California public schools enroll some 1.2 million students who are classified as English learners (ELs), representing a little more than 19 percent of the statewide student population. Given the size of this population and given the state's efforts over the last decade to recommend to districts materials lists for high-quality, standards-aligned…

Cultural heritage materials can offer rewarding learning opportunities and impactful experiences for students across a variety of disciplines, especially in the humanities and social sciences. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the attendant move to online instruction at many colleges and universities, disrupted pedagogical practices and the ways…

Guidelines for teaching California's students have changed dramatically in recent years, as state leaders have adopted new academic standards, curriculum frameworks, and instructional materials lists in an attempt to better prepare students for college and career. However, adopting high-quality standards and curriculum materials does not guarantee…

Prior studies portray support for the Common Core in California (Finkelstein et al. 2018; Jochim and Lavery 2015) as well as support for other significant reforms, like the change in California's school finance system (Koppich and Humphrey 2018). Along with enthusiasm for California's policy changes over the past decade have come calls to…

In August 2010, the California State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Three years later, the president of the State Board, Dr. Michael Kirst, noted that CCSS "changes almost everything," including what teachers teach, how they teach, and what students are expected to learn (Kirst, 2013). Echoing his…

Instructional materials are a key means to achieving the goals of science education--an enterprise that yields unique and worthwhile benefits to individuals and society. As states and districts move forward with adoption and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or work on improving their instruction to align with "A…

Math in Common® (MiC) is a five-year initiative that supports a formal network of 10 California school districts as they implement the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSS-M) across grades K-8. In spring 2015, WestEd administered surveys to understand the perspectives on Common Core State Standards-Mathematics (CCSS-M) implementation…

As district leaders search for the best ways to improve student learning with the Common Core State Standards, California districts are leading the way as early implementers of the new standards. The ideas and lessons emerging from their work can help other educators maximize the effectiveness of their own implementation efforts. This brief…

The term "integrated curriculum" has many different, sometimes conflicting, meanings to educators. In this manual, integrated curriculum refers to the materials and pedagogical strategies used by "multidisciplinary" teams of teachers to organize their instruction so that students are encouraged to make meaningful connections…

The recommendations presented in this document concern which instructional materials should be adopted in the bilingual language arts and visual and performing arts in the State of California. Each of the instructional programs, both those recommended for adoption and those not recommended, are described at length with the rationale for the…

THE POSSIBILITIES OF EXPANDING OR CONDENSING THE SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULA IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS WERE DISCUSSED. A ONE WEEK SEMINAR CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING--THE PART OF SOCIAL STUDIES IN SCHOOL CURRICULUM, SATISFACTION WITH PRESENT PRACTICES, PUBLIC RELUCTANCE TO ALLOW SOCIAL STUDIES TO DEAL WITH SOCIAL REALITY AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH THIS ATTITUDE…

THE REPORT DESCRIBES THE DEVELOPMENT AND PROCEDURES OF A COMPUTER-BASED FIRST YEAR COURSE IN RUSSIAN VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR, WHICH WILL BE INTRODUCED AT STANFORD IN SEPTEMBER 1967. THE FINAL EXAM WILL BE THE SAME FOR THE COMPUTER-BASED SECTIONS AS FOR THE CONVENTIONAL SECTIONS. THE PROGRAM IS BEING PRODUCED THROUGH THE JOINT EFFORTS OF THE…

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT ON BEGINNING CHEMISTRY AND THEIR BACKGROUND PRIOR TO ENROLLMENT IN THE COURSE. OF THE 609 STUDENTS ENROLLED IN BEGINNING CHEMISTRY IN THE 1964-65 ACADEMIC YEAR, 45 PERCENT RECEIVED GRADES OF A, B, OR C. OF THE GROUP STUDIED, 23 PERCENT WERE REPEATING THE…

This curriculum guide seeks to contribute vision to the values and goals of outdoor education and to show their relevance to all curricular areas. Direction is provided for developing and implementing a dynamic curriculum in outdoor education. The guide is divided into three sections. Section I addresses the informational needs of administrators…

This guide is written for a combined physics-chemistry course taught over a two-year period. The subject matter contains the major ideas in Chemical Education Materials Study (CHEMS) Chemistry and Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) Physics. The guide includes discussion of text references, laboratory experiments, films, testing and evaluation…