Purpose: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Next Generation Courseware Challenge (NGCC) in 2014 to address the limited availability of affordable, high-quality adaptive courseware to postsecondary students. SRI International was retained to evaluate the NGCC initiative as a whole and to conduct impact studies for the NGCC…

A new federal initiative calls for a College Scorecard which will include a yet to be determined measure of graduate earnings. In this paper we examine the political context that drives this initiative and examine the nascent efforts of four states to develop statewide systems to measure the labor market outcomes of higher education. We propose…

This article describes an Oakland Unified schools program of "blended learning" that is designed to reach students who are academically all over the map. Blended learning combines brick-and-mortar schooling with online education "with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace" of learning. The program…

The number of obese children has nearly tripled in the past 30 years. Research has identified a clear connection between parental income, education, ethnicity, and the risk for obesity. Recent research demonstrates that parenting style may also impact the ability to establish healthy eating environments. This article reviews a program, currently…

A retrospective account of the evolution of the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program shows how English learners and students of diverse cultural backgrounds were marginally considered throughout the development of the "California Standards for the Teaching Profession" and BTSA induction development, implementation, and…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of Total Physical Response Storytelling (TPRS[TM]) compared to the Grammar-Translation approach for acquiring and retaining new vocabulary in an English as a Second Language (ESL) class. The subjects were adult Hispanic learners with limited literacy. An experimental design approach was used to gather…

This policy brief examines standards-based approaches that hold promise for shaping a common vision of skilled teaching commensurate with the national goal of preparing all students for college and careers. Numerous studies confirm that teachers are the most significant school-based factor in improving student achievement, particularly for the…

The authors report an empirical pilot study of current models of elementary science instruction that utilize science specialists, and make a call for the participation of schools and districts that use a specialist model to assist in collecting the descriptive data needed to create the foundation for future research on the use and impact of…

In 1998, the California legislature passed Senate Bill SB 2042 which replaced the previous teacher certification legislation. The new law required that all elementary and secondary teacher certification programs in the State of California align their programs with new teaching standards. These standards included Teacher Performance Expectations…

In June of 2001, the University of California Libraries initiated a pilot project that enabled library patrons to direct request items held in the University of California Special Collection Units. The pilot ended the need for patrons to initiate most requests for unique items in person through the Special Collections department and allowed…

Prejudice and discrimination are ugly cousins, haunting humankind like the evil fairy who appears unbidden to curse the young princess. Is education the good fairy, bestowing tools to overcome this curse? A course the author taught in winter 2006 at the University of California, Irvine--one of the most ethnically diverse campuses in the United…

The second in a four-phase research project, this report presents data from a stratified random sample of California middle schools using four grade span configurations (K-8, 6-8, 7-8, and 7-9). This phase, a pilot study, is designing a methodology to help researchers discriminate among the number, percentage, and types of programs offered by the…

This legislative report presents the results of a pilot project conducted in eight suburban California school districts as part of an effort to develop a testing program identifying kindergartners with potential reading problems. The project was also intended to evaluate the program's effectiveness and gauge the feasibility of statewide…

This study explored the sensitivity of a multilevel approach in detecting outcomes of a hands-on science program, exploring whether the instruction of a hands-on unit had any impact on students' performance and whether the estimated magnitude of the impact was different according to the proximity of the assessments to the unit taught. Also studied…

This practicum report describes the development and implementation of a comprehensive pilot middle school guidance program. Staff members reviewed the literature on middle schools in general and guidance programs in specific, explored programs in operation throughout the state of California, and consulted with members from the State Department of…