
Free Online Publications
[A-C] [D-M] [N-R] [S-Z] List All: [by Title] [by Date] [Show Topics]
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
Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments: Brief
This brief is an introduction to the Framework for High-Quality English Language Proficiency Standards and Assessments prepared by the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center (AACC) at WestEd. more >
Format: PDF | Copyright: 2009
Expanding School Time to Expand School Learning
Lessons Learned and Challenges Remaining
By: Christopher Gabrieli, Warren Goldstein
Will adding two hours of school every day raise student academic achievement and ensure a well-rounded education? Find out in this new Policy Perspectives paper. more >
Format: Print | Copyright: 2009
Order #: PP-09-01
Infant and Toddler Spaces
Design for a Quality Classroom
By: Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) and Community Playthings
This free guide, a collaboration between WestEd’s Program for Infant/Toddler Care (PITC) and Community Playthings, provides practical, research-based information on creating surroundings conducive to high quality infant/toddler group care and education. more >
Format: PDF | Copyright: 2008
R&D Alert® Vol. 10, No. 1
Focus on English Learners
Providing effective support for the nation's rapidly growing population of English learners has become a top priority of schools throughout the U.S. This R&D Alert samples from WestEd's wide-ranging expertise in this area. It describes the latest research-based practices and lessons learned, addresses issues of professional development, policy, and practice, and covers the needs of English learners from preschool through high school. more >
Format: PDF | Copyright: 2008
Order #: RD-08-02
Alternative Education Options: A Descriptive Study of California Continuation High Schools
By: Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, Gregory Austin, Don Dixon, Joseph Johnson, Milbrey McLaughlin, Lynne Perez
This issue brief summarizes initial findings from a year-long descriptive study of continuation high schools in California. It is the first in a series of reports from the ongoing California Alternative Education Research Project conducted jointly by the John W. Gardner Center at Stanford University, the National Center for Urban School Transformation at San Diego State University, and WestEd's Health and Human Development Program. more >
Format: PDF | Copyright: 2008
Guidance for the Selection and Support of Exemplary Principals Under the Quality Education Investment Act
This document provides guidance for district leaders in selecting, assigning, and supporting exemplary principals for schools subject to the requirements of California's Quality Education Investment Act of 2006. more >
Format: PDF | Copyright: 2008
A Synthesis of Recent California Education Reform Recommendations
By: Reino Makkonen, Camille Esch
This brief analyzes and synthesizes four prominent California education reform initiatives proposed by the California Dropout Research Project, the Governor's Committee on Education Excellence, the Superintendent's P-16 Council, and Getting Down to Facts. more >
Format: PDF | Copyright: 2008
Performance Expectations and Indicators for Education Leaders
By: Nancy M. Sanders, Karen Kearney
The Performance Expectations and Indicators, based on the six ISLLC Standards for School Leaders, describe observable and measurable leader actions required to improve teaching and learning for every student. more >
Format: PDF | Copyright: 2008
REL West Research Digest Vol. 1, No. 1
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: 2008
Order #: REL-08-01
1 to 30 of 207 Next































