This report suggests actions and policies that will take California higher education into the 21st century with a renewed commitment to college opportunity. The report recommends a new compact among the state, colleges and universities, and students and their families. It calls for shared responsibility and asks the state and the public to…

Describes efforts of the Baldrige in Education Center and Quality Leadership Academy in Santa Cruz County, California, to support teacher and administrator efforts to improve student performance in selected schools through the use of continuous-improvement techniques adopted by many American corporations to improve product quality and increase…

Special education continues to suffer from chronic and persistent teacher shortages. For example, in 2000-2001, nearly 53,000 special education teachers, 12% of the teaching force, were less than fully certified, affecting more than 800,000 students with disabilities. In addition, many school districts lose special education teachers as the school…

The School-Age Child Care Program Quality Review Instrument is a compilation of standards designed to measure the quality of a state-funded, center-based child care program for school-age children. These standards were established in compliance with the requirements specified in Sections 8208 and 8463 of California's Education Code. The instrument…

This document provides instructions for filling out the Compliance Summary Form for Program Reviews, which is used at elementary and secondary school sites to determine compliance with federal and state laws and regulations. All schools receiving consolidated application program funds are required to conform to the standards specified in this…

California's review process has been designed to judge the effects of the school program on students and staff and to identify opportunities for improving the program. Program reviews, which may be conducted by the state Department of Education, county or district personnel, or school staff, are developed primarily from observation of individual…

NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS HAVE LONG BEEN A PART OF COMMUNITY PLANNING, HOWEVER, A PRIMARY NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCE OF THESE SCHOOLS IS SEGREGATION. THE SCHOOLS IN THE LOW ECONOMIC AREAS ARE SLIGHTED, AND THE CHILD IN THESE SCHOOLS IS SURROUNDED WITH PUPILS WHO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS HE HAS, THUS PROVIDING LITTLE MOTIVATION FOR IMPROVEMENT. SOME…

This report introduces, analyzes, and summarizes for policymakers an extensive and diverse economics literature on the effects of public K-12 education spending on local, regional, and state economies. The effects of education spending appear in indicators ranging from economic development to employment rates, small business starts, personal…

Health education programs lack local and state support where educational administration and policy change occur. The article presents reasons for the problem and suggests health educators become politically active at state and local levels. Successful advocacy efforts in North Carolina, California, and Minnesota are reviewed. (SM)

The best way to measure institutional racism is to examine effects (statistical outcomes), not intentions. Administrators can actively address racial inequality, collect realistic data, combine equity and quality considerations in all policies, support accountability while resisting high-stakes tests, involve the whole community, and avoid silver…

Examines how public school system structure influences both education spending and student performance in California. Finds considerable support for the public-exchange model predicting that greater competition improves student performance. Higher spending and market power probably leads to lower student achievement in fourth and eighth grades.…

This article reports the technical quality of a measure describing the quality of classroom assignments piloted in the Los Angeles Unified School District's proposed new accountability system. For this study, 181 teachers were sampled from 35 schools selected at random. Participating teachers submitted three language arts assignments with samples…

In search for the practical relevance of accountability systems for school improvement, we ask whether practitioners traveling between the worlds of system-designated high and low-performing schools would detect tangible differences by observing concrete behaviors, looking at student work, or inquiring about teacher, administrator, or student…

A vision of the new California high school is presented in this document, which outlines the principles of school reform. The key to successful restructuring lies in developing a comprehensive reform statement based on the following components: creating curricular paths to success; developing powerful teaching and learning; establishing a…

This minority report focuses on the issues of academic quality and student fees in California's community colleges. After a discussion of the relationship between fees and larger community college issues (e.g., mission, state and local control, equity, and efficiency), the question of academic quality is posed as the major issue in higher…