NGSS Early Implementers is a four-year initiative created to help eight California school districts and two charter management organizations, supported by WestEd's K-12 Alliance, implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Designed for professional developers and administrators, this report describes 10 tools and processes that are…

New York City is the nation's largest school system. Once again racial integration of schools in New York has become a hot button issue. It appears that much work needs to be done before enacted changes to middle school admissions policies in two city districts can refer to the present time period as the dawn of a new age of racial justice. Mayor…

The State Board of Education (SBE) issues an annual report to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public, in accordance with Washington State's Charter School Act (RCW 28A.710.250). This is the fifth annual report on the performance of the charter schools. RCW 28A.710.250 requires that the SBE, in collaboration with the Charter School…

A widely cited report by the federal Government Accountability Office found that charter schools enroll a significantly smaller percentage of students with disabilities than do traditional public schools. However, thus far no hard evidence exists to definitively explain or quantify the disparity between special education enrollment rates in…

"The Mirage" describes the widely held perception among education leaders that they already know how to help teachers improve, and that they could achieve their goal of great teaching in far more classrooms if they just applied what they knew more widely. However, research suggests that despite enormous and admirable investments of time…

In this article, we report findings from a yearlong design research project that worked to leverage the language brokering skills of Latina/Latino middle school youth in an urban school setting. We began the project by asking seventh-grade students to talk about the many languages they speak in their daily lives. Throughout the project, their…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the 7th grade reading performance among a random sample of urban public school academies (charter schools) in Wayne County, Michigan, compared with a random sample of traditional urban public schools within the same geographic area. This study was conducted using the fall 2012 Michigan…

Incisive research from the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute on the prevalence and consequences of absenteeism in Chicago schools has highlighted the dramatic effects of even moderate amounts of absences on grades, graduation rates, and student success in college. These insights spurred not only an ambitious 98% attendance goal on…

The ongoing push to raise or eliminate the charter school cap in Massachusetts provides an opportunity to reflect upon the purpose of charter schools. When the legislature created the Commonwealth's charter school law, as a part of the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA), it clearly stated a main reason for these new schools was…

This study examines practices of principals working in high-performing, high-poverty schools with a high representation of students of color in south central Texas. This study explores how leaders build individual and organizational capacity in high-needs schools. Using a criterion sample, and a conceptual framework focused on leadership for…

The 2017-18 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) is a nationally representative sample survey of public and private K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. State representative data are also available for public schools, principals, and teachers. NTPS collects data on core topics including…

The "2020 Comprehensive Biennial Report on Texas Public Schools" describes the status of Texas public education, as required by §39.332 of the Texas Education Code. The report contains 16 chapters on the following topics: (1) state progress on academic performance indicators; (2) student performance on state assessments; (3) performance…

Communities in Schools is one of the nation's oldest and largest providers of integrated student supports, also known as "wraparound services." Started in New York City in the 1970s, the agency now works with more than 2,300 schools in 25 states and the District of Columbia. The model is straightforward: Communities in Schools recruits,…

In collaboration with the Charter School Commission (CSC), the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) issues an annual report to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public, in accordance with the Charter School Act, RCW 28A.710.250. While this is the third annual report, the data represent three or fewer years of results, with schools…

Educational reform policies in the United States promote school choice as a central tool to empower low-income and minoritized families in order to close the achievement gap. However, research on school choice rarely reflects the voice of minoritized families and offers little evidence that choice significantly addresses inequities in educational…