Top Downloads
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Mindfulness-Based Practices for Schools
This brief describes what administrators and teachers can do now to promote the benefits of mindfulness and stress management.
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Effective Early Childhood Transitions: A Guide for Transition at Age Three—Early Start to Preschool
Transitioning from Early Start services to other services is an important experience for children and their families, and the process should be seamless and accomplished in a timely manner. This guide identifies required elements for transition and recommended practices, resources, and tools to support families and their children.
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Family Engagement Toolkit: Continuous Improvement Through an Equity Lens
This toolkit offers districts and schools practical planning and evaluation tools designed to engage all families, particularly those of underrepresented and underserved students.
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Professional Development on Formative Assessment: Insights From Research and Practice
Formative assessment is a key component in next-generation assessment systems. This paper, authored by former WestEd researcher Elise Trumbull and WestEd's Nancy Gerzon, outlines how different programs and studies have responded to educators' need for professional development on formative assessment.
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Designing a Comprehensive Assessment System
What does it take to create a balanced and aligned comprehensive assessment system? This paper identifies strategies for states, districts, and schools.
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Caring for Young Children While Sheltering in Place
Are you caring for a young child or children at your home? Need some help thinking of ideas for fun, engaging activities? This activity guide is for you! It provides you with quick access to tips and activities to use with children, aged birth to five, throughout the day.
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Culture and Assessment: Discovering What Students Really Know
How can we know what students know? The answer seems simple. We teach students new information, give them time to practice the concepts or skills, and assess their understanding with a quiz or test. We standardize the tests so that every student answers equally challenging questions. But what if the way we ask the questions unintentionally causes some students to fail? What if our assessments contain assumptions about language, culture, values, and experiences that these students don't share?
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Virtual Schools: Trends and Issues: A Study of Virtual Schools in the United States
This report provides a summary and analysis of virtual school activities and trends across the United States. It summarizes key characteristics of virtual schools and makes recommendations for planners.
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Restorative Justice in U.S. Schools: An Updated Research Review
This updated review documents the current breadth of evidence on restorative justice, provides a more comprehensive picture of how restorative practices are implemented in schools, and lays the groundwork for future research, implementation, and policy.
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Developmental and Behavioral Screening Guide for Early Care and Education Providers
If developmental concerns are caught early on, early care and education providers can help ensure young children receive the support and services they need.
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Understanding Formative Assessment: Insights from Learning Theory and Measurement Theory
Formative assessment can yield real-time information about if and how students are learning—and what might be impeding their progress. Insights gained from ongoing assessment can help teachers shape instruction and guide student efforts.
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Building a Research Agenda to Improve Education Outcomes for Children and Youth in Foster Care: What the Experts Say
How can we ensure children and youth in the foster care system receive the quality schooling they need? This Policy Perspectives paper makes the case for developing a research base that educators and institutions can draw on when creating and implementing education strategies specifically for children and youth in foster care — a first step toward creating a brighter and successful future for foster kids.
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Should Schools Be Conducting Lockdown Drills?
This brief offers a summary of arguments and evidence for and against using school lockdown drills to prepare for mass shootings.
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School Climate Improvement Toolkit
This resource helps schools, districts, and other education agencies develop a detailed and focused plan for carrying out and monitoring school climate improvement efforts.
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Identifying Indicators of Distress in Charter Schools: Part 1 – The Role and Perspective of Charter School Authorizers
This report can help charter school authorizers and other sector stakeholders recognize signs of distress in schools in their unique contexts and take action towards the goal of school improvement.
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