Free Online Publications

School-Site Administrators

A California County and Regional Perspective on Labor Market Trends

By: Melissa Eiler White, Anthony B. Fong, Reino Makkonen

This report by WestEd's Regional Educational Laboratory West explores the differences among California's counties and regions in their need for new school-site administrators in the coming decade, as driven by a combination of projected administrator retirements and projected student enrollment changes.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2010

Career Technical Education Pathways Initiative 2008/09 Annual Report

Report to the Legislature, the Governor, and the Director of Finance

The Career Technical Education Pathways Initiative 2008/09 Annual Report, prepared by the California Community Colleges, the California Department of Education, and WestEd, shows how California's community colleges, the largest higher education system in the country, are making progress in helping its students meet California’s workforce needs. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2010

Workbook for Improving School Climate and Closing the Achievement Gap

Using Your California Healthy Kids and California School Climate Surveys

This easy-to-use resource offers classroom teachers, principals, and other administrators several strategies for using WestEd's California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) and California School Climate Survey (CSCS) to develop better schools, help students to succeed academically, and close achievement gaps. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2010

Pathways to College: Next Steps for Nevada

REL West Event Proceedings

This document summarizes a one-day event held by REL West at WestEd in Las Vegas on November 12, 2009. Nearly 100 staff from the Nevada System of Higher Education, Nevada Department of Education, seven of Nevada’s postsecondary institutions, and the state’s K–12 school districts joined business and community leaders to expand their knowledge of evidence-based strategies for increasing access to higher education for all students. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2010

Education Research: Past, Present, and Future

By: Grover (Russ) Whitehurst

What does the future hold for education research in the United States? Find out in this new Policy Perspectives paper by Grover (Russ) Whitehurst, former Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2010

Order #: PP-10-01

  

REL West Research Digest Fall 2009

The REL West Research Digest keeps educators and others abreast of the research being carried out by WestEd's Regional Educational Laboratory West (REL West) and other RELs across the country. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Work-Based Learning in California

Opportunities and Models for Expansion

By: Svetlana Darche, Nara Nayar, Kathy Reeves Bracco

This report, prepared by WestEd researchers for The James Irvine Foundation, takes a broad look at work-based learning in California: how it is practiced, what it looks like when done well, and how it could be expanded to engage more students. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Enhanced Reading Opportunities (ERO) Study

Findings from the Second Year of Implementation

By: William Corrin, Marie-Andrée Somers, James J. Kemple, Elizabeth Nelson, Susan Sepanik

Early findings from this randomized controlled study demonstrate that the Reading Apprenticeship® 9th Grade Academic Literacy Course had a positive and statistically significant impact on student reading comprehension scores — representing a 33 percent improvement over and above what the Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy students would have achieved if they had not had the opportunity to attend the intervention course. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Succeeding With English Language Learners: Lessons Learned from the Great City Schools

By: Amanda Rose Horwitz, Gabriela Uro, Ricki Price-Baugh, Candace Simon, Renata Uzzell, Sharon Lewis, Michael Casserly

Aída Walqui, Director of WestEd's Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL), served on the research advisory committee for this new Council of the Great City Schools report, Succeeding With English Language Learners: Lessons Learned from the Great City Schools (PDF).  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

California Infant/Toddler Learning & Development Foundations

By: California Department of Education, Center for Child & Family Studies

"The first three years are a crucial time of development. Research on brain development indicates that the brains of infants and toddlers are twice as active as those of adults. By the time children reach the age of three, they have become competent in at least one language, formed a sense of self, learned about basic concepts such as cause-and-effect and quantity, and developed numerous large- and small-muscle skills." — Jack O’Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction (from the foreword) more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

ISBN: 978-0-8011-1693-3

Evaluation of the Texas School Dropout Prevention and Reentry Program Grants: Final Report

By: Jaclyn Tejwani, Valentin Pedroza, Jodie Hoffman

This final report, written by WestEd's Jaclyn Tejwani, Valentin Pedroza, and Jodie Hoffman, presents to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) a description of the activities and results of the evaluation of the Texas School Dropout Prevention and Reentry Program (TSDPRP) grants.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Reimagining Our Inexperienced Adolescent Readers:

From Struggling, Striving, Marginalized, and Reluctant to Thriving

By: Cynthia L. Greenleaf, Kathleen A. Hinchman

This commentary, written by Cynthia Greenleaf, codeveloper of WestEd's Reading Apprenticeship^® instructional framework, and Kathleen Hinchman, confronts the issue of literacy instruction for older youth in the United States who struggle with reading. In many U.S. schools, many young people face an impoverished curriculum, receiving literacy instruction that is ill suited to their needs, or worse, receiving no literacy instruction at all.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Education That Works: Ideas for Sacramento

By: Mayor Kevin Johnson

As part of the California Mayors Education Roundtable Initiative, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson held a March 2009 summit that brought together nationally renowned educators to discuss their work, successes, and lessons learned. This white paper, developed from the ideas and discussions emanating from the gathering, is the continuation of a dynamic citywide discussion about how to ensure academic success for all Sacramento students. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Improving the Quality and Use of Postsecondary Data:

A Resource Guide for Smaller Learning Communities Grantees

By: Neal D. Finkelstein, Anthony B. Fong, Becca Hirschman, Katie Whitney Luers, Theresa Deussen

