WestEd in the News

DistrictsMovingUp Efforts Show Promising Results

Foundation's Project Offers Hope for Schools Reform
Arizona Republic—January 29, 2010

Stephen D. Mittenthal, Executive Director of the Ellis Center for Educational Excellence, penned a column in the Arizona Republic, describing the successful reform efforts of the Creighton Elementary School District. Creighton is an inner-city Phoenix district with the majority of its students from low-income families. The Creighton Partnership is funded by the Ellis Center for Educational Excellence, a Phoenix-based philanthropy. The partnership is designed to provide research-based technical assistance, build capacity, and improve student achievement. Staff from WestEd's DistrictsMovingUp services lead the effort.

DistrictsMovingUp Making a Difference at Creighton

WestEd Helps Schools Improve
Channel 12 - NBC Affiliate—January 27, 2010

Phoenix, Arizona's NBC affiliate Channel 12 reported on WestEd's comprehensive districtwide reform initiative in the Creighton Elementary School District (CESD). The project, a partnership funded by the Ellis Center for Educational Excellence, a Phoenix-based philanthropy, is designed to provide research-based technical assistance, build capacity, and improve student achievement. Staff from WestEd's DistrictsMovingUp services lead the effort.

Policy Perspectives Paper Excerpted on Brookings Institution Website

Research to Practice: The Future of the Regional Educational Labs
Brookings Institution—January 27, 2010

The Brookings Institution website excerpted a Policy Perspectives paper, Education Research: Past, Present, and Future, by Grover (Russ) Whitehurst. The former Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, describes the historical challenges and opportunities for the Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs). Created in 1966, the RELs were originally designed to be the brokers and translators of education research to practice and policy. However, according to Whitehurst, they could not fulfill that role absent a strong research base, effective mechanisms for quality control of their products, and an activist stance by the federal government in education reform.

Napa Police Department Draws from WestEd's California Healthy Kids Survey Data

Turning Up the Heat on Teen Access to Booze
Napa Valley Register—January 12, 2010

The Napa Valley Register reported that the local police department has established a program to monitor the adult role in providing alcohol to youths. According to the article, an impetus was the data collected from the California Healthy Kids Survey, which found that 69 percent of 11th graders within the Napa Valley Unified School District have consumed alcohol. Thirty-one percent have either driven after drinking or been in a car with a driver who had been drinking. Within the same group, 78 percent said it is easy to acquire alcohol.

Local Obesity Data from WestEd's California Healthy Kids Survey Cited

Grant to Aid in Fight Against Childhood Obesity in the Pajaro Valley
Santa Cruz Sentinel—January 12, 2010

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that the United Way of Santa Cruz County has received funding from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities initiative to tackle the problem of childhood obesity in the community during the next four years. The article noted data from WestEd's California Healthy Kids Survey showing that in the Pajaro Valley, 36 percent of fifth-, seventh-, and ninth-graders are classified as overweight. In comparison, 24 percent of the same group is considered overweight for the county as a whole, which is slightly above the state average.

Community Alliance Network Uses WestEd's California Healthy Kids Survey Data

Teen Drinking Prompts Town Hall
Orange County Register—January 7, 2010

The Orange County Register reported that the Dana Point Youth Board is considering participating in an underage-drinking town hall at Dana Hills High School. The town hall would be hosted by the nonprofit Community Alliance Network, the prevention arm of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence-Orange County, in collaboration with the school's Parent Teacher Student Association. According to the article, community groups are concerned about local school district results from WestEd's California Healthy Kids Survey showing that 23 percent of 9th graders and 45 percent of 11th graders reported having consumed alcohol within the past 30 days.

WestEd's Dr. Art Takes an Imaginative Approach to Science

Planet Earth Show May Inspire Young Scientists
Enterprise-Record—January 3, 2010

Dr. Art's Planet Earth Show, presented by WestEd Senior Project Director Art Sussman, will come to Bell Memorial Union at Chico State University this month as a way to get youngsters and their parents excited about science and to inspire students to start thinking about possible Chico Science Fair entries. Sussman has authored the book, Dr. Art's Guide to Science: Connecting Atoms, Galaxies, and Everything in Between and the companion DVD, Dr. Art Does Science, which also help bring the magic of science to audiences through demonstrations and games.

National Center on Response to Intervention Notes RTI Report Authored by WestEd Researchers

IES Report: Features of State Response to Intervention Initiatives in Northeast and Islands Region States
The RTI Responder—January 2, 2010

The National Center on Response to Intervention (RTI) newsletter, The RTI Responder, covered the publication of a report authored by researchers in WestEd's Learning Innovations program and released by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The report documents the results of a search of state education agency websites in the nine Northeast and Islands Region jurisdictions for publicly available information related to RTI.

WestEd's California Healthy Kid Survey Provides Local Community Data

Frightening Rise in Binge Drinking Among Teens
Daily Democrat—January 1, 2010

A Woodland, California Daily Democrat article on teen binge drinking drew on data from WestEd's California Healthy Kids Survey, noting that binge drinking among teens has been a problem in Woodland and has stayed fairly consistent since 2002.

WestEd's Pamela Burdman Tackles Community College Policy Challenges

A Societal Imperative: Changing the Way We Think About Community Colleges
National CrossTalk: National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education—December 2009

In a National CrossTalk article published by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, Pamela Burdman, Senior Project Director in WestEd's Innovation Studies program, addresses the thorny policy issues related to community colleges. She notes that while the historical and present-day challenges faced by these colleges are great, changing the way community colleges think about their students is the first step toward changing the way we all think about community colleges.