about the project

TheInnovation Studies program at WestEd is producing a series of Innovation Guides for the Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII) in the U.S. Department of Education.

Each guide focuses on a particular aspect of education touched by the No Child Left Behind Act and identifies promising practices being carried out by selected schools, districts, and other education organizations.

Using a case study methodology, WestEd researchers document and learn from the groundbreaking experiences of these organizations and, through the guides, share what they have found with other educators and policymakers seeking to improve their own work in the given area.

Each guide provides background information about the topic, an analysis of practices across all the featured sites, and a selection of resources.

Most guides also include a short profile of each featured organization, with contact information for readers who may want to find out more about a practice.

The first six guides were produced in 2004-05. These publications focus on school choice; supplemental educational services; charter schools; magnet schools; alternative routes to teacher certification; and school leadership development.

Copies of these guides have been distributed to practitioners, partners, and policymakers working within schools and school districts. One of the guides, Innovations in Education: Successful Charter Schools, received the 2005 Association of Educational Publishers award for best interior design.

The Innovation Studies Program has since completed additional guides. Two of them focus on charter schools that are succeeding at closing the achievement gap (one on K-8 schools and the other on high schools); a third looks at the role of organizations that authorize charter schools.

Another guide looks at how intermediary organizations like the Parent Involvement Resource Centers have reached out to increase parent involvement in public schools.

Yet another guide looks at how districts and schools are using online technology to deliver advanced coursework to high school students.

Completed guides are available through the OII website, http://www.ed.gov/about/pubs/intro/innovations.html.