Stanford University's Energy Retrofit Program was created in 1993 to target resource reduction and conservation focused projects on campus. Fahmida Ahmed, Associate Director of the Department of Sustainability and Energy Management, says that Stanford has been investing in sustainability and energy-efficiency since the late 1970s, longer than many…

This article is a retrospective description of the decisions, strategies, and context of program changes made at the USC Rossier School of Education, related specifically to the education doctorate. The primary purpose is to highlight the change process from the perspective of the academic dean. Drawing on work in systems change and strategic…

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,…

The decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1" (2007) has forced school districts to begin thinking of new ways to integrate their schools without relying on race as the single factor in their assignment plans. While some school districts already have begun…

English language learners (ELs) face multiple challenges in receiving proper instruction that balances their need for English Language Development (ELD) and grade-level content instruction. Additionally, educators often minimize the importance of recognizing students' funds of knowledge as a valuable asset they bring to the classroom. Studies that…

Students who graduate from high school who are college-ready are more likely to graduate than those who are not college-ready. The need for remediation on college campuses burdens both students and institutions with financial and opportunity costs that at best delay, and at worst impede graduation rates. At a time when workforce preparation skills…

This policy report provides an overview of the Common Core State Standards, how they were developed, the sources that were referenced in their development, the need for educational standards generally, what they entail, and what it will mean for educators to implement them. The report draws from research and reference material to outline the…

In 2008, University of California, San Diego (UCSD) joined the ranks of institutions offering Global Seminars, short-term study abroad programs designed and led by the institution's own faculty. In this model, an instructor teaches two courses in his or her area of expertise and guides students through a city or other location abroad for five…

Learning communities have increasingly become a mechanism for education reform in elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education. Recognizing that learning occurs both inside and outside the classroom, their emergence is partly a response to the critique that undergraduate education at American research universities lacks integrated and…

This study examined the initial implementation process of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) in a northern California community college. Focus groups of students, faculty, and administrators were conducted in the spring of 2008, as well as observations of several planning meetings in the spring and summer of 2008. The community…

To propose recommendations to implement outcomes-based assessment program review in a California Community College District, a grounded theory analysis was performed within the district. The findings generated were cross-referenced with findings from a multi-institutional case study analysis. A key finding from the cross-reference was the need for…

This study reports on an evaluation of the "Reading Partners" program, which uses community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring to struggling readers in underresourced elementary schools. Established in 1999 in East Menlo Park, California, the mission of "Reading Partners" is to help children become lifelong readers by…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of Achieve3000, a differentiated online literacy curriculum, on students' scores on the California State Test (CST). In the 2011-12 school year, 1,957 students in Chula Vista began using Achieve3000's solutions in 3rd through 8th grade. Using a form of propensity score matching called Inverse…

Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) is a social emotional model that achieves academic outcomes through combining use of real-time student data with proven relationship-building strategies and intensive teacher collaboration to prevent course failure. BARR is a recipient of US Department of Education "Investing in Innovation (i3)"…

This book traces the recent socio-historical trajectory of educational language policy in Arizona, the state with the most restrictive English-only implementation in the United States. Chapters, each representing a case study of policy-making in the state, include: (1) SEI in Arizona: Bastion for States' Rights (Karen E. Lillie and Sarah Catherine…