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Article Database
School & District Improvement
Parents as Partners in Student Achievement
Parent engagement in their children's education is one of the best ways to boost their academic achievement. WestEd's Maria Paredes heads up the Academic Parent-Teacher Teams project, which puts a new twist on parent-teacher interaction.
Accessible Professional Learning — Connecting Our Rural Educators (APL-CORE)
Learn how to implement regional and school-based collaboration in small, rural schools to support professional learning and improve classroom instructional practice. Join us for this free webinar September 12!
The Common Core: The Foundation of the RtI Framework
This archived webinar addresses how an effective multi-tiered academic RtI framework can help schools close the knowledge gap to meet the demands of the CCSS.
Leadership Development: A Systems Approach
Building systems that support school transformation is the focus of a unique leadership development program at the University of Virginia.
Project Spotlight: Doing What Works
Improving Academic Outcomes for African American Male Students
Are you looking for effective strategies that promote positive discipline and improve academic outcomes for African American male students? In this archive, Joseph E. Marshall, Executive Director of the Omega Boys Club in San Francisco, shares and discusses what works. This webinar is sponsored by the Region IX Equity Assistance Center at WestEd.
Designing Quality Units Aligned to the ELA Common Core State Standards
In this archive, find out about using sample ELA Common Core State Standards to map comprehensive units of study.
Turnaround Schools in California: The Story of General Grant Middle School
In this archive, hear about a research-based ten-step process to define turnaround schools in California and the strategies most often cited as contributing to nine schools' turnaround success. A principal and a teacher from one of the nine schools also shared their middle school's turnaround story.
Common Core Standards: Integrating Local Accountability and a Comprehensive Assessment System
In this archive, learn how districts can think about the new rigor required in building a local comprehensive assessment system that reflects the Common Core State Standards. Presenters included staff from the Comprehensive School Assistance Program at WestEd, Creighton School District (Arizona), and Assessment Technology Incorporated.
Time Well Spent: Eight Powerful Practices of Expanded Learning Time Schools
What are the most effective strategies for expanding learning time, and how can schools make the most of this important resource? Find out in this webinar!
District Planning: Insights from Successful Districts
View this webinar and find out how 18 California school districts have developed and implemented improvement plans leading to increased student achievement.
After School Alignment With the Core Instructional Day in Support of STEM Learning
Watch a panel of practitioners on implementing after-school programs to increase student engagement and achievement in STEM.
“Doing What Works” Bridges Research and Practice
Read about the Doing What Works website, an online library of resources dedicated to bridging research and practice.
Fast-Tracking the Paperwork for Federal Programs
Confident that technology could contribute to a more efficient, cost-effective way of reviewing and monitoring federal and state education programs, WestEd developed the web-based WestEd Tracker. Read about this effective approach to planning.
Strategies for School Turnaround: School and District Level Perspectives
This webinar explores strategies at the school and district level used to improve the most struggling schools.
Strategies to Advance Student Success through High School After-School Programs
In this webinar, find out about some of the most effective programs in California serving high school students in after-school programs and how to align them with the instructional day.
Providing Rich Educational Offerings Despite Fiscal Constraints: Buena Park High School's Story
The principal of Buena Park High School shares how this school works with its primary feeder middle schools to ensure successful transition, and creates a niche for every student to access a broad range of academic offerings.
Advancing Student Success: Aligning In-School and After-School Learning
In this archive hear from a panel of practitioners on understanding and implementing the recommendations in The After-School Handbook for School Site Leaders.
Using Additional Teacher Collaboration Time to Improve Student Achievement
Teacher collaboration is crucial to improving instruction and accelerating student achievement. Ben Lummis, Vice President for the National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL) and Sarah Gallagher, Program Associate at NCTL, share how more time can be best used to improve teacher collaboration and professional development. The session explores the essential components of productive teacher time through examples of effective practices at both elementary and high schools.
Behavior and Classroom Management: Online Professional Development Modules and Resources for Implementation
In this archived webinar, learn how a classroom teacher and a school psychologist use the free, online professional development modules and resources provided by the IRIS Center. Moderated by Silvia DeRuvo, WestEd.
Effective Ways to Use Expanded Learning Time
NCTL staff discuss the effective uses of additional learning time to offer additional blocks of time for academic support, tiered interventions for struggling students, and additional supports before the school year, after school, and on Saturdays.
Defining Principal Effectiveness: Lessons from the Field on the Principal’s Role in Student Achievement and Teacher Quality
Ben Fenton, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer for New Leaders for New Schools, presented a framework for principal effectiveness and expectations for principal practice based on field research in high-poverty public schools.
Making Every Minute Count
In this first webinar of a four-part series on expanded learning time, Ben Lummis, Vice President for the National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL) and Sarah Gallagher, Program Associate at NCTL, introduced a framework for effectively expanding learning time and share strategies for making every minute count in your school and district.
Defining Principal Effectiveness — Lessons From the Field on the Principal Role in Student Achievement and Teacher Quality
View this webinar and learn about a framework for principal effectiveness and expectations for principal practice.
Putting the Needs of Children in Foster Care on the Education Research Agenda
Children in foster care are one of the most academically vulnerable student groups. How can we better meet their educational needs so that these children excel?
Three School Turnaround Principles for Success
Learn how the WestEd School Turnaround Center helps schools, particularly those that are chronically low-performing, improve their students' academic achievement.
Regional SIG Conference Explores “Revamped” Turnaround Strategies
The Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education was among the guest speakers at a Regional School Improvement Grant conference.
Improved College Access the Goal for Utah Education Leaders, REL West, Southwest Comprehensive Center
This article summarizes an event that brought together the state of Utah's K–16 education leaders to improve college access.
Projected Need for Principals Varies Widely Across California
Read about the projected need for school-site administrators in California.
QTEL Instructional Coaching: Whole School Change, One Teacher at a Time
Donna Gaarder, formerly of WestEd, explains how instructional coaches can be most effective when it comes to school improvement efforts.
Three-Way Partnership Transforms Arizona District
Read how a struggling school district in Phoenix dramatically improved student achievement.
What High Schools Can Do to Better Prepare Students for College
A What Works Clearinghouse guide offers recommendations on how high schools can help more of their students enter college and be better prepared to do college-level work.
A New Focus on Interactive Learning at Community Colleges
Find out how WestEd's Reading Apprenticeship® helps community college instructors ease their students' transition into college.
The Promise and Challenges of Dual Enrollment
Learn how dual enrollment programs can improve the college readiness of low-income, minority students who often don't think of themselves as college material.
Once a Dropout, Not Always a Dropout
Until recently, researchers have ignored the story of what happens to high school dropouts who return to school. A new WestEd study focuses on these students.
What Does "Postsecondary Readiness" Really Mean When There Are Multiple Pathways to Success?
How can policymakers and educators choose which of the multiple definitions of “postsecondary readiness” is best for their particular purpose and context? Find out in this article.
A Focus on Success: Q&A With WestEd's Pamela Burdman on Community Colleges and Postsecondary Readiness
In this Q&A, WestEd's Pamela Burdman shares some of her perspectives and expertise on postsecondary readiness and completion.