As student populations become increasingly diverse, more schools are recognizing the importance of providing safe, engaging, and supportive school environments. As a part of these efforts, national attention has focused on promoting instructional equity and respect for diversity. Although some research has examined students' perceptions of equity…

This report presents the findings from an independent evaluation conducted by WestEd on the Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC). Funded by an Investing in Innovation (i3) Validation grant, the ERWC is a grade 11 and grade 12 English language arts (ELA) curriculum developed by the California State University. The independent evaluation…

The California Teacher Residency Grant Program provided essential, one-time funding to jump-start new and to expand existing teacher residencies, which are pathways into the teaching profession that integrate a residents' coursework with a yearlong placement in the classroom of an expert teacher. In spring of 2021, WestEd collected data through…

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on education. Science teaching, in particular, has faced specific challenges given the field's emphasis on high-quality instruction that has students "do" science collaboratively rather than just read about it or hear about it in a lecture. This brief provides: (1) a summary of data collected…

To better understand the intersections of race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation, this report presents data drawn from the California Healthy Kids Survey (2017-2019) regarding high school students' social and emotional well-being, school experiences, engagement, and their perceptions of the supports they received at school. With…

Offering "Early Start" programs in the summer before students start their first year of college is one of the strategies that the California State University (CSU) system has used to support incoming students who may not be ready for college-level work in mathematics or written communication. In 2017, the CSU system began implementing a…

This report is part of a series focusing on studies intended to inform the California State University (CSU) system about the implementation of Executive Order 1110 (EO 1110). A major policy adopted by the CSU Chancellor's Office in 2017, EO 1110 requires CSU campuses to eliminate noncredit developmental courses -- often known as…

In California, Black students have markedly lower academic achievement than their White peers and Black students are also more likely to experience exclusionary discipline, such as suspensions (Cano, 2020, Losen & Martinez, 2020). What can be done to mitigate these racial disparities in schools? In this brief, we investigate whether increasing…

This report concludes a multiyear series of implementation studies intended to inform the California State University (CSU) system about the implementation of Executive Order 1110 (EO 1110). A major policy established in 2017, EO 1110 requires CSU campuses to eliminate noncredit developmental courses (often known as "remedial" courses)…

Each year, funds from federal, state, and local sources are directed to provide special education and related services to nearly 725,000 students with disabilities in California. To increase equitable outcomes for these students, who comprise nearly 12 percent of California's K-12 population, state-decision-makers agree that more research and…

California Senate Bill 74, Budget Act of 2020, required the California Department of Education (CDE) to conduct a study to examine the state's current governance and accountability structures that support California students with an individualized education program (IEP). The study was intended to focus on the end goals of improving outcomes for…

School closures because of natural phenomena, such as COVID-19, underscore the importance of effective distance learning strategies when there are no in-school alternatives. Our study describes the implementation of a multimedia science program before and after school closure due to COVID-19 in a variety of ways depending on schools'…

The California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS) Toolkit for Instructional Materials Evaluation (TIME) is a suite of tools and processes for evaluating and selecting instructional materials aligned with the CA NGSS. This 11th report in the NGSS Early Implementers Initiative evaluation series is intended for school and district…

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…

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…