Research on mathematics classroom learning opportunities shows that student's experiences with mathematics affects not only what they learn, but also how they view themselves as learners and doers of mathematics (Boaler, 1997, 2016; Jackson, 2009; Langer-Osuna, 2016). High-stakes testing policies have implications for the kinds of mathematics…

Most community college (CC) students nationwide aspire to transfer from CC to a 4-year baccalaureate granting institution, yet most students who aspire to transfer never achieve this goal. Cross-enrollment, facilitated enrollment in a course at a four-year college while simultaneously enrolled in classes at a CC, is one policy that may increase…

High-quality early childhood education (ECE) begins with well-prepared, highly qualified educators. This brief offers practitioners and policymakers an opportunity to learn from promising programs that recruit and prepare racially, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse cohorts of educators to teach in programs serving children birth…

This phenomenological investigation examined the perceptions of Catholic elementary school teachers and their homework practices within a suburban Catholic school in California. The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of Catholic school teachers regarding the standard practice of assigning homework to elementary school…

A number of states are considering policy proposals to update credential or degree requirements for early educators. Practitioners, policy experts, and researchers have expressed concern, however, that well-intentioned policies to raise educator qualifications without sufficient supports may have negative consequences for the adequacy; stability;…

Charter schools--what was their original promise? They would enroll diverse groups of students. They would give teachers the room and power to innovate. They would be educational laboratories that would find new ways to reach students, and they would share those lessons with other public schools. But charter schools haven't lived up to their…

This white paper explores how influential Californians conceive of the purpose of public education. The authors' intention was to learn how the purposes converge and to uncover potential building blocks for a consensus that puts students at the center and rises above disparate beliefs and alliances. The paper draws on 50 interviews they conducted…

The nation is in an era of policy reform aimed at improving the productivity and effectiveness of higher education. Major philanthropies and policy groups have converged around variations of the ambitious college completion goals announced by President Obama at the beginning of his administration. But at the same time, many state governments,…

This report is a synthesis of research, challenges, and best practices in the education of secondary English Learners (ELs). It incorporates a summary of three days of presentations and discussions by key national experts in the spring of 2005, observations and findings from our own research, and key issues from the research literature. The report…

Over the past several decades, researchers, politicians, and corporate leaders have focused reform efforts on the size of educational contexts. Hundreds of billions of public and private dollars have been invested to reduce the size and scope of both classrooms and schools (Lee & Ready, 2007). Unlike many education reforms, these downsizing…

In 1986, the Center for Policy Research in Education began a 5-year study of the implementation and effects of state education reforms in six states chosen for their diverse approaches: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. This issue contains material from an earlier CPRE report providing an interim assessment of…

Social science research suggests that reducing class size has its largest effects on the achievement of minority and inner-city children during the first year of formal schooling. Despite scholarly disagreements about the implications of specific studies on class size, economists generally agree that targeted class-size policies rest on stronger…

Intermediary organizations have become increasingly prominent participants in education policy implementation despite limited knowledge about their distinctive functions and the conditions that constrain and enable those functions. This article addresses that research-practice gap by drawing on theories of organizational ecology and findings from…

This article by Patricia Whitelaw-Hill, Executive Director of READ, addresses the issue of the education of limited-English students in public education. New York has joined California in concluding that bilingual education programs are not working as well as English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs in helping language minority students become…

Five case studies of implementation of instructional policy changes at the classroom level by elementary-school mathematics teachers are discussed. The case studies focus on California's new Mathematics Framework. The interaction between teacher practice and policy is emphasized. Teachers' inherited beliefs, knowledge, and existing practices are…