Three preK-6 U.S. university methods instructors-researchers (literacy, science, social studies) joined 17 Title I school teachers for collaborative lesson planning and teaching within the preK-5 school setting. Each team's goal was to create and teach interdisciplinary curriculum units using U.S. English language arts Common Core State Standards…

Internet connectivity has become a critical resource for teaching and learning. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is a prime example, with schools expected to implement online assessments and use online resources for instruction. Yet there is little known about the extent to which local education agencies (LEAs) and schools are taking…

The purpose of this study was to: (1) describe elementary teachers' perceptions on their preparedness to implement the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards (ELA-CCSS); (2) determine how perceptions influenced changes in instructional practices; and (3) to explore ELA-CCSS implementation challenges and/or barriers in supporting teacher…

The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL), funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, examines how college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards are implemented, if they improve student learning, and what instructional tools measure and support their implementation. This brief presents findings from C-SAIL's…

Gridley Unified School District serves just over 2,000 students across five schools in a small rural town in the upper Sacramento Valley. The median annual household income in Gridley is just over 60% of the state average. Gridley Unified is one of seven districts studied by researchers at the Learning Policy Institute in a mixed-methods study…

Sitting just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, the Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD) supports teaching and learning in California's largest elementary school system. Across its 47 schools, CVESD educators serve over 30,000 students each day, 90% of whom are students of color and over one third of whom are English learners. CVESD is one…

Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) has been nationally recognized as a consistently high-functioning district for more than 2 decades. The district educates approximately 72,200 students, from preschool to high school, in its 86 schools. Almost 90% are students of color, with 57% Latino/a and 12% African American, while 65% are from…

The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) supports teaching and learning in California's second-largest school district, educating students from preschool to high school each day. Nearly three quarters of SDUSD students are students of color, including 47% who are Latino/a and 9% who are African American. Almost 60% of students are…

Serving a working-class suburb of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the Hawthorne School District (HSD) is a small district with 11 schools: seven elementary schools, three middle schools, and one dependent charter high school. HSD's students are predominantly from low-income families (87%). Most students (71%) are Latino/a and about fifth (21%)…