At its annual joint board and commission meeting (Washington, DC, November 10-11, 2010), American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) focused attention on college completion by presenting two panel discussions on the completion agenda, followed by breakout sessions in which participants were assigned to focus groups tasked with providing…

Ninth grade is a pivotal year for students. Numerous studies find that academic performance in 9th grade often sets the student's trajectory throughout the high school years, as well as the probability of graduation. The Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) model is a comprehensive approach that addresses developmental, academic, and school…

Advanced information, communication, computation and collaboration technologies, known as "cyberinfrastructure," have become essential elements for research, education, and innovation in the 21st century. A major challenge confronting the United States today is how to ensure that all colleges and universities, including those that have…

The work of the 1984-1987 California Commission for the Review of the Master Plan for Higher Education (which spelled out how the function of each of its three public higher education segments would be differentiated, governed, and coordinated) is reviewed with focus on its effectiveness. Members of the Commission were asked to determine their…

This paper focuses on collaboration and cooperation as aspects of higher education in California, considering the three public systems and the independent sector. The context is the 40-year experience of growth and change in these 4 segments of higher education since the enactment of California's 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education. The first…

Beginning with the premise that postsecondary institutions in most states will suffer some sort of fiscal crisis in the 1980's, this paper discusses the strategies a state can use in contending with financial problems and turns to California's experiences after Proposition 13 for specific examples. After describing the two probable types of…

This paper is a partial report on a three-year field experiment in participatory educational planning in a suburban school district. It is shown that teachers, administrators, parents, and students, working voluntarily with technical support as a "collateral organization" within a district, can substantially broaden the scope of…

This paper focuses on planning, development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of a competency-based curriculum that could be a model or guide for state correctional systems. Chapter 1 addresses the need for strong educational leadership to effect change in the curriculum of a prison system. Chapter 2 contains background and problem…

A cooperative planning effort by six public service agencies in California's Imperial County, an agricultural region suffering from the nation's highest unemployment rate and lowest per capita income, was designed to link and integrate the agencies' employment and training programs. It was found that the proper perspective for planning is as…

An examination of public policy issues and accountability in education focuses on the current situation in California's system of higher education. It looks first at how the consensus about public financing embodied in the state's 1960 master plan for higher education has come apart since about 1990, and reports on two studies, one on recent…

Long-range planning from the point of view of the multicampus system is discussed. The need for long-range planning generally is indicated, and special planning problems for the large multicampus district are described. A planning process model that is being developed by the Los Angeles Community College District to meet planning needs is…

An overview of an ongoing study of state policies and private postsecondary education is presented. It is suggested that higher education should be viewed in the context of a state's practices in other human service policy areas (e.g., social and health services). Three types of state policy postures are emphasized: laissez-faire, market…

This report describes how lesson study is being implemented in one Northern California school district, drawing on research conducted in the district over 3 years via interviews with project leaders and participants; videotapes/audiotapes of the lesson study work (e.g., planning, research lessons, and lesson colloquia); workshops designed to build…

Both district and state-level programs have been implemented in the state of California to facilitate the coordination between CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) and vocational education. The Grossmont Union High School District established the Director of Grants and Contracts/School Improvement position to develop an internal…

From 1989 until 1998 the U.S. Department of Education administered the National Workplace Literacy Demonstration Program. During that period, over $130 million supported some 300 projects where adult education programs partnered with thousands of businesses, agencies, and organizations to provide work-based skills to employees. While only seven…