To build educational capacity for the rapidly evolving science and profession of geocomputation, the American Association of Geographers piloted an Encoding Geography research-practice partnership (RPP) composed of geography and computer science educators and researchers. This commentary describes the process, known as Collective Impact, that was…

This article presents the author's response to the article "Taking Stock: Existing Resources for Assessing a New Vision of Science Learning" by Alonzo and Ke (this issue), which identifies numerous challenges that the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) pose for large-scale assessment. Jill Werthem comments that among those…

The FAIR Education Act (SB 48) was signed into law in California in July of 2011, amending the Education Code by requiring representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons in the social sciences. In this article, the author uses James Banks' model of the Four Levels of Integration of Multicultural Content to suggest ways in which…

Some of the most intriguing science museum exhibits start with a counterintuitive outcome: a result that runs counter to visitors' expectations. Although counterintuitive events often succeed in captivating visitors, they rarely lead to visitor-driven inquiry. I argue that this is primarily due to two factors. First, for the counterintuitive…

Reviews events in the California courts surrounding a five-day trial concerning the teaching of biblical creation in the public schools. (CS)

Many professors and graduate students finishing their Ph.D.'s at the University of California at Berkeley scoffed at the idea of a post at a liberal-arts college. To them it was considered an acceptable choice only if none of the jobs at research universities came through. Liberal-arts colleges were viewed merely as teaching institutions and did…

Described is the proposed implementation of Scope, Sequence and Coordination into California and Houston schools. The rationale behind this project is discussed. The curriculum, arranged developmentally, merges different scientific subjects via discipline-bridging themes. (KR)

In this article, the author argues that teaching "technological literacy" at the expense of hands-on skills training is wrong for the students, wrong for the economy, and wrong for the nation. Students need not only the opportunity to explore a variety of trade skills but also the opportunity to learn a skill well. It is in the teaching…

On March 1, 2009 from 2 pm to 5 pm at the Madison Hotel in Washington, DC, the National Science Foundation hosted a listening session, requesting input on Section 7033 of the America COMPETES (Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science) Act regarding Hispanic-serving institutions and science,…

In this article, Brian L. Hawkins, President of EDUCAUSE, interviews Clifford A. Lynch, Executive Director of the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), and the recipient of the 2005 EDUCAUSE Award for Leadership in Public Policy and Practice, about, among other things, the current CNI initiatives, digital assets preservation, e-science,…

Considers the question of compulsory certification for librarians and describes a California proposal which would require certification for librarians desiring positions in state-funded libraries. (FM)

Contends that learning skills taught in science classes are of equal value for social studies. Discusses a two-step formula for establishing principles, hypotheses, and theories and then validating them. Presents and discusses eight skills used in science instruction that are applicable to social studies. (CFR)

Addresses both the issues raised by the recent trial in Sacramento (California), "Scopes II," which pitted evolution against scientific creationism, and the questions that stem from the trial's failure to address those issues. (Author/WD)

Responds to critical commentary about the authors' article, "The Great Speckled Bird" (1993), which addressed educational policymaking within a social context characterized by multicultural backlash. The authors point to their critics' attempts to deflect from the article's main focus, how these educational policies came to be, by…

Using case files of the Whittier State School, California's leading reform school in the early twentieth century, this essay examines the possibilities of gleaning the historical agency of Mexican and Mexican American youth who found themselves confined to an institution that granted them little, if any, decision-making power. As scholars have…