Schools have long partnered with local organizations to support access to essential services like food, housing, or mental and physical health. Schools can build on wrap-around school models by helping students and families intentionally cultivate community relationships, skills, and knowledge, thus putting students on a path toward long-term…

The purpose of this study was to understand a school-based mentoring model that uses school staff as adult mentors. This study presents existing literature on school-based mentoring models along with a case study of one teen parent high school. The report also includes step-by-step guidance for implementation. At the case study school, all school…

Low staff support for schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) is a barrier to implementation and sustainability. In this qualitative study, we identify staff opposed to SWPBIS among staff in 36 schools across 9 districts in western Washington. Nonsupportive staff (n = 44) are compared to supportive staff (n = 1,166) on…

A comprehensive high school in Bellevue, Washington, embraces problem-based learning as its strategy for improvement. Supported by a federal i3 grant, the school spent five years preparing for a widespread launch of PBL at the school. After several years of implementation, researchers learned that students perform the same or better on…

There is emerging evidence to suggest community-based interventions can change community-wide behaviors and attitudes toward cardiovascular health. This article describes a partnership between an academic institution and a community nonprofit organization to develop and implement a cardiovascular health promotion program targeting at risk high…

This research brief highlights two schools' efforts to improve the achievement of their students using the SIOP Model. These schools, one elementary and one secondary, have seen significant improvement in the performance of their English learners through the use of the SIOP Model of instruction, an approach that addresses both academic language…

Successful advisory programs have a number of things in common across a wide variety of schools. They all divide the student body into small groups, usually of 20 or fewer students, that meet regularly with an adult in the school community. In addition to this basic element, successful advisory programs have five other elements in common: (1) They…

Describes and evaluates a reading/study skills program at Ferndale High School, Ferndale, Washington. Notes that the high school has changed dramatically over the four years of the program, and its reading/study skills program continues to be an integral part of this evolution. (RS)

During the 2000-2001 school year, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy conducted a study of how public high schools in Washington State are responding to state education reform. One aspect of the study was the experiences of high schools with various strategies to increase student engagement in learning. This paper summarizes study…

Researchers who view schools as cultural organizations have tended to assume that they are monocultural entities. This paper presents a view of complex secondary schools as multicultural organizations. It discusses findings of a year-long study that examined the professional culture within two high schools in Washington State as each attempted to…

The 1995-96 evaluation of tech prep in Washington consisted of the following activities: an analysis of survey data collected from all 22 tech prep consortia in the state, case studies of 7 tech prep consortia, and an analysis of student survey data collected from more than 2,000 students in 4 high schools in the 7 consortia. The study found that…

This document provides the state standards for high school work-based learning programs in the state of Washington. Following a vision statement, the guide includes standards for the following: (1) organization and administration of work-based learning programs; (2) the school-to-work transition sequential process; (3) school-based learning…

A project was conducted to develop a model vocational agriculture curriculum for high schools in north central Washington. During the project, units of instruction were developed that addressed the job skills needed by entry-level workers to fill jobs existing in agricultural occupations in the north central region of Washington. A pilot test of…

This document provides a framework for academic and career/technical teachers who want to raise students' achievement through real-life projects reflecting the rigorous academic and technical standards needed for further learning in the workplace and postsecondary education. The document begins with definitions of the six A's of project-based…