The NGSS Early Implementers Initiative was 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). Many educational initiatives are funded for only a couple of years. This unique initiative spanned an extraordinary six…

Over the course of six years, a diverse group of school districts and charter management organizations in California ran a substantial experiment in implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in elementary and middle grades. WestEd led an extensive evaluation of that effort, the California K-8 NGSS Early Implementers Initiative,…

This 13th report in WestEd's evaluation of the K-8 Early Implementers Initiative for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provides an extensive response to the following question: What does NGSS science teaching look like in the classroom? The report first discusses Initiative teachers' experiences with four instructional practices that…

This resource is a compilation of three documents that support the teaching of spelling in today's schools: a discussion of "Why Spelling Instruction Matters", a checklist for evaluating a spelling program, and tables of Common Core State Standards that are linked to spelling instruction. "Why Spelling Instruction Matters"…

Case studies of Authentic Intellectual Work (AIW) in the Iowa project included four high schools that have been practicing this professional development model for the last five years. The schools, AHST Secondary School, Cedar Falls High School, Spencer High and Middle Schools and Valley High School were visited in April, 2011. The visits included…

School principals can foster effective literacy instruction by orchestrating community collaboration in an ongoing cycle of literacy program development, implementation, evaluation, and revision outlined in this ten-step plan. The steps address forming a community advisory board, appointing a building literacy leader, forming a literacy team,…

The Council of Chief State School Officers' "Accommodations Manual: How to Select, Administer, and Evaluate the Use of Accommodations for Instruction and Assessment of Students with Disabilities" was first developed to establish guidelines for states to use for the selection, administration, and evaluation of accommodations for…

Classrooms across the country are discovering the power of service-learning--the ideal way to help students develop social and academic skills while giving back to their community. Now for the first time, there's a practical how-to guide on using serving-learning to promote inclusion and differentiate instruction for students with and without…

Leal Filho, MacDermot, and Padgam (1996) contended that post-secondary institutions are well suited to take on leadership responsibilities for society's environmental protection. Higher education has the unique academic freedom to engage in critical thinking and bold experimentation in environmental sustainability (Cortese, 2003). Although…

While resources are abundant for helping the mentor and the new teacher, very little has been written to guide the leaders of teacher and mentor development. This book provides an effective, proven model for developing, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining an induction and mentoring program that results in highly qualified teachers. A…

This report is designed to help educators more keenly understand technology's potential to enhance student learning. It also offers information and insights to help school leaders effectively integrate technology into instruction and provide the support their staff needs to operate in a technology-enriched learning environment. The report…

Online learning is growing rapidly as states and districts are creating new online schools, and existing programs are adding new courses and students. The growth reflects the spreading understanding that online courses and programs can serve a wide variety of students and needs. These include: (1) Creating opportunities for small and rural school…

Just as K-12 technology programs should be based upon technological literacy standards, so should professional development programs be based upon the same standards. This ensures that both teacher candidates and practicing teachers are prepared to deliver the content that their students will be expected to know, be able to do, and understand.…

Looping is an instructional design whereby students progress to the next grade level with the same teacher(s) for two or more years. This book was designed to help teachers and administrators explore, implement, and evaluate looping programs. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1, "Exploring Looping Configurations," identifies the primary…

This booklet contains an outline of, and recommendations based on, a study of 128 New Zealand children in special groups mainstreamed into kindergartens and play groups. Research goals were to explore how mainstreaming had been implemented, whether special group children were profiting from the environment's educational opportunities, and whether…