Peer Assistance and Review: Working
Models Accross the Country (PDF File) April, 2000
Based on a video teleconference (co-sponsored by the California Office
of the Secretary for Education, the CSU Institute for Education Reform,
and the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association)
and other resource material, this report looks at PAR in the diverse
districts that participated in the video teleconference, summarizes
key program elements and shares commentary from many of the people who
were instrumental in forming the programs. The report concludes with
an appendix that includes a list of suggested reading and further resources,
as well as a copy of the California law.
The Advanced Placement Program: California's
1997-98 Experience. (PDF File) August, 1999
This study, conducted by the CSU Institute for Education Reform and
supported by funding from the Stuart Foundation, spotlights the nature
of the Advanced Placement¹s (AP) program availability, participation,
and test performance for a single year in California‹and in so doing,
provides valuable insight into the status of the program today.
Effective Instruction for English Language
Learners. (PDF File) March, 1999
California is rethinking the content of instruction of ESL students,
along with the preparation and qualifications of ESL teachers, in light
of the recently enacted "Unz Initiative," Proposition 227. In November,
the CSU Institute for Education Reform (IER) and the California Education
Policy Seminars (CEPS) co-sponsored a forum on Effective Instruction
for English Language Learners. This document represents a summary of
the forum's presentations and the subsequent discussion.
Charter Schools: National Context, California
Experience. (PDF File) December, 1998
Since the first charter school law was passed in Minnesota in 1991,
there has been an enormous interest in this alternative form of public
schooling. In October, more than 40 charter school practitioners, educators,
state policy makers, elected school board officials, education researchers
and others attended a roundtable discussion on charter schools. The
seminar proceedings are summarized in Charter Schools: National Context,
California Experience.
Doing What Matters Most: Investing in
Quality Teaching. (PDF File) May, 1998
A forum of 48 policy makers, administrators, educators, and policy advocates
gathered to hear Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, Executive Director of the
National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, discuss her work
in the area of teacher quality. Her presentation covered research on
the effect of teacher quality on student achievement and recommendations
for improving teacher quality. The seminar proceedings are summarized
in Doing What Matters Most: Investing in Quality Teaching.
Putting Schools to the Test: California's
NAEP Scores and the National Testing Plan (PDF File) January,
1998
Test score trends and future testing prospects were examined by a group
of California policy makers, administrators, educators, and policy advocates
when they gathered to hear Marshall S. Smith, Acting Deputy U.S. Secretary
of Education, discuss existing tools for national monitoring of student
achievement and prospects for a new national testing system.
Paying For What You Need: Knowledge-
and Skill-Based Approaches to Teacher Compensation (PDF File) September,
1997
Teacher compensation issues were discussed at a seminar co-sponsored
by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE), Policy Analysis
for California Education (PACE), the California State University Institute
for Education Reform, the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning,
and the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. This is a summary
of the presentations made by CPRE researchers Allan Odden, Carolyn Kelley,
and Tony Milanowski. Moderated by PACE co-director Gerald Hayward, the
seminar focused on general compensation issues and concepts, as well
as examples of districts that have tried implementing knowledge- and
skill-based pay elements.
Lessons in Perspective: How Culture Shapes
Math Instruction in Japan, Germany and the United States (PDF) June,
1997
The quality of math instruction in the United States has evolved over
time into one of our great national pressure points of anxiety. As the
global economy has become progressively more demanding of workers' math
skills and U.S. test scores have remained mediocre in international
comparisons, a series of predictable cries have gone out: What are we
doing wrong? What are they doing right? And how can we catch up?
The Digital Challenge:Integrating Educational
Technology into California Classrooms (PDF) June, 1997
Computers are basic, essential teaching and learning tools for any
schoolthat aims to prepare its students for the brave new technology-rich
worldawaiting them. As communications, research and databasing tools,
computersoffer unprecedented reach and speed, while as platforms for
constructingmultimedia reports and presentations they offer increasingly
amazing standardsof both sophistication and ease of use. Computers have
thoroughly permeatedAmerican commerce, and estimates are that by the
year 2000, 60 percent ofall jobs in the United States will require a
working knowledge of computer-basedinformation technologies.
PIPELINE TO THE FUTURE: a statewide teacher
recruitment plan for california (HTML) April, 1997
Issues related to teacher quality and supply have been a part of the
policy dialogue surrounding California's education system virtually
since its inception. The demand for more and better teachers has been
a constant companion to California's growth and emergence as an engine
of both technological and sociological innovation. This report explores
issues and arguments relating to the teacher shortage in this state,
from the effects of class size reduction to the potential benefits of
recent recruitment and retention efforts and the improved fiscal outlook
for education.
Is Less More? Exploring California's
Class Size Reduction Act (PDF) November, 1996
On September 18, 1996 a group of 50 state officials, local education
leaders and academics gathered in Sacramento to discuss both the immediate
questions raised by the rapid implementation of the California Class
Size Reduction Act, and the larger analytical questions raised by the
legislation. These questions include:
- What kinds of professional development measures are necessary to
insure that class size reduction has its intended effects?
