Research says that teacher diversity benefits all students, regardless of race or Ethnicity. However, while the majority of students in the U.S. are of color, only about 20% of teachers are of color. Increasing the racial and cultural diversity of the teacher workforce takes a statewide commitment to collecting and analyzing educator workforce…

For decades, college tuition costs have been skyrocketing, yet state financial aid has failed to meet the increasing economic needs of college students -- leaving many young people with the choice of bridging the financial gap by taking out student loans or not attending college at all. This pressing issue of rising college tuition is not just a…

In 2015, the University of Southern California (USC) began a longitudinal, mixed-methods evaluation of the Thompson Scholars Learning Communities (TSLC), a comprehensive college transition program that provides students with multiple, integrated types of support. The evaluation as a whole examined whether, how, and why TSLC, as implemented at the…

Education has until recently promoted social mobility, broad economic growth, and democracy. However, modern universities direct policy and resources toward criteria that exacerbate income inequality and reduce social mobility. Online education can make education more socially, geographically, temporally, and financially accessible, impacting the…

Last year, when students at Ridgecrest Intermediate School in Palos Verdes, California, were asked to name scientists, their answers--Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Bill Nye the Science Guy--reflected a common perception. Most of the leading scientists they came up with were white, male, or dead. Although women and people of…

A three-year study tracking outcomes for approximately 3,000 students across California shows that career-focused dual enrollment programs can provide important benefits for those who are underachieving and underrepresented in higher education. Dual enrollment, which allows high school students to take college courses and earn college credit, was…

This report provides educators and policymakers with information they can use to celebrate their successes, understand their unique challenges, and set meaningful goals to increase opportunity for all students. It is important to note that while AP® Exams are valid measures of students' content mastery of college-level studies in specific academic…

Plunges represent a type of education that is experiential, meaningful, interesting, challenging, confidence-building, growth-inducing and rewarding for most students. They represent a significant means towards students' greater understanding and acceptance of others, as well as of enhancing self-awareness; they thus have great potential as a…

Supplemental instruction classes have been shown in many studies to enhance performance in the supported courses and even to improve graduation rates. Generally, there has been little evidence of a differential impact on students from different ethnic/racial backgrounds. At San Francisco State University, however, supplemental instruction in the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) effectively prepares new teachers to meet the needs of language minority students in California. Specifically, the authors studied the extent to which the program prepares students to meet the criteria of the Crosscultural Language and…

Suggests reasons for the lack of material on Asian-American women in textbooks. Presents a study guide to accompany the film "Sewing Woman," a fictionalized documentary based on a series of Chinese American oral histories and the life of a Chinese garment worker. (DB)

What are ways to encourage minority students and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds to take and succeed in AP classes? Advanced Placement courses and their final national standardized exams began in 1954 to help students, mostly white males, get through college more quickly so that they would have more time in the work force. 50 years later,…

This report provides an in-depth review of the "newcomer program phenomenon" and is designed to promote discussion of how schools can best educate and safeguard the rights of immigrant children. Through telephone interviews and site visits, the report presents data on the characteristic features of existing newcomer programs, the…

This training manual was developed to assist special education teachers in California who are receiving increased numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse students in their classes. It focuses on effective instructional strategies and modifications of these strategies to accommodate the culture, language level, and ability level of each…

Recognizes California as a culturally diverse, rapidly growing state. Identifies key issues for the development of teaching in such an environment. Argues that California education will need: enthusiastic teachers; minority teachers, corporate support developed through school-business partnerships, greater professional recognition, lower…