Free Online Publications

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

  

Science and Mathematics Education Solutions: 2008 Products and Services Catalog

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

Format: Print | Copyright: 2008

Order #: CM-08-02

  

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

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

English Learners and Literacy Education Solutions: 2008 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: 2008

Order #: CM-08-01

  

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

WestEd's 2007 Annual Report

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

Format: Print | Copyright: 2008

Order #: AN-04-01

  

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

California's Charter Schools: Measuring Their Performance

By: Eric W. Crane, Brian Edwards, Noli Brazil

Have charter schools in California succeeded in improving academic performance? Read this report to learn about the impact of charter schools statewide.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2007

R&D Alert^® Vol. 8, No. 2

Focus on Turning Around Low-Performing Schools and Districts

Under the federal No Child Left Behind act and numerous state initiatives, the number of schools and districts identified as low-performing has grown enormously, often outpacing efforts to address their needs. This issue of R&D Alert describes resources, strategies, and research findings that offer promise for making a difference in these academically troubled schools and districts.  more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2007

Order #: RD-07-01

  

Homeland Offense: The Next Wave of Reform Legislation

By: Chris Whittle

In this Policy Perspectives excerpt from Crash Course: Imagining a Better Future for Public Education, Edison Schools Founder and Chairman Chris Whittle proposes a dramatic new role for the federal government in our nation’s schools.  more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2007

Order #: PP-07-01

  

Social and Emotional Well-Being: The Foundation for School Readiness

By: Joni Pitcl, Elissa Provance, Cindy Arstein Kerslake

Although infant mental health work continues to expand, the message remains consistent: focusing on early relationships between young children and their caregivers has lifelong implications for achieving healthy social and emotional well-being.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2006

Assessment of Charter Schools Program Dissemination Funding

By: Lucy Steiner, Amy Way, Bryan Hassel

To promote dissemination of successful charter school practices, federal policymakers established the dissemination grant program as part of their broader charter school funding strategy in 1998. This evaluation examines the impact of the grant program and lays out three different options for its future.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2006

Rethinking High School: Inaugural Graduations at New York City’s New High Schools

By: Tracy A. Huebner, Grace Calisi Corbett, Kate Phillippo

Have smaller high schools in New York City succeeded in better serving adolescent learners?  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2006

Order #: GF-07-01

Improving Literacy Outcomes for English Language Learners in High School

Considerations for States and Districts in Developing a Coherent Policy Framework

By: Nanette Koelsch

This research brief, published by the National High School Center, outlines current barriers to English learners' academic success regarding teacher expectations, tracking, and placement.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2006

How Are English Learners Faring Under Proposition 227

By: Thomas B. Parrish, Amy Merickel, María Perez, Robert Linquanti, Miguel Socías, Angeline Spain

Did Proposition 227 cause improved test scores for California’s English learners? A five-year evaluation finds no easy answers to this question, but this summary report points to some strategies for teaching English learners that appear to make a difference.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2006

Order #: CC-06-06

R&D Alert^® Vol. 8, No. 1

Focus on Using Data to Drive Reform

This issue of R&D Alert focuses on a perennial challenge in education and human development: how to make the most of information, whether test results, research findings, or other data. What happens with all the data generated by testing students? How do we ensure that the information is accurate, relevant, and timely? How do the results translate into improvements in practice?  more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2006

Order #: RD-06-01

  

ASSETs Interim Evaluation Report

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

By: Jerome Hipps, Marycruz Diaz, Greg Wingren

California targets a portion of its funds from the federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program to activities for high school students. Read about the initial progress of the first cohort of grantees participating in the California 21st High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs) Program.  more >

Format: PDF | Copyright: 2006

Reforms That Could Help Narrow the Achievement Gap

By: Richard Rothstein

Richard Rothstein explains why addressing the wide income gap between lower- and middle-class parents could be one of education’s most important reform efforts. Rothstein highlights a number of other reforms in this new Policy Perspectives paper that could help narrow the academic achievement gap.  more >

Format: Print | Copyright: 2006

Order #: PP-06-02