California in a Time of Excellence follows the Golden State's efforts to reform its public school system from 1983 to the present. Beginning with progressive curriculum reform initiatives that were launched even before the National Commission on Excellence in Education (NCEE) issued A Nation at Risk in 1983, James Andrew LaSpina traces these reform efforts through recurring culture wars, major clashes of personality, and a conflict between the state's tradition of progressive educational policy and a culture of conservatism that colored much of the so-called Left Coast's history since the sixties. While the battles over curriculum reform in California reflect those at the national level, the political world surrounding this conflict reveals the enormous significance of the conflict and its implications for our national future.