This article presents a summary of a report prepared for the Williams v. State of California lawsuit, highlighting the achievement gap for English learners in California and seven areas where they receive an inequitable education compared to their English-speaking peers. It also documents the state's role in perpetuating these inequities and proposes remedies to reduce them.

This report examines the effects of center care and home-based care on cognitive and social development of young children in poor communities, as well as the impact of caregiver sensitivity and education level. The study used a sample of children whose mothers entered welfare-to-work programs and found positive cognitive effects for children in center care, and stronger cognitive and social development for those with more sensitive and educated caregivers. However, children in family child care homes showed more behavioral problems.

Modern statecraft in education is giving way to unmodern policy and institutional reform, favoring small and communal schools, alternative networks, and cultural pluralism. Charter schools and preschooling illuminate this shift toward de-centering education, while posing the long-term challenge of balancing particular forms of schooling against the modern impulse to integrate groups via large institutions.

This article discusses the inequitable education provided to English language learners in California, arguing that there are seven areas where these students receive an inferior education compared to English speakers. That includes having less qualified teachers, inferior curriculum, and being assessed with invalid instruments. The article provides suggestions for addressing these issues.

This article examines the impact of heterosexist assumptions and homophobia on students' experiences in California's public "Single Gender Academies." Interviews with students reveal a critical link between sexuality, masculinity, and femininity, and the ways in which assumptions about sexuality are embedded in school policies, practices, and peer relations. The article provides an analysis of homophobia among students and the influence of academy assumptions on students' attitudes towards gender and sexuality.

This paper examines the incidence, causes, and consequences of student mobility in the US. Mobility not only harms the students who change schools, but also the classrooms and schools they attend. The causes and consequences of mobility are more complicated than many people assume. The authors suggest ways for parents, schools, districts, and policymakers to address this growing educational problem.

This article discusses the role of childcare in promoting the development and opportunities for low-income children, noting that federal and state funding for childcare has increased dramatically since welfare reform. Despite this, children from poor households are less likely to be enrolled in high-quality programs than children from affluent families. To achieve welfare reform's goal of breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty, welfare-to-work programs should increase access to high-quality childcare in low-income neighborhoods.

This paper examines the relationship between policy formation in the United States and educational policy researchers. The experience of one independent 'think tank', namely PACE, located within universities, illustrates how research might inform policy and how it might not be victim to the problems, well rehearsed in the literature, of poor dissemination. Fruitful links between policy research and policy formation require close attention to the sources, channels, and format of dissemination, to the nature of the message, and to the characteristics of the policymakers.

Michigan State University's College of Education has established the nonpartisan Education Policy Center to provide lawmakers and educational leaders with accurate, research-based information to improve the state's educational system. With the support of the university's resources, the center aims to play an important role in deepening the policy debate and bringing about improvements in the system. The center was established due to a lack of systematic communication between researchers and policymakers in Michigan.

This paper examines how mothers select childcare to meet welfare-to-work requirements. Interviews with seven mothers from different ethnic groups show that trust in childcare providers to keep their children safe is the most important criterion. Structural constraints on their choices are also analyzed. The findings suggest that policymakers should focus on trust and legitimacy of childcare providers in addition to supply and educational quality.

The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides an opportunity to reconsider the federal role in teacher professional development. The largest federal professional development fund is the Eisenhower program. Lessons from Eisenhower and contemporary research suggest that federal funds should be focused exclusively on subject matter knowledge and pedagogy and accountability should be based on assessment of student learning. The purpose is to generate discussion on how to more effectively use federal dollars to improve student achievement.

This paper examines high school dropout and turnover rates in the US and tests models to explain the differences using data from the NELS High School Effectiveness Study. Variability was found among high schools, with much of the variation attributed to differences in student characteristics, but factors such as school resources and processes also influenced rates. Dropout and turnover rates are measures of school performance that policymakers and educators can influence.

Latino children are less likely to be enrolled in preschools, even after considering household income and maternal employment. Social factors such as language, child-rearing beliefs, and practices also impact center selection. African American families participate at higher rates, while lower enrollment for Latinos is linked to Spanish-speaking households and cultural preferences. Center selection is part of a broader parental agenda of acculturation to middle-class Anglo commitments to prepare children for school.