at the forefront of including Latinx histories in its curriculum. The state's 2017 California History-Social…

Misinterpretations during language comprehension are common. The ability to recover from processing difficulties is therefore crucial for successful day-to-day communication. Previous research on the recovery from misinterpretations has focused on sentences containing syntactic ambiguities. The present study instead investigated the outcome of…

It is common for individuals to have misconceptions across a range of subject matters. Although interventions to correct misconceptions are largely successful, at times they may fail. The current study explores how corrections may be perceived to conflict with aspects of personal or social identity and engender experience of negative emotions and…

This exploratory, phenomenological qualitative study explored how a single, relational micro-intervention focused on respectful conversation across difference might influence sense of belonging and level of curiosity among participating community college students. The study also explored the implications of this intervention for improving campus…

Despite widespread use of compulsory online prevention training, sexual harassment continues to occur at high rates. Most universities use online sexual harassment prevention (SHP) programs to meet state compliance requirements, but there is little research evaluating their effectiveness. The purpose of the current quantitative study was to…

This qualitative descriptive study aimed to explore how higher education leaders within Educational Opportunity Programs (EOP) and services describe the integration and marginalization of immigrant or refugee students in California Universities. The theoretical foundation utilized in this study was based on Barry's (1997) acculturation theory. The…