The policy landscape around curriculum selection and implementation is thorny: the federal government cannot mandate any state or local curricula, state policy varies widely, and local schools and districts often lack the capacity to support and sustain detailed reviews of materials and ongoing teacher training in quality curricula. Cultural and…

In fall 2018, there were more than 5 million English Learners (ELs) in the United States, with about 1.9 million enrolled in grades 6-12.3 Although the federal definition applies only to elementary and secondary ELs, and postsecondary institutions are not required to report data on students' language proficiency, many ELs are enrolled in higher…

In the post-Apartheid era South Africa's universities have faced serious questions about the quality of their student learning in the face of near impossible challenges. The University of Cape Town, widely seen as the country's leading higher education institution, has shown remarkable resilience, however, in the range of initiatives it has…

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. students attend rural schools. Researchers report that at least half of public schools are rural in 12 states (i.e., Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Mississippi) (Showalter et al., 2019). Providing quality education to all rural students is a…

"Equity and Quality in Digital Learning" identifies and presents specific strategies and practices for using digital tools to reduce inequities in educational opportunities and improve student outcomes. Based on the authors' ten-year research-practice partnership with both the Dallas and Milwaukee public school districts, the book…

Charter school authorizing is a powerful strategy for making excellent public schools and educational opportunities available to all students and communities, especially those who are historically under-resourced. Done well, authorizing increases student achievement by expanding the supply of quality public schools. Because authorizing is a…

This study examines the digital divide and socioeconomic disparities that hinder equitable access to quality education in modern schools. This study highlights how unequal access to technology and the internet disproportionately affects students from low-income families, exacerbating existing educational inequalities. This paper defines the…

Policy barriers at the national and state levels are preventing many student veterans from achieving their academic and professional potential. Layers of rigid rules determine when, where, and how post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients -- most student veterans -- can utilize their service-connected education benefits. Policymakers should work to knock down…

The California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS) Toolkit for Instructional Materials Evaluation (TIME) is a suite of tools and processes for evaluating and selecting instructional materials aligned with the CA NGSS. This 11th report in the NGSS Early Implementers Initiative evaluation series is intended for school and district…

The Global Report on Adult Learning and Education (GRALE) provides a clear and comprehensive picture of the state of adult learning and education (ALE) around the world. The "4th Global Report on Adult Learning and Education" ("GRALE 4") monitors the extent to which UNESCO Member States put their international commitments…

Every year millions of Americans gain valuable college credit-worthy learning through workplace training, the military, apprenticeships, & professional certifications. Nearly all of this learning goes unrecognized by colleges & universities. Without a consistent way to recognize, reward, and transfer this learning, many people are left…

Over the course of six years, a diverse group of school districts and charter management organizations in California ran a substantial experiment in implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in elementary and middle grades. WestEd led an extensive evaluation of that effort, the California K-8 NGSS Early Implementers Initiative,…

This publication is part of the Leading by Exemplar project, a multi-year study conducted by Bellwether Education Partners. In this project, every aspect of the Head Start exemplars' program design and practice was closely examined in an effort to understand each program's "secret sauce." Leading by Exemplar has three goals: (1) to…

This publication is part of the "Leading by Exemplar" project, a multi-year study conducted by Bellwether Education Partners. In this project, every aspect of the Head Start exemplars' program design and practice was closely examined in an effort to understand each program's "secret sauce." Leading by Exemplar has three goals:…

To identify promising strategies for full inclusion, the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) and the National Center on Special Education in Charter Schools conducted in-depth case studies of five Washington State charter schools as part of a national study of special education in charter schools. These studies were conducted during the…