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Department overview | |
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Formed | December 17, 1921 [1] |
Jurisdiction | Government of California |
Headquarters | 1430 N Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 [2] 38°34′25″N121°29′21″W / 38.57361°N 121.48917°W |
Employees | 2740 (2018) [3] |
Annual budget | US$ 84.6 billion (2011) [4] |
Department executives |
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Website | cde.ca.gov |
The California Department of Education is an agency within the government of California that oversees public education.
The department oversees funding and testing, and holds local educational agencies accountable for student achievement. Its stated mission is to provide leadership, assistance, oversight, and resources (via teaching and teaching material) so that every Californian has access to a good education.
The State Board of Education is the governing and policy-making body, and the state superintendent of public instruction is the nonpartisan (originally partisan) elected executive officer. The superintendent serves as the state's chief spokesperson for public schools, provides education policy and direction to local school districts, and sits as an ex officio member of governing boards of the state's higher education system that are otherwise independent of the department.
In 1920, the California State Legislature's Special Legislative Committee on Education conducted a comprehensive investigation of California's educational system. The Committee's final report, drafted by Ellwood Patterson Cubberley, explained that the system's chaotic ad hoc development had resulted in the division of jurisdiction over education at the state level between 23 separate boards and commissions, with a total of about 160 members. The report recommended the consolidation and centralization of all these entities under the jurisdiction of a single California Department of Education, and also to clarify the exact relationship between the existing State Board of Education and the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Therefore, on May 31, 1921, the legislature enacted a bill creating such a department, to be headed by a Director of Education, and which also concurrently made the State Superintendent of Public Instruction the ex officio director of the new department. (The sole entity exempt from the new department's jurisdiction was the University of California, because of a 1886 court case involving control of the Hastings College of the Law. [5] [6] )
Among the various entities thus integrated were the State Normal Schools, which lost their boards of trustees, were made subordinate to the department's deputy director for the Division of Normal and Special Schools, and were renamed State Teachers Colleges. This created a rather bizarre administrative situation from 1921 to 1960. On the one hand, the department's actual supervision of the presidents of the State Teachers Colleges was rather minimal, which translated into substantial autonomy when it came to day-to-day operations. [7] On the other hand, the State Teachers Colleges were treated under state law as ordinary state agencies, which meant their budgets were subject to the same stifling bureaucratic financial controls as all other state agencies (except the University of California). [7] At least one president would depart his state college because of his express frustration over that issue (J. Paul Leonard, then-president of San Francisco State, in 1957). [7] The State Teachers Colleges were renamed State Colleges in 1935, but retained the same legal status. They finally regained full administrative autonomy after the recommendations of the California Master Plan for Higher Education were signed into law as the Donahoe Higher Education Act of 1960, which created the State College System of California (now the California State University) and authorized the appointment of a board of trustees and systemwide chancellor who would be independent of the department.
In 1967, the state's junior colleges (which had largely developed as extensions of existing high school districts at the local level) were renamed community colleges and organized into a new system called the California Community Colleges, and that system was then authorized to have its own board of governors and systemwide chancellor who would also be independent of the department.
Since 1967, the department has been focused on regulating and supporting local school districts which directly provide the bulk of K-12 primary and secondary education throughout the state, as well as operating the state's three special schools and three diagnostic centers in support of special education. [8]
In March 2021, after four years of development, the State Board of Education unanimously passed a new ethnic studies curriculum. [9] A bill that would have made ethnic studies a high school requirement had been vetoed by California's Governor the previous fall. [10]
In response to academic inequity, the department is recommending elimination of accelerated math classes. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] Referred to as math tracking, this debate centers on when students should complete Algebra 1, the gateway to more advanced mathematics courses often required for college admission and preparation. The guidance outlines that Algebra 1 should be taken in ninth grade, while recognizing that some might be prepared for a more advanced track in eighth. Justice-minded stakeholders argue that tracking pushes struggling students further behind and perpetuates segregation in school, supporting de-tracking instead. [16] [17]
Beyond high school course sequencing, the framework also focuses on culturally responsive teaching, data science, and inquiry-based instruction. [18] The Board of Education’s guidance offers “big ideas in mathematics” to help students make connections between topics and use math to address real-world problems. By emphasizing data science, this framework also aims to prepare students for an increasingly tech-driven world. And with cultural responsiveness in mind, educators are encouraged to incorporate students’ cultural and social backgrounds into instruction and curriculum to make content more relevant for all. From there, students can apply mathematics to recognize, and fix, social justice issues. [19]
The framework was advanced in response to rising racial and socioeconomic discrepancies in student achievement and trends in lower U.S. math attainment compared to other advanced countries. [20] [21] On July 12, 2023, the Board of Education adopted the framework. [22]
The California State University is a public university system in California, and the largest public university system in the United States. It consists of 23 campuses and seven off-campus centers, which together enroll 457,992 students and employ 56,256 faculty and staff members. In California, it is one of the three public higher education systems, along with the University of California and the California Community Colleges systems. The CSU system is officially incorporated as The Trustees of the California State University, and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the fourth-largest school district in the United States, after New York, Los Angeles, and Miami-Dade County. For the 2020–21 school year, CPS reported overseeing 638 schools, including 476 elementary schools and 162 high schools; of which 513 were district-run, 115 were charter schools, 9 were contract schools and 1 was a SAFE school. The district serves 340,658 students. Chicago Public School students attend a particular school based on their area of residence, except for charter, magnet, and selective enrollment schools.
Founded in 1920, The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) is a professional organization for schoolteachers of mathematics in the United States. One of its goals is to improve the standards of mathematics in education. NCTM holds annual national and regional conferences for teachers and publishes five journals.
