A growing number of states are launching community school initiatives to ensure family and community engagement, provide enriched and expanded learning, and offer integrated supports for students. Several states are providing technical assistance to support the high-quality implementation of community schools, either through the state education…

In 2015, College Futures Foundation launched the Community Philanthropy for Student Success Initiative (CPI) to engage a cohort of community foundations across California as partners and leaders in reducing statewide disparities in college completion rates. Through CPI, College Futures endeavored to build the capacity of participating foundations…

As districts and schools struggle with persistent teacher shortages, many states have attempted to bolster the supply of teachers by loosening credentialing requirements or implementing fast-track programs that quickly bring new teachers into the classroom, often without student teaching or robust coursework about how to teach. Some states,…

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…

Teacher residencies represent important opportunities to address teacher shortages while improving teacher preparation. Viewed as highly effective pathways by program graduates and their employers, residencies also provide robust financial and educational support, enabling them to attract diverse candidates who stay in teaching. California has…

As the nation transitions from responding to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to navigating its ongoing impact on youth and their communities, K-12 students continue to experience mental health and wellbeing challenges. In the fall of 2021, Redwood City School District (RCSD) placed a full-time, district-employed mental health counselor in each…

As a grantee in the James B. McClatchy Foundation's Pre-K initiative, Growing Strong Learners, the Central Valley's Galt Joint Union Elementary School District (GJUESD) is working to support parents, families, schools, and communities in developing tools and processes to support successful kindergarten entry and continuing academic achievement for…

This report summarizes the findings across two case studies conducted as part of WestEd's evaluation of the California Statewide Early Math Initiative (CAEMI). The case studies aimed to understand the planning and implementation of professional learning and coaching in local communities. They also examined changes in educators' math knowledge,…

Many principal supervisors in the United States work in relative isolation and experience no professional development designed to support them. Over the past four years, the role of principal supervisor in Long Beach Unified School District in California has shifted from compliance and at-a-distance supervision practices to a deeply rooted…

This paper asks the question: Is now the right time to consider a statewide policy initiative to support increased access for Massachusetts community college students to paid internships that can help them improve their employment and earnings trajectory? Is this something that employers, colleges, and state leaders would see as a welcome…

Improving the writing of middle-school English learners can improve their academic thinking, literacy, and content knowledge. The Writing Reform and Innovation for Teaching Excellence (WRITE) program uses six high-leverage writing practices and develops teacher capacity through professional learning activities anchored in the group grading of…

In 2015, the Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges (RP Group) was contracted by the Joyce/Cabrillo Foundation to assess the long-term impact of the Academy for College Excellence (ACE) on students who had participated in the program between fall 2003 and spring 2014 at three California Community Colleges: Berkeley City,…

Since 2004, the National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) has offered the Executive Development Program (EDP), a leadership program for sitting school principals that is typically delivered in two-day workshops once per month over 12 months. From its inception through 2018, 15,000 principals across 23 states have participated in the EDP.…

California's school accountability and support system, the Statewide System of Support (System of Support), was designed to transform California's approach to school improvement. Rather than focusing on punitive consequences for underperformance, the System of Support is designed to provide education leaders and educators with needed support to…

California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) was signed into law in 2013, and represents the most significant change in California education finance and governance in 40 years. It moves additional funds to districts with students in poverty, English language learners, and foster youth. The LCFF sends supplemental funds to districts based on…