Landon Mascareñaz and Doannie Tran propose that, even as events of this decade have exposed stress points in existing top-down, closed systems within education and other public institutions, they have also created prime opportunities to rethink and redesign those systems in ways that encourage civic participation and invigorate local democracy. In…

Scientific thinking and understanding are essential for all people navigating the world, not just for scientists and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals. Knowledge of science and the practice of scientific thinking are essential components of a fully functioning democracy. Science is also crucial for the…

September 11... Virginia Tech... Columbine... Hurricane Katrina... Traumatic events with long lasting consequences. Lives are upended, safety is threatened, and all are forced to find a way to adapt to a new normal. Educators in schools where students have experienced trauma face difficult challenges, for how are they to promote academic growth…

Deficient urban schooling remains one of America's most pressing--and stubborn--public policy problems. This important new book details and evaluates a radical and promising new approach to K-12 education reform. "Strife and Progress" explains for a broad audience the "portfolio strategy" for providing urban education--its…

In order to define long-term curriculum trends and to understand more fully the reasons for curriculum change and continuity, course lists for six Colorado Springs school districts were compared for the years 1961-62, 1970-71, and 1976-77. In addition, confidential questionnaires were distributed to 108 administrators and teachers in the six…

This study examines various factors that influence school district spending and spending from locally raised taxes in Colorado and Minnesota. The factors include the levels of state and federal aid; the nature of the state general aid formula; local fiscal characteristics including the average market value of residential housing, the percent of…

This book examines charter-school legislation in the United States, as well as charter-school operations in Colorado, Michigan, Massachusetts, and Georgia. It reviews the legislative process in these four states, focusing on the compromises forged as lawmakers worked for adoption. It describes whether the states' resulting programs provide…

Boulder County's long and well-documented history provides a unique opportunity to study the life of a school system, from its inception to the consolidation of its many districts almost 100 years later. The first three chapters of this book describe the establishment of school districts within Boulder County, the characteristics and working…

The decline in Federal funding for state-provided social services during the 1980s triggered a transformation in the states' roles in family policymaking. This booklet documents four state initiatives designed to bring about systems change: (1) Healthy Start (California); (2) the Governor's Families and Children Initiative (Colorado); (3) the…

This handbook is intended to provide Colorado educators with resources to effectively meet the needs of students with attention deficit disorder (ADD). Section 1 (chapters 1-2) presents background information about ADD. Chapter 1 answers general questions about the nature of ADD, its effect on students, and its educational implications. Chapter 2…

This pamphlet identifies and explains Colorado laws as they apply to juveniles and adults. The handbook was specifically developed to help teenagers know how the laws protect them and how they are expected to comply with them. Two short sections discuss the necessity of having laws and give definitions of 12 legal terms such as felony and petty…

This study compares patterns of resource allocation in school districts with different enrollment experiences ranging from substantial growth to substantial decline. In general, the study focuses on examination of the "parameters of adjustment" of public school systems with varying growth histories. Colorado was selected because some of…