Second to None: A Clear Vision

Educational reform and restructuring plans are taking shape across the country. Florida's Blue Print and Ohio's Future at Work are two excellent examples of action plans to modernize the educational process. California's vision of the future, Second to None, written by their High School Task Force, is another exemplary step toward 21st Century schools.

Second to None begins with a vignette of a student's day at Bayshore High, a fictional school where students want to learn and teachers want to teach. The model program involves clusters, student centered learning, and teachers who coach and support all students. As one reads this well crafted description of the state's ambitious educational reform plan, it is not difficult to see how the wheels of educational change can spin more quickly. Seven of California's 30 Investment High Schools (educational reform demonstration sites) chose the Career Choices curriculum as an important component of their restructuring projects.

For a copy of Second to None, ($9.50, plus shipping and handling), write the California Department of Education, CDE Press, Sales Unit, P.O. Box 271, Sacramento, CA 95812-0271, or call toll-free (800) 995-4099. A 33-minute video highlighting the major themes of the Second to None publication is also available ($13.00, plus shipping and handling). Online ordering information is available at: www.cde.ca.gov/cdepress/presorder.html .