Developed by the National Writing Project (NWP), the College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) seeks to improve students' argument writing by building teachers' understanding of and skill in teaching source-based argument writing. The program features intensive professional development, skill-based instructional resources, and…

This report presents the findings from an independent evaluation conducted by WestEd on the Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC). Funded by an Investing in Innovation (i3) Validation grant, the ERWC is a grade 11 and grade 12 English language arts (ELA) curriculum developed by the California State University. The independent evaluation…

The purpose of this research study was to evaluate iPersonalize, a gamified instructional approach developed by Fullerton School District (FSD) in California to encourage student engagement and promote achievement. An instructional approach is considered gamified when it incorporates computer game elements to augment existing classroom,…

The purpose of this research study was to evaluate iPersonalize, a gamified instructional approach developed by Fullerton School District (FSD) in California to encourage student engagement and promote achievement. An instructional approach is considered gamified when it incorporates computer game elements to augment existing classroom,…

The Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC) was developed by California State University (CSU) faculty and high school educators to improve the academic literacy of high school seniors, thereby reducing the need for students to enroll in remedial English courses upon entering college. This report, produced by Innovation Studies at WestEd,…

This paper discusses the implementation and evaluation of an innovative professional development program that supported 8th grade mathematics teachers in designing learning activities that assisted students in developing a conceptual understanding of mathematics. Funded by an Investing in Innovation (i3) grant from the U.S. Department of…

The Schools to Watch: School Transformation Network Project is a whole school reform model designed to improve the educational practices, experiences, and outcomes of low-performing middle-grades schools. Developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, the four-year project was funded in 2010 by a U.S. Department of Education…

This study reports 2 years of findings from a randomized controlled trial designed to replicate and demonstrate the efficacy of an existing, successful professional development program, the Pathway Project, that uses a cognitive strategies approach to text-based analytical writing. Building on an earlier randomized field trial in a large, urban,…

The Effects of the Elevate Math summer program on math achievement and algebra readiness: This randomized trial examined the effects of the Elevate Math summer program on math achievement and algebra readiness, as well as math interest and self-efficacy, among rising 8th grade students in California's Silicon Valley. The Elevate Math summer math…

Two professional development (PD) models for teachers were compared on teacher and student outcomes. Special education teachers participated in Literacy Learning Cohorts (LLC), a PD innovation designed to improve content and pedagogical knowledge for providing reading instruction to upper elementary students with learning disabilities. The LLC,…

The Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) model is a comprehensive, strength-based approach to education that aims to improve achievement for all students by improving a school's effectiveness at building relationships, leveraging real-time student data, and capitalizing on the strengths of each student. The U.S. Department of Education's…

For the 2014 study, "The Iterative Development and Initial Evaluation of We Have Skills!, an Innovative Approach to Teaching Social Skills to Elementary Students", researchers examined the effects of We Have Skills! (WHS), a supplemental, video-based social skills program for early elementary students. WHS consists of three components:…

The Reading Apprenticeship instructional framework was developed by WestEd's Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) two decades ago to help teachers provide the literacy support students need to be successful readers in the content areas. It has since reached over 100,000 teachers in schools across the country, at the middle school, high school, and…

Two intervention approaches designed to address the multifaceted academic and cognitive difficulties of low-income children who enter pre-K with very low math knowledge were tested in a randomized experiment. Blocking on classroom, children who met screening criteria were assigned to a Math + Attention condition in which the Pre-Kindergarten…

This five-year evaluation examined the effectiveness of a promising middle-school mathematics intervention funded through an Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant. Evaluation objectives were to: (1) study the impact of an intervention aimed at increasing the academic achievement of students in Algebra I--a gate-keeping course--as measured…