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2019-03-14
WestEd;
What Are We Doing to Middle School English Learners: Research ReportEXECUTIVE SUMMARYMiddle school students who are English Learners (ELs) quickly run out of time to develop the academic uses of English and the critical skills that will enable them to succeed in the 21st century. What are schools doing during these crucial years to promote ELs' accelerated access to academic language and grade-level, standards-based instruction? How will these students catch up and be able to compete in high school, in college, and on the job market? This study concludes that middle school programs for English Learners in California are failing students and limiting their futures in profound ways. Conducted by researchers in the Quality Teaching for English Learners program at WestEd, the study was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Interviews with 13 school districts with the highest concentration of English Learners in the state and 64 middle schools in those districts found incoherent EL programs across districts and from school to school within districts. The use of below-grade-level materials was found to be widespread in English Learner programs, remediation rather than acceleration was common, and some schools purposely decelerated students' progress through already below-grade-level materials. On California's five-level assessment of English Learners, the California English Language Development Test (CELDT), most students (56 percent) do not progress a single level in a year's time and some even regress (California Department of Education, 2008). School districts in the study identified inadequate teacher preparation for working with English Learners as the primary challenge to these students' academic success. Yet most districts did not provide professional development that would even begin to address teachers' needs. The study also found that schools did not have mechanisms for addressing challenges that they identified. Schools identified teachers of ELs' and EL students' lack of motivation as primary challenges, yet, only six schools reported a focus on student engagement as a support they offered; none reported having a focus on teacher engagement and motivation. Similarly, lack of parental involvement was identified as a major challenge by school interviewees, but only two schools reported having a focus on involving parents. Case studies were developed from classroom observations and interviews in five middle schools that were selected by triangulation of student data (substantially higher than average EL performance on standardized measures), survey responses, and district nominations. These case studies contextualize the study findings— the major challenges schools still face and the promising practices that were found. Practices in one school especially were notable, a small, autonomous district school organized with a focus on targeted grade-level support for students, concerted outreach to parents, and ongoing collegial professional development for teachers.
2019-03-14
WestEd;
This report examines the assessment and course placement practices across California's community colleges for incoming students and recommends strategies for overall improvement.
Community colleges have processes in place for new student orientation, counseling, assessment, and course placement. Nonetheless, students, by and large, view their matriculation process as a one-shot deal—an isolated event that happens one day with minimal to no advance information.
Yet the assessment and placement process involves very high stakes for students and can negatively impact their future success. Course placement affects not only how quickly students can earn a certificate or degree—a factor affecting the cost of their program of study—but also their likelihood of completing a credential at all.
Drawing from quantitative analyses and interviews with counselors and students, the authors uncover substantial variance in assessment and placement policies statewide, as well as confusion among both students and counselors about the policies. The authors provide recommendations directed toward making assessment and placement part of overall diagnostic and learning processes that span high school and college.
2019-03-05
WestEd;
Meaningful participation among students occurs when contributions to the school and classroom environment are facilitated, rather than directed, by adults; and when learning is connected to students' personal interests and applicable to their lives. Meaningful participation at school cultivates students' autonomy; decision-making and leadership skills; and personal talents and strengths.
This What Works Brief, cowritten by Meagan O'Malley, former Research Associate at WestEd, provides teachers and other school staff strategies for supporting students' meaningful participation in school, including:
Volunteering to be the advisor to a student-led initiative or interest group
Facilitating an after-school, extracurricular project in a particular content area
Having students collaborate to set class and school norms, as well as learning goals
Adding student-selected, project-based assignments to curricula
Note: Developed by the California Safe and Supportive Schools (S3) Technical Assistance Center, What Works Briefs summarize state-of-the-art practices, strategies, and programs for improving school climate.
Based on the most current research, each of the ten briefs provides practical recommendations for school staff, parents, and community members and can be used separately to target specific issues (e.g., family engagement) or grouped together to address more complex, systemwide issues. What Works Briefs are organized into three sections:
Quick Wins: What Teachers and Adults Can Do Right Now
Universal Supports: Schoolwide Policies, Practices, and Programs
Targeted Supports: Intensive Supports for At-Risk Youth
2019-03-05
WestEd;
One of the benefits to California schools participating in CalSCHLS is that a district/school can compare local results with those from other districts/schools and to county and state norms. Such comparisons can help in interpreting trends and guiding program decisions by placing the results in a larger context of what is happening elsewhere. By participating you also contribute to a statewide dataset that can be analyzed to provide insight into broad factors affecting student success that benefit all schools.
Standard district student and staff reports are produced in less than three weeks for 90% of districts when the survey is administered online. When the survey is administered in paper-and-pencil format, reports are produced in less than seven weeks after print answer forms are received at WestEd. Reports based on custom survey configurations can take longer. District reports are publicly posted to this website by the end of November of the year following administration. Parent survey results are not posted on the website.
2019-03-05
Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd;
Produced by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd, this 13th annual report on the California teacher workforce takes an extended look at principals in our Golden State and their vital role in supporting teacher effectiveness.
The Center provides new information on budget cutbacks to teacher professional development, declining enrollment in preparation programs, drops in the rate of newly credentialed teachers, and escalating educator retirements.
The report also looks at how California's school principals perceive their role and how well-prepared they are in helping their teachers become more effective educators.
