In 2021, California committed to providing universal prekindergarten (UPK) for all 4-year-olds and income-eligible 3-year-olds by 2025-26. UPK includes several early learning programs, including transitional kindergarten (TK), the California State Preschool Program (CSPP), Head Start, and expanded learning opportunities to provide full-day early…

All youth need the support of parents, family members, and other caring adults. Parents and families are children's first teachers and, in many respects, their most influential role models and motivators. Among the varied efforts to ensure that children succeed and thrive, there is growing acknowledgement of how critically important it is to…

"The Way We Do School: The Making of Oakland's Full-Service Community School District" offers an in-depth profile of the nation's most ambitious community school initiative. The book focuses on a nearly ten-year effort to transform all eighty-six district schools in Oakland, California into community schools in order to better meet the…

This document provides state education agencies (SEAs) and districts with guidance about how to assess a district's readiness to support school turnaround initiatives. First published in 2013, the guide has been updated in this edition to highlight how its approach to assessing district readiness embeds and reflects key components of "Four…

With the expansion of school choice systems, policymakers and researchers are increasingly focused on making the school choice process accessible and clear for families. Essentially, school district offices of enrollment and outreach are acting as "choice architects" for parents and students: those who design the environment or organize…

School communities in both urban and rural settings need trauma-informed (TI) supports; however, the adversities experienced and access to student supports may be unique to rural school communities. In addition, the contextual challenges experienced by rural schools and communities, as well as the strengths that can be drawn from them, will…

This guide is designed to supply educators with a means to identify whether racial/ethnic disproportionality in discipline practice exists in their schools or districts. It also aims to help educators use data to reduce racial/ethnic disproportionality in suspensions and expulsions. The guide is organized into two sections. The first section…

The "Practitioner Data Use in Schools: Workshop Toolkit" is designed to help practitioners systematically and accurately use data to inform their teaching practice. The toolkit includes an agenda, slide deck, participant workbook, and facilitator's guide and covers the following topics: developing data literacy, engaging in a cycle of…

While literacy interventions can be implemented in any grade, focusing on interventions in grades 3-8 is critical because it is often the best chance for students identified with earlier reading deficiencies to become ready for the literacy demands of postsecondary education and careers. States in both the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL)…

To stem the tide of students dropping out, many schools and districts are turning to early warning systems (EWS) that signal whether a student is at risk of not graduating from high school. While some research exists about establishing these systems, there is little information about the actual implementation strategies that are being used across…

This guide presents the Iowa standard for developing a plan to provide at risk students with the additional help they need to succeed. The standard requires a linkage of local, state, and federal resources within each local education agency. The guide is divided into five sections: (I) Introduction; (II) Provisions for At-Risk Students--The Iowa…

Pennsylvania's school districts and area vocational-technical schools are required to submit long range plans to the Pennsylvania Department of Education every 5 years. Part of the planning process involves the development of strategies, or action plans, for achieving the long term objectives identified in the long range plans. This planning guide…

This guide is designed to serve as (1) instructional materials for training those assigned to provide technical assistance in the regional planning and articulation of vocational education and (2) a resource to familiarize and train the recipients of the planning processes. Addressed in the individual chapters of the manual are the following…

The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is a strategy to involve the community in active participation in the development, amendment, and review of the local plan for special education. The CAC originated under the design of the California Master Plan for Special Education. The CAC brings together and supports parents and professionals, regular and…

After a failed tax levy in 2004, the Ladue School District in Missouri realized that it had to significantly change its communication methods. A new superintendent was hired in July 2004 to work with the Board of Education to reestablish relationships and increase effective communications with parents and community members. As such, we are the…