Building from the existing knowledge of charter school spending and staffing, and with a lens toward better understanding the fiscal flexibility afforded charter schools, this study examines staffing patterns in California's charter schools over the last decade. Using detailed professional assignment data for the universe of California schools in…

Policymakers know that improving teaching in our schools requires a systemic look at many policies related to educator effectiveness. For example, teacher preparation programs need to be dramatically improved and strengthened, but without accompanying reform in compensation, even highly effective and innovative schools of education are unlikely to…

Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) are at risk for school failure when their health needs are not met. Current studies have identified a strong connection between school success and health. This study attempted to determine (a) how schools meet the direct service health needs of children and (b) who provides those services. The study…

When yes/no or multiple-choice answers do not suffice--when a qualitative understanding of a topic rather than a quantitative head count is needed--it is time to consider focus groups. They work well when learning why, how, and what for is more important than measuring how many. Focus groups are primarily an open-ended form of inquiry, enabling…

In this paper, we explore the use and efficacy of fiscal incentive policies in California school districts. We ask whether districts with high need for teachers with English as a second language (ESL) or special education credentials are more likely to implement incentives targeting these teachers. We find mixed evidence that districts align their…

The purpose of this study was to explore the adaptive measures that academic libraries perform when implementing and operating a 24-hour schedule. Five in-depth interviews were conducted with current managerial-level librarians at 24-hour academic libraries. The exploratory interviews revealed similar measures for security, budgeting, employee…

A few years ago, in "Student Success in College (SSiC)," the authors profiled twenty colleges and universities that were unusually effective in fostering student engagement and success, defined as better-than-predicted scores on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and better-than-predicted graduation rates. These schools are…

The teaching profession has long been structured around full-time classroom responsibilities that are defined by the location, timing, and schedule of the school day and a ubiquitous one-teacher-per-classroom model. In most districts, the only option for highly successful teachers to advance in the profession or serve more students is to leave the…

Describes the staffing pattern at Top of the World Elementary School, Laguna Beach, California. (Auhor)

Described is a project designed to examine the role of the public school resource specialist in serving exceptional children in California. The first section examines the establishment of the resource specialist role by the California Master Plan for Special Education, provides a historical review of school responses to exceptional children, and…

Chapter 966, Statutes of 1970, authorized the Superintendent of Public Instruction to exempt no more than five school districts from existing statutory provisions establishing minimum class-size standards and reporting requirements. The purpose of the exemption was to enable selected districts to establish pilot programs using differentiated…

Presents findings of a 5-year study of U.S. educational finance. Analyzes spending patterns across 50 states and examines staffing patterns and expenditures across curriculum areas in California, Florida, and New York. Although this century has seen a major investment in public education, funding has been distributed unfairly and used…

Don Shalvey (former superintendent of the San Carlos, California school district) believes strongly that every kid in California deserves a great education. This belief led him in 1993 to found the first charter school (an independently-run public school) in California. Shalvey's first charter school attracted a great deal of attention, and soon…

The ratios of Weekly Student Contact Hours (WSCH) to faculty Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) for all community colleges in California are presented. Table 1 ranks WSCH/FTE ratios for the years 1974 through 1976 and indicates that a pattern among the community colleges exists in terms of their highest ratios (statewide mean, 515.6) and lowest ratios…

The study assessed the need for continued inservice training to migrant personnel in the skill and understanding of the Migrant Student Record Transfer System (MSRTS), and determined directions for planning future training sessions. A 50-item questionnaire was administered to 240 persons attending the MSRTS workshops at the 1977 State Migrant…