Introduction and Overview

Greetings, I'm Stephen Young, a high school biology teacher in Southern California.  Most family members, from my grandfather through my children have been educated at least partially by California public schools.  I attended middle and high schools in Pasadena, and received my Ph.D. in Zoology from UCLA in 1969.  I have taught at various levels in the education system and have been teaching in high schools since 1994.  I started my teaching with an emergency credential and became credentialled while already teaching.  I am particularly interested in ways to inspire students with many different backgrounds and family experiences.  I hope we will have an educational system that involves students and provides the framework for student growth.  Assessment and accountability need to be able to look at the long term changes that occur and realize that much that we teach is most valuable when it changes attitudes about learning and teaches problem solving and other academically adaptive skills.