This guide, codeveloped by researchers at WestEd and Education Northwest (formerly the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory), provides Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) grantees and their colleagues with strategies for collecting data on the postsecondary matriculation and retention patterns of their recent high school graduates. With such data in hand, educators can make more informed decisions about how to improve their students' enrollment and success in postsecondary education. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

School and District Improvement Solutions: 2009-2010 Products and Service Catalog

For school and district improvement solutions, request our free catalog. You'll find valuable resources for professional development. more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2009

Order #: CM-09-03

  

Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: Evidence-Based Practices

REL West Event Proceedings - Las Vegas, Nevada

This document summarizes Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: Evidence-Based Practices, a one-day event held on June 1, 2009 in Las Vegas, NV. Sponsored by REL West and the Southwest Comprehensive Center, the event brought together almost 50 administrators from the Nevada Department of Education, districts, and Title I schools in program improvement to expand their knowledge of evidence-based strategies for turning around chronically low-performing schools and to learn from one another’s experiences. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: Implications for California’s District and School Support Providers

REL West Event Proceedings

This document provides a summary of three one-day events held during April 2009, co-sponsored by REL West and the California Comprehensive Center, that focused on issues related to improving outcomes for students in persistently low-performing schools in California. The events focused on the four recommended practices featured in Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools, one in a series of practice guides published by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, and on related resources on the Doing What Works website. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: Evidence-Based Practices

REL West Event Proceedings - Tempe, Arizona

This document summarizes Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: Evidence-Based Practices, a one-day event held on March 17, 2009 in Tempe, Arizona. Sponsored by REL West and the Southwest Comprehensive Center, the event brought together 80 administrators from state departments of education, school districts, and school sites in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah to expand their knowledge of evidence-based strategies for turning around chronically low-performing schools and to learn from one another’s experiences. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Profiles of Key National Teaching Standards

By: Melissa Eiler White, Reino Makkonen, Kari Becker Stewart

These profiles supplement the REL West report, A Multistate Review of Professional Teaching Standards (PDF). The two sets of national teaching standards described here have been particularly influential in the development of teaching standards at the state level — the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' (NBPTS) The Five Core Propositions and the Model Standards for Beginning Teacher Licensing, Assessment and Development: A Resource for State Dialogue, developed by the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC). more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Teaching Standards: Profiles For Six States

By: Melissa Eiler White, Reino Makkonen, Kari Becker Stewart

These profiles of six states’ teaching standards supplement the REL West report, A Multistate Review of Professional Teaching Standards, (PDF) which reviews teaching standards in California, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas to inform California’s revision of its teaching standards. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Selected States' Responses to Supporting High School English Language Learners

By: Nanette Koelsch

How have states responded to the English language learner accountability requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act at the high school level? This policy brief explores answers by examining the four states with the largest English language learner populations: Florida, California, Texas, and New York. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

High School Course-Taking Patterns for English Language Learners:

A Case Study From California

By: Neal D. Finkelstein, Min Huang, Anthony B. Fong

The college-going patterns of English language learners will not change dramatically unless students have access to, and success completing, college preparatory coursework early in high school. Attention to the progress of English language learners in both language proficiency and academic proficiency before they reach high school is essential to improving these long-term educational outcomes. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Science and Mathematics Education Solutions: 2009 Products and Services Catalog

For K-12 science and mathematics education solutions, request our free catalog. You'll find valuable resources for professional development! more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2009

Order #: CM-09-02

WestEd's 2008 Annual Report

Our annual, public statement about the agency and its accomplishments. more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2009

Order #: AN-09-01

English Learners and Literacy Education Solutions: 2009 Products and Service Catalog

For English learner and literacy education solutions, request our free catalog. You'll find valuable resources for professional development! more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2009

Order #: CM-09-01

  

Neither Rest Nor Tranquility: Education and the American Dream in the 21st Century

By: Sir Michael Barber

In this Policy Perspectives paper, Sir Michael Barber describes the "struggle, over more than two centuries, to close the gap between the 'American Dream' and the American reality." more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2009

Order #: PP-09-02

  

R&D Alert^® Vol. 10, No. 2

Focus on Professional Development

Teacher quality is key to student success, and teachers need opportunities throughout their careers to continue learning and growing. This issue of R&D Alert focuses on professional development, with articles describing a variety of approaches to providing effective professional development, lessons learned from successful programs, and research on professional development. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Order #: RD-09-01

  

Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments: Overview of Criteria

Prepared by the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center (AACC) at WestEd, the Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments provides criteria for developing, implementing, and evaluating high-quality English language proficiency (ELP) standards and assessments that support English learners’ attainment of English language proficiency and achievement of academic content. This one-page document lists criteria to help states establish and maintain high-quality ELP standards and assessments. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

REL West Research Digest Vol. 1, No. 2

The REL West Research Digest keeps educators and others abreast of the research being carried out by REL West and by other regional educational laboratories across the country. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009

Order #: REL-09-01

Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments

Prepared by the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center (AACC) at WestEd, the Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments provides criteria for developing, implementing, and evaluating high-quality English language proficiency standards and assessments that support English learners’ attainment of English language proficiency and achievement of academic content. more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009