At a time when so many other schools are struggling, this report tells the story of two diverse public charter schools in Washington State that cultivated whole-school wellbeing: Catalyst Public Schools and Lumen High School. Drawing on their experiences, researchers developed a model that conceptualizes whole-school wellbeing as meeting student…

Policymakers aiming to close the well-documented achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students have increasingly turned their attention to issues of teacher quality. A number of studies have demonstrated that teachers are inequitably distributed across student subgroups by input measures, like experience and qualifications, as well…

Aspen and the Community College Research Center studied nine dual enrollment programs across three states--Florida, Ohio, and Washington--that have narrowed or closed equity gaps in dual enrollment for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander students. Based on this research, "The Dual Enrollment Playbook" describes the five…

This article provides a critical race analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to declare voluntary public school integration unconstitutional in Parents v. Seattle School District No.1. The author contends that the high Court used a perpetrator perspective of racial discrimination to privilege the self-interests of white families over…

In the Shattering Expectations series, the reports focus on calling attention to gaps at the high end of achievement and shattering expectations about the achievement of our low-income students and students of color that have existed for far too long. Each report will provide examples of schools that are breaking long entrenched patterns and how…

In today's economy, employers increasingly demand that workers have a high school diploma, yet America's graduation rates are unacceptably low, particularly among poor and minority students. Nationally, only about 70 percent of students graduate from high school on time with a regular diploma; for African American and Hispanic students, this…

Two years ago, Shorecrest High School in Shoreline, Washington, committed to making each student's sojourn a personalized learning experience, even in a school of 1,500. The teachers at Shorecrest took a closer look at their student population and found out several unmet needs of the significant minority group of students. Among those findings…

This paper profiles Washington's test score trends through 2008-09. Three years of comparable mean scale score data were not available from the state. In 2004, 77% of non-Title I 4th graders and 60% of Title I 4th graders scored at the proficient level on the state reading test. In 2009, 75% of non-Title I 4th graders and 61% of Title I 4th…

Graduation rates are a fundamental indicator of whether or not the nation's public school system is doing what it is intended to do: enroll, engage, and educate youth to be productive members of society. Since almost 90 percent of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs require some postsecondary education, having a high school diploma and the…

A 1995 study explored how high school students from four ethnic groups who have experienced disciplinary problems explain the causes, consequences, and potential resolutions of conflicts with their teachers. The answer to reducing behavior problems in ethnically diverse classrooms may be culturally responsive discipline undergirded by competence,…

Changes in affirmative action policies in some states create possibilities for "natural experiments" to observe the effect of public policy on racial and ethnic inequality in American society. This study measured the impact of Initiative 200, a ballot measure that eliminated affirmative action in Washington State, on the transition from…

This report discusses educational outcomes for Washington state's public high school students, describing national trends in high school reform. Information came from surveys and interviews with teachers, students, and parents and national and state data. Many reforms have been tried nationwide. Most Washington high schools had students in…

Twenty-four units which focus on the contribution of women and minority group members to the development of the Pacific Northwest provide supplementary material for high school social studies classes. The lives of 12 women are treated in separate units. Other topics include the Pacific Northwest 100 years ago, the temperance movement, oral history…

Designed for high school students, this unit provides library activities for six topics in Pacific Northwest history. Although the references are located in the Renton High School (Olympia, Washington) library, the lessons are appropriate for anyone with access to the materials. The six topics are natural environment, Indians, western frontier,…

A study was done of minority high school graduates from Seattle, Washington, and how they moved into and through the higher education system. The study compared minority students and a group of white students all of whom were seniors in the Seattle public high schools during the 1982-83 academic year. In the Spring of 1989, 48 postsecondary…