- What type of evaluation can help state officials, local educators
and the general public determine the effectiveness of the program?
- Are there changes in the legislation that need to be considered
when the Legislature reconvenes?
- And, most fundamentally, is class size reduction in and of itself
likely to effect the improvements in student achievement sought through
the implementation of this program?
In addition to a general discussion of these issues and concerns, the
seminar featured two guest presenters who offered their own research
findings and insights to the participants: Dr. Jeremy Finn of the State
University of New York, Buffalo, and Dr. Robert Slavin of Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore. This report is a result of that seminar and
contains the complete presentations of the two guest presenters.
School Reforms that Work:Successful
Strategies for Educating At-Risk Youth (PDF) October, 1996
Also known as The Stringfield Report, this report comes out of a discussion
sponsored by the California Education Policy Seminar and The California
State University Institute for Education Reform in October 1996.
A State of Emergency in a Stateof Emergency
Teachers (HTML) September, 1996
The theme of this report is unequivocal: quality schools begin with
quality teachers. As long as emergency teachers occupy California classrooms,
the rhetoric of strengthening academic standards will remain hollow
and hypocritical. In issuing this report, our goal is not to criticize
any state agency or school district, but rather to stimulate a long
overdue debate and action on a pressing problem facing California's
public education system.
Building A Powerful Reading Program from Research
to Practice (HTML) February, 1996
Over the last two years California has seen a decline in the reading
test scores of its students and increased concern among educators and
parents, along with renewed interest and accelerated research into the
teaching of reading. In the Fall of 1995, the State Superintendent of
Public Instruction issued a report from the Reading Task Force that
called for balance in the way reading is taught. Since that report,
many schools and districts have been attempting to design and implement
comprehensive programs. This document lays out the current research
base along with proven practices for effective literacy instruction,
particularly in the early grades. In addition, recommendations are included
for preservice and inservice education that will guarantee a well-prepared
teaching force to tackle the complexities of literacy and teach all
of our children to read well.
School Choice: Lessons Learned A Retrospective
on Assembly Bills 1114 and 19 (HTML) February, 1996
California's voucher movement gained momentum during the early 1990s.
The major legislative vehicle for vouchers, the initiative known as
Proposition 174, ultimately failed by a substantial margin when put
before the voters in November 1993. However, in the course of a long
campaign hard-fought on both sides, acceptance grew in the state's education
establishment of the separate concept of allowing greater consumer choice
among public schools. Public school choice differs significantly from
voucher proposals in not providing any taxpayer subsidy to private schools.
Two bills were enacted in 1993 as a direct result of this latter development.
Assembly Bill 1114, by Assembly Member Dede Alpert, required local school
districts to permit intra-district student transfers. Assembly Bill
19, by Assembly Member Charles Quackenbush, authorized districts to
permit inter-district student transfers.
The Teachers who Teach our Teachers
Report (PageMaker, Mac) February, 1996
In order to offer ideas for new directions to improve the operation
of California State University (CSU) teacher education programs, the
Institute for Education Reform launched a review of all these programs
within the CSU system. Every campus was visited and extensive conversations
were held with the Deans of Education and hundreds of teacher education
faculty and staff. Also consulted were teacher educators from outside
the system, recent teacher education graduates and their K-12 employers.
This report summarizes the findings from these campus visits and contains
recommendations for improving teacher education in California.
Education Reform: Implications and Responsibilities
for K-12 and Higher Education (PageMaker, Mac) November, 1995
The K-12 educational reforms of the past decade have lead to significant
changes in statewide policies and local practices. The California State
University Institute for Education Reform and the Intersegmental Coordinating
Committee, under the auspices of the California Education Round Table,
sponsored an intersegmental symposium to discuss implications of the
K-12 reforms for higher education in an effort to identify ways in which
postsecondary institutes can be more supportive of changes and reforms.
This is a summary of the symposium which served as a forum for an open
exchange of perspectives and ideas by representatives from different
educational segments.
State Policies and School Restructuring:
Experiences With the Senate Bill 1274 (PDF) September, 1995
With strong support from the California Business Round Table and bipartisan
support in the California Legislature, Senate Bill 1274 was signed into
law in 1990. It created a competitive grant program to demonstrate how
schools can be restructured to give staff and parents the flexibility
and authority they need to reorganize their local schools for greater
student learning. This report summarizes a seminar convened to discuss
individual experiences and how restructuring schools for better teaching
and learning could be further supported and encouraged.
Teachers & Teaching Report: Recommendations
for Policy Makers (PDF) December, 1994
What has been learned about good teaching and effective teacher education
over the last 10 years? The following points emerged from a two-day
session of the california Education Policy Seminar:
- good teaching has been identified by research as the key
to school success and school reform.
- knowledge of effective teaching and teacher education has
been expanded and refined.
- what works and what doesn't in teaching and teacher preparation
can now be clearly defined.
This publication presents the highlights of the conference discussions
and a set of policy recommendations that call for important changes
in how California prepares and further develops the teachers who run
our classrooms.
