Free Online Publications

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

School and District Improvement Solutions: 2008 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: 2008

Order #: CM-08-03

  

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

The Feasibility of Mandating School Breakfast in California's Severe Need Schools: Costs, Challenges, and Recommendations

By: William J. McCarthy, Barbara Dietsch, Brian McReynolds, Gabriela S. Jones

Prepared by WestEd and the California Department of Education, this report recommends a state requirement that severe need schools provide nutritious, cost-effective breakfasts for their students, improving their capacity to learn and grow into healthy, productive adults.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2008

Great Expectations: The E3 Institute-San Jose State University Bachelor's Degree Cohort Program for CARES Participants in Santa Clara County

By: Yolanda Garcia, Ilene M. Hertz, Kara Dukakis

Learn how a partnership between WestEd's E3 Institute and San Jose State University is improving the quality of care and education for children and families.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2008

Rethinking High School: Supporting All Students to be College Ready in Math

By: Tracy A. Huebner, Grace Calisi Corbett

How can high schools succeed in preparing students for mathematics courses in college?
  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2008

R&D Alert^® Vol. 9, No. 2

Focus on Education Research

Research has become more central than ever to how decisions are made about education policy and practice. As an agency committed to evidence-based practices, WestEd engages in a wide range of research and seeks to translate research knowledge into effective policy and practice. This issue of R&D Alert begins with a Q&A on the growing importance of education research and includes articles describing examples of WestEd-led research.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2008

Order #: RD-08-01

Similar English Learner Students, Different Results:

Why Do Some Schools Do Better?

By: Trish Williams, Mary Perry, Isabel Oregon, Noli Brazil, Kenji Hakuta, Edward Haettel, Michael Kirst, Jessie Levin

How elementary schools focus their time and energies, and what resources they have for doing it, can make a powerful difference in the academic achievement of English learners from low-income backgrounds, according to findings from this new research brief.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2007

English Language Proficiency Assessment in the Nation:

Current Status and Future Practice

By: Jamal Abedi, Robert Linquanti, et al.

Has standardized testing measuring English language proficiency improved since the federal No Child Left Behind Act was passed? Read this report to find out.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2007

Literacy Instruction in the Content Areas: Getting to the Core of Middle and High School Improvement

By: Rafael Heller, Cynthia L. Greenleaf

This report urges higher expectations for all students in reading and writing, and new approach to improving these skills.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2007

The Status of Science Education in Bay Area Elementary Schools

By: Rena Dorph, David Goldstein, Shirley Lee, Kathleen Lepori, Steven Schneider, S. Venkatesan

Find out why San Francisco Bay Area's elementary school students are not performing well in science and what can be done about it.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2007

Why Do We Have a Knowledge Deficit?

By: E. D. Hirsch, Jr.

Why are reading scores low? Because educators emphasize comprehension strategies instead of teaching the broad general core knowledge that is chiefly needed for reading comprehension, according to E. D. Hirsch in a new WestEd Policy Perspectives paper.  more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2007

Order #: PP-07-02

  

R&D Alert^® Vol. 9, No. 1

Focus on Improving Mathematics and Science Education

Concerned with the quality of the nation's mathematicians, scientists, and engineers, the federal government in 2007 created the "America COMPETES Act," authorizing programs to shore up education and research in these subjects. Building on WestEd's extensive expertise in mathematics and science, this issue of R&D Alert describes strategies and lessons learned from some of WestEd's most successful efforts in these areas.  more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2007

Order #: RD-07-02

  

Rethinking High School: Preparing Students for Success in College, Career, and Life

By: Grace Calisi Corbett, Tracy A. Huebner

Find out how five successful Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded high school programs are preparing adolescent students for academic success in college, career, and life.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2007

Order #: GF-07-02

ASSETs Final Evaluation Report

California 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs) Program

By: Jerome Hipps, Marycruz Diaz

In this WestEd report, learn about California's 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs) Program and how it influences students both academically and socially.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2007