Your search found 1278 results.

Descriptors:
State Standards; Algebra; State Programs; Grade 8; State Officials; Textbooks; Educational Legislation; State Legislation; Textbook Selection; Academic Standards; Curriculum Development; School Districts; School District Autonomy

Abstract:
New laws in California have set the state on a course for some potentially significant changes to the curriculum, including a measure that revisits the matter of teaching Algebra 1 in 8th grade and another that revamps the state's textbook-adoption process and hands districts greater leeway in choosing instructional materials. The algebra-related legislation, in particular, has been the subject of considerable debate. State officials say it aims to help clear up confusion among school districts about state expectations in the 8th grade with the Common Core State Standards, but critics contend that it will effectively end the state's long-standing embrace of Algebra 1 at that grade level. At issue are additions the state made before adopting the common core, essentially approving two sets of 8th grade math standards. The textbook measure, meanwhile, ends a budget-driven moratorium on adopting new instructional materials, and makes changes to that process, including stating explicitly that districts are free to spend state dollars on materials not on the state-approved list. Glen W. Thomas, a former state secretary of education under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mr. Brown's Republican predecessor, praised the measure, saying it converts state adoption into "more of a "Consumer Reports" for districts." The author reports on how the measures give districts newfound flexibility over buying curriculum materials with state money and when to teach Algebra 1. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
Disabilities; Access to Education; Vignettes; Preschool Curriculum; Child Development; Early Childhood Education; Preschool Education; Case Studies; Preschool Children; Accessibility (for Disabled); Learner Engagement; School District Autonomy

Abstract:
Universal design for learning (UDL), an outgrowth of the architectural model of universal design, has been widely researched as a promising method of supporting the growth and development of all children. The focus of this article is UDL in the preschool. To begin, the principles of UDL are outlined and explained. Next, UDL as it applies to a preschool curriculum is discussed. Specific areas of the curriculum including goals/methods, materials, and technology are highlighted. Within each of these curricular areas, suggestions for modifications for children with specific disabilities are also included. Practical application of UDL is provided through use of specific examples and vignettes. (Contains 3 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
Rural Schools; Qualitative Research; Consolidated Schools; Distance Education; Shared Resources and Services; Institutional Survival; School District Autonomy; Educational Resources; Case Studies; Interviews; Change Strategies; Administrator Attitudes; Parent Attitudes; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; Population Trends; Sustainable Development; Sustainability; Educational Administration

Abstract:
This case study focuses on a four-district collaborative that shared services for more than 15 years in an effort to retain rural schools and thereby to preserve community identity. With population losses in the four districts and suburbanization in the largest, the collaborative made extensive use of distance education in addition to itinerant teachers and shared administrators. Data concerning dynamics in the collaborative came from interviews with administrators, teachers, students, and parents. Qualitative data analysis surfaced two themes relating to shared services: tenacity in the face of decline, and strategies with limited sustainability. Findings also pointed to a disjuncture between the way administrators and parents, on the one hand and teachers and students, on the other viewed the success of shared services and the probable future of the collaborative. A review of changes in the written plans of the collaborative over a several-year period revealed that sharing of buildings through school consolidation was the inevitable next step. This finding fits with research showing that shared services in rural locales--a strategy initially used to forestall reorganization--often leads to consolidation. (Contains 2 tables and 1 footnote.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
Democracy; Governance; Foreign Countries; Empowerment; Parent Participation; Parent Role; Parent School Relationship; Educational Development; Change Strategies; Educational Change; Board of Education Role; Private Schools; School District Autonomy; School Districts; Parent Influence; Educational Practices; Educational Administration; Boards of Education; Governing Boards; Administrative Organization; Organizational Change

Abstract:
Sweden has recently seen three major political attempts to empower parents through national regulations--the transferal of authority from the state to district school boards, the heavy promotion of independent schools, and the introduction of local school boards at municipality schools. This article provides an overview of these developments by using existing research and survey data to exemplify how empowerment has been enacted. Results suggest that (1) superintendents and chairpersons of district boards view parent influence to be moderate, (2) there has been rapid but uneven growth of independent schools, and (3) local school boards have seen limited use. (Contains 2 figures, 2 tables and 1 note.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
State Government; Educational Finance; School Districts; Boards of Education; School District Autonomy; Budgets; Needs Assessment; Resource Allocation; Superintendents; Central Office Administrators; Decision Making; Expenditures; Elementary Secondary Education

