Reports

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  Report

  Untangling the Evidence on Preschool Effectiveness: Insights for Policymakers

  Beth Meloy

  Madelyn Gardner

  Linda Darling-Hammond

  Jan 31 2019

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  Research on early learning programs in the 1960s and 1970s revealed longlasting benefits, sparking investment in preschool programs. However, recent evaluations