An active-learning concurrent preparatory general chemistry course was adopted to replace a prerequisite course that lacked effectiveness in improving student outcomes. Our previous study showed that the concurrent course increased final exam performance and retention in a cohort of students. This paper studies the course modality impact of the…

California districts were forced to shift to distance learning models in the spring of 2020 and the transition to distance learning for students in the early grades--transitional kindergarten through third grade (TK-3)--has proved difficult for students, parents, and teachers alike. As distance learning persists, administrators and teachers can…

This report documents the results to date of reforms underway from California Community Colleges (CCC)--Strong Start to Finish, one of the six systems that make up the first phase of the Strong Start to Finish initiative, an initiative of Education Commission of the States. Beginning in May 2019, CCC-Strong Start to Finish was created as a…

This paper describes strategies used by novice biology teachers to exert sociolinguistic control over conversations when teaching unfamiliar subject-matter content. These discourse control strategies were identified in a year-long study of teacher subject-matter knowledge and its effects on teaching, and are illustrated in three lessons taught by…

Committed to developing an institution-wide intercultural competence curriculum for master's-level students preparing for international careers, a team of nine professors from across disciplines deliberated for a year on their fundamental understandings of intercultural competence and what it would mean to facilitate the development of that…

In October 2010, the University of Southern California School of Social Work entered the online education environment with the launch of the first national web-based MSW program. After an initial enrollment of 80 students, in just 3 years this state-of-the-art MSW, offered in a technology-advanced synchronous and asynchronous format, has generated…

A study of 178 secondary school teachers in the California was motivated by the passage of the Ryan Act of 1970, which eliminated the high school speech credential and subsumed it under the English umbrella. The result has been that the speech communication subject matter is expected to be integrated into the English courses in the state. The 1987…

A study was conducted to determine what oral and written communication courses lawyers both perceive as useful in practice and recommend for prelaw students and to provide data for design and development of these and related courses in continuing education programs for lawyers and legal assistants. A total of 295 lawyers from California responded…

A SERIES OF THREE SEMINARS WAS HELD TO DISCUSS THE PRESERVICE AND INSERVICE TRAINING OF COMMUNICATION SPECIALISTS IN EDUCATIONAL MEDIA. SOME OF THE SPECIFIC AREAS OF TRAINING DISCUSSED WERE (1) AUDIOVISUAL MATERIAL PREPARATION, (2) ADMINISTRATIVE PREPARATION, (3) SYSTEMS ENGINEERING EDUCATION, (4) INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMING, (5) LEARNING THEORY, (6)…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

This learning activities guide was developed as part of Project CRAFT (Culturally Responsive and Family Focused Training), an effort to train service providers in California in ways of working with young children (particularly those with disabilities) and their families from diverse cultural backgrounds. The learning activities are intended to be…

Using the Rhetoric and Communication Department of the University of California at Davis as an example, this paper addresses the problems of small communications departments that face increasing student enrollments by both majors and students seeking to enhance their communications skills, with no additional faculty to handle such a load. After an…

This book considers in unprecedented detail one of the most confounding questions in American racial practice: when to speak about people in racial terms. Viewing "race talk" through the lens of a California high school and district, "Colormute" draws on three years of ethnographic research on everyday race labeling in…

SAN DIEGO HAD MANY DEPRESSED URBAN AREAS WITH A HIGH INCIDENCE OF SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND PHYSICAL DETERIORATION. THE DISADVANTAGED YOUNGSTERS OFTEN CAME FROM BROKEN HOMES, MANY BECAME DROPOUTS AND JUVENILE DELINQUENTS. THE GOALS FOR THE SAN DIEGO PILOT PROJECT IN COMPENSATORY EDUCATION WERE (1) TO IMPROVE INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCY IN THE COMMUNICATION…

This volume emphasizes the mutual involvement of teacher and ghetto students in the teaching-learning process. The content is based on experience with two hundred young people over a three year period. The method of presentation is largely anecdotal interspersed with the author's comments. Chapters discuss the initial contacts with such students,…