Abstract:
In 2009-2010, California made substantial education budget cuts at the same time that it removed its spending requirements from $4.5 billion of state money. This gave districts the flexibility to use the funds in any manner approved by the local school board. Researchers found that most of the formerly earmarked money was moved into general funds and that the changes did not disproportionately affect high-need students. Districts' top priorities in allocating the newly flexible funds were preserving fiscal solvency, retaining staff, and preserving current instructional programs. [This research brief describes work done by RAND Education documented in "Deregulating School Aid in California: How Districts Responded to Flexibility in Tier 3 Categorical Funds in 2010-2011," by Brian M. Stecher, Bruce Fuller, Tom Timar, and Julie A. Marsh and and "Deregulating School Aid in California: Revenues and Expenditures in the Second Year of Categorical Flexibility," by Jennifer Imazeki.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
Public Opinion; Adults; Public Education; Elementary Secondary Education; Public Policy; Preferences; Educational Finance; State Aid; State Surveys; Budgets; Taxes; Educational Quality; Budgeting; Retrenchment; Bond Issues; School District Autonomy; Educational Equity (Finance); State Officials; Expenditure per Student; Scores; Teacher Shortage; English Language Learners; Public Schools; School Attitudes; Parent Attitudes; Job Layoff; Questionnaires

Abstract:
The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) Statewide Survey provides policymakers, the media, and the public with objective, advocacy-free information on the perceptions, opinions, and public policy preferences of California residents. Inaugurated in April 1998, this is the 125th PPIC Statewide Survey in a series that has generated a database of responses from more than 264,000 Californians. This survey is conducted with funding from The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Stuart Foundation, and The Silver Giving Foundation. Its goal is to inform state policymakers, encourage discussion, and raise public awareness about K-12 public education issues. This is the eighth annual PPIC Statewide Survey since 2005 to focus on this topic. This survey report presents the responses of 2,005 California adult residents on: (1) Fiscal attitudes and policy preferences, including priorities for state spending; preferences for the governor's tax initiative and automatic K-12 spending cuts, and for raising specific taxes to provide additional funding for schools; whether the state budget situation is a problem for schools; concerns about teacher layoffs and shortening the school year; preferences for raising revenues for local schools; and attitudes toward reforms--increasing local flexibility and targeting resources to schools with more low-income students and English learners; (2) General perceptions, including approval ratings of the governor and legislature overall and of their handling of K-12 education; perceptions of California's ranking in per pupil spending and student test scores compared to other states; concerns about the teacher shortage in lower-income areas and about English learners' test scores; perceptions of their local public schools; and opinions of public school parents about their children's schools; and (3) Time trends, national comparisons, and the extent to which Californians may differ in their perceptions, attitudes, and preferences based on their political party affiliation, likelihood of voting, region of residence, race/ethnicity, whether they have children attending a California public school, and other demographics. [Additional funding for this survey was provided by The Silver Giving Foundation.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
Electronic Learning; Web Based Instruction; Blended Learning; Virtual Classrooms; Charter Schools; Class Size; Elementary Secondary Education; Online Courses; Educational Technology; Boards of Education; Governance; School Districts; Educational Policy; Policy Formation; Policy Analysis; Barriers; Resistance to Change; State Government; State School District Relationship; School District Autonomy; Change Strategies; Educational Change; Commercialization; Statewide Planning; Educational Finance; Teacher Certification; School Choice; Accountability; Guidelines; Outcomes of Education; Politics of Education; Teacher Effectiveness; Standards

Abstract:
Online learning and our current system of local education governance are at odds with one another, to say the least. In this paper, John Chubb examines how local school district control retards the widespread use of instructional technologies. He argues that the surest way to break down the system's inherent resistance to technology is to shift control from the local district--and thus the school board--and put it in the hands of states. He then outlines ten steps to get us to this brave new governance system: (1) Set K-12 Online-Learning Policy at the State Level; (2) Create a Public Market for K-12 Online Learning; (3) Provide Students the Right to Choose Online Learning Full Time; (4) Provide Students the Right to Choose Online Learning Part Time; (5) Authorize Statewide Online Charter Schools, Overseen by Statewide Charter Authorizers; (6) License Supplementary Online Providers; (7) Fund All Learning Opportunities Equally Per Pupil; (8) Exempt Online and Blended Teaching from Traditional Teacher Requirements Including Certification and Class Size; (9) Establish Student Learning as the Foundation of Accountability for Online Schools and Providers; and (10) Address Market Imperfections by Providing Abundant Information to Students, Families, Schools, and Districts. (Contains 42 endnotes.) [For a review of this paper, "Review of 'Overcoming the Governance Challenge in K-12 Online Learning'", see ED530436.] Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

 ERIC Full Text (396K)

Descriptors:
Bilingual Education; Multilingualism; Experiential Learning; Immigrants; Bilingualism; Teaching Methods; Secondary Schools; Cooperation; Language Usage; School District Autonomy; Academic Discourse; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Educational Practices; Language Proficiency; Language Skills; Classroom Environment

Abstract:
Bilingual classrooms most often have strict language arrangements about when and who should speak what language to whom. This practice responds to diglossic arrangements and models of bilingualism developed in the 20th century. However, in the 21st century, heteroglossic bilingual conceptualizations are needed in which the complex discursive practices of multilingual students, their translanguagings, are used in sense-making and in tending to the singularities in the pluralities that make up multilingual classrooms today. Examining the case of a network of U.S. secondary schools for newcomer immigrants, the International High Schools, this article looks at how students' plurilingual abilities are built through seven principles that support dynamic plurilingual practices in instruction--heterogeneity, collaboration, learner-centeredness, language and content integration, language use from students up, experiential learning, and local autonomy and responsibility. As a result, students become not only more knowledgeable and academically successful but also more confident users of academic English, better at translanguaging, and more plurilingual-proficient. The article presents translanguaging in education as the constant adaptation of linguistic resources in the service of meaning-making and in tending to the singularities in the pluralities that make up multilingual classrooms today. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
Public Education; Democracy; School Districts; Role; School District Autonomy; Reggio Emilia Approach; Foreign Countries

Abstract:
This article argues the case for local authorities having an important role in a renewed democratic public education, adopting the term "educative commune" to express an image of the local authority as a protagonist working with others to build a local educational project. As well as considering the role of this educative commune in a democratic public education, the author also wants to consider what conditions may benefit its development. But first, the author offers an example of what an "educative commune" looks like in practice, taking the case of Reggio Emilia, a city of some 160,000 people in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library |  Publisher's website

Descriptors:
Foreign Countries; Politics of Education; Educational Policy; Educational Change; Administrative Organization; Educational Administration; Power Structure; Government Role; School District Autonomy; Curriculum Development

Abstract:
Use of local environments and stakeholders to illuminate the school curriculum, and increase ownership of it, has been demonstrated by international research as an effective means by which to make the curriculum more relevant and engaging to students. Localism is a key tenet of the Government's policy platform, and in education policy the extension of structural freedoms for schools has been a key priority. However, a parallel process of democratisation of knowledge is unlikely to follow. The inadequacy of government thinking about the nature of knowledge, and weaknesses in the system that will not be addressed by current policy, mean that schools are unlikely to be in a position to take full advantage of their new freedoms with regard to curriculum. The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce's (RSA's) Area Based Curriculum is contributing to the debate and practice about how localism might apply to knowledge. The author argues that in a world where local, national and global knowledges are increasingly in conflict, localism must extend to knowledge as well as to the structures of schooling. Curriculum developed in partnership between students, local communities and teachers would better equip students to navigate ideas of what is important and what it is important to know. (Contains 2 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

Related Items: Show Related Items

Full-Text Availability Options:

More Info:
Help | Tutorial Help Finding Full Text |  More Info:
Help Find in a Library |  Publisher's website