In addition to research and analyses, this report offers useful recommendations. How can we improve the state's system of teacher development and evaluation in ways that strengthen the quality of classroom practice? How can we help educators prepare for the challenge of implementing the Common Core State Standards?
2018-12-27
WestEd;
With recent developments in federal education policy, school turnaround has become an increasingly prominent area of focus for practitioners and policymakers nationwide. However, what we know about effectively turning schools around is limited.
In this archived webinar, we explore strategies at the school and district level to improve the most struggling schools. (Note that our focus is not on the lowest five percent of schools but on schools in the lowest third of school performance in California.)
This webinar focuses on:
Effective strategies cited by 9 turnaround school principals
The role the district can play in both contributing to and reversing school failure
A practitioner perspective on what is required for dramatic school change
2018-12-17
CREATE;
The achievement gap between English language learners and their English-proficient peers in U.S. schools is persistent and well documented (California Department of Education, 2004; Lee, Grigg, & Donahue, 2007; Siegel, 2002). Research shows that among in-school factors that contribute to student achievement, teachers have the biggest impact. Given this, it is imperative that all teachers know how to make academic content comprehensible to learners who are not yet proficient in English.One promising approach to improve the academic performance of English language learners is the SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) Model, an empirically tested, research-based model of sheltered instruction developed by researchers at California State University, Long Beach, and the Center for Applied Linguistics under the auspices of the National Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008). The SIOP Model is a lesson planning and delivery system that incorporates best practices for teaching academic English and provides teachers with a coherent approach for improving the achievement of their students. Using strategies and techniques that make academic content comprehensible to students, teachers present curricular content concepts that are aligned with state standards. While doing so, teachers are developing students' academic English skills across the four domains—reading, writing, listening, and speaking—in addition to building their academic vocabulary
2018-12-14
WestEd;
One of the key requirements of the Common Core State Standards for Reading is that all students must be able to comprehend texts of steadily increasing complexity as they progress through school. By the time they complete the core, students must be able to read and comprehend independently and proficiently the kinds of complex texts commonly found in college and careers. The first part of this section makes a research-based case for why the complexity of what students read matters. In brief, while reading demands in college, workforce training programs, and life in general have held steady or increased over the last half century, K–12 texts have actually declined in sophistication, and relatively little attention has been paid to students' ability to read complex texts independently. These conditions have left a serious gap between many high school seniors' reading ability and the reading requirements they will face after graduation. The second part of this section addresses how text complexity can be measured and made a regular part of instruction. It introduces a three-part model that blends qualitative and quantitative measures of text complexity with reader and task considerations. The section concludes with three annotated examples showing how the model can be used to assess the complexity of various kinds of texts appropriate for different grade levels.
2018-11-21
WestEd;
This report describes College Promise programs in California, including the number of College Promise programs, features, and general perceptions held by practitioners, leaders, and policymakers.
2018-11-12
WestEd;
This evaluation report describes the benefits that students are getting from their districts'participation in the California K–8 NGSS Early Implementers Initiative. The findings are drawnfrom surveys of administrators, teachers, and students; interviews with select administratorsand teachers; and classroom observations of 22 case study teachers. The report also presents anextended vignette of a grade 4 lesson to illustrate the student experiences and benefits that occur in NGSS instruction.
2018-10-30
WestEd;
In 2012, the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District (GJUESD) in Galt, California was selected as one of 16 districts in the United States that received a federal Race to the Top-District grant to improve student learning through a districtwide initiative focused on personalized learning (PL) for students and educators. Located in California's San Joaquin Valley, Galt has a diverse population of approximately 3,900 students.
To implement the four-year initiative, the district made profound, coordinated changes to district, school, classroom, and out-of-school policies and practices. The efforts coalesced as a unique and integrated strengths-based PL model designed to support every student's strengths, aspirations, and individual learning needs.
PL, broadly defined, is a system of instructional practices that take into account individual students' needs and goals. This report describes:
A PL model developed by GJUESD
The gradual implementation of the model over a 4-year period
The results of an impact study focused on measuring its effectiveness
The study used longitudinal student achievement data from district students, along with data from a matched virtual comparison group — that is, a group created using a national database from a widely used assessment vendor — to measure the effect of the intervention on students in the areas of mathematics, reading, and language usage.
2018-10-20
WestEd;
In 2012, the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District (GJUESD) in Galt, California was selected as one of 16 districts in the United States that received a federal Race to the Top-District grant to improve student learning through a districtwide initiative focused on personalized learning (PL) for students and educators. Located in California's San Joaquin Valley, Galt has a diverse population of approximately 3,900 students.
To implement the four-year initiative, the district made profound, coordinated changes to district, school, classroom, and out-of-school policies and practices. The efforts coalesced as a unique and integrated strengths-based PL model designed to support every student's strengths, aspirations, and individual learning needs.
PL, broadly defined, is a system of instructional practices that take into account individual students' needs and goals. This report describes:
A PL model developed by GJUESD
The gradual implementation of the model over a 4-year period
The results of an impact study focused on measuring its effectiveness
The study used longitudinal student achievement data from district students, along with data from a matched virtual comparison group — that is, a group created using a national database from a widely used assessment vendor — to measure the effect of the intervention on students in the areas of mathematics, reading, and language usage.