In New York State, Regents Examinations are statewide standardized examinations in core high school subjects. Students are required to pass these exams to earn a Regents Diploma. To graduate, students are required to have earned appropriate credits in a number of specific subjects by passing year-long or half-year courses, after which they must pass at least five examinations. For higher-achieving students, a Regents with Advanced designation and an Honors designation are also offered. There are also local diploma options.
The California Community Colleges is a postsecondary education system in the U.S. state of California. Despite its plural name, the system is consistently referred to in California law as a singular entity. The system includes the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges and 73 community college districts. The districts currently operate 116 accredited colleges. The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the United States, and third largest system of higher education in the world, serving more than 1.8 million students.
The Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering (AMSE) is a four-year magnet public high school program intended to prepare students for STEM careers. Housed on the campus of Morris Hills High School in Rockaway, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, it is a joint endeavor between the Morris County Vocational School District and the Morris Hills Regional District.
The California State Board of Education is the governing and policy-making body of the California Department of Education. The State Board of Education sets K-12 education policy in the areas of standards, instructional materials, assessment, and accountability. The State Board of Education adopts textbooks for grades K-8, adopts regulations to implement legislation, and has authority to grant waivers of the Education Code. Content standards are designed to encourage the highest achievement of every student, by defining the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students should acquire at each grade level. The State Board of Education has eleven members, including one student member, all appointed by the Governor of California. The student member is selected from a group of three students nominated by the board. Those are picked from the delegation of the Student Advisory Board on Education, a conference run by the California Association of Student Councils.
The Livingston Public Schools are a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Livingston, in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The district consists of six elementary schools, grades PreK/K-5; one middle school for grade 6 and another middle school for grades 7 and 8, and one four-year high school.
The IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a series of international assessments of the mathematics and science knowledge of students around the world. The participating students come from a diverse set of educational systems in terms of economic development, geographical location, and population size. In each of the participating educational systems, a minimum of 4,000 to 5,000 students is evaluated. Contextual data about the conditions in which participating students learn mathematics and science are collected from the students and their teachers, their principals, and their parents via questionnaires.
California Distinguished School is an award given by the California State Board of Education to public schools within the state that best represent exemplary and quality educational programs. Approximately 5-10% of California schools are awarded this honor each year following a selection process. It is one of many programs in the California School Recognition Program (CSRP) and is funded by CSRP sponsors.
Everyday Mathematics is a pre-K and elementary school mathematics curriculum, developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project. The program, now published by McGraw-Hill Education, has sparked debate.
The Florida education system consists of public and private schools in Florida, including the State University System of Florida (SUSF), the Florida College System (FCS), the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF) and other private institutions, and also secondary and primary schools as well as virtual schools.
The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) is the state education agency of Florida. It governs public education and manages funding and testing for local educational agencies. It is headquartered in the Turlington Building in Tallahassee.
Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is a state-level department tasked in Arizona with oversight of public education from kindergarten to secondary school. The ADE is run by an elected Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The Virginia Department of Education is the state education agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is headquartered in the James Monroe Building in Richmond. The department is headed by the Secretary of Education, who is a member of the Virginia Governor's Cabinet, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, a position that is also appointed by the Governor of Virginia. The Secretary of Education is responsible for heading the department and for overseeing Virginia's 16 public colleges and universities, the Virginia Community College System, the commonwealth's five higher education centers, and Virginia's public museums.
The Idaho State Department of Education is an executive agency of the Idaho state education system. The department is responsible for public elementary and secondary school matters as provided by Title 33, Idaho Code, or as determined by the Idaho State Board of Education. It is headquartered in the state capital, Boise, Idaho.
Mathematics education in the United States varies considerably from one state to the next, and even within a single state. However, with the adoption of the Common Core Standards in most states and the District of Columbia beginning in 2010, mathematics content across the country has moved into closer agreement for each grade level. The SAT, a standardized university entrance exam, has been reformed to better reflect the contents of the Common Core. However, many students take alternatives to the traditional pathways, including accelerated tracks. As of 2023, twenty-seven states require students to pass three math courses before graduation from high school, while seventeen states and the District of Columbia require four. A typical sequence of secondary-school courses in mathematics reads: Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Pre-calculus, and Calculus or Statistics. However, some students enroll in integrated programs while many complete high school without passing Calculus or Statistics. At the other end, counselors at competitive public or private high schools usually encourage talented and ambitious students to take Calculus regardless of future plans in order to increase their chances of getting admitted to a prestigious university and their parents enroll them in enrichment programs in mathematics.
The superintendent of public instruction, sometimes referred to as the state superintendent of schools, is a constitutional officer within the executive branch of the Wisconsin state government, and acts as the executive head of the Department of Public Instruction. Twenty-eight individuals have held the office since statehood. The incumbent is Jill Underly.
Mathematics and Science Partnerships (MSP) is education policy from Title 2, Part B, Sections 2201-2203 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The purpose of MSP is to increase student achievement in science and mathematics by partnering IHE science, math, and engineering departments with elementary and secondary science and math teachers in high-need local educational agencies (LEAs) in order to develop teachers' content knowledge and instructional performance. SEAs may apply for competitive grants and then IHEs and LEAs may apply for a subgrant of the SEA.
Jo Boaler is a British education author and Nomellini-Olivier Professor of Mathematics Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Boaler is involved in promoting reform mathematics and equitable mathematics classrooms. She is the co-founder and faculty director of youcubed a Stanford centre that offers mathematics education resources to teachers, students and parents. She is the author, co-author or editor of eighteen mathematics books, including Limitless Mind, Mathematical Mindsets, The Elephant in the Classroom and What's Math Got To Do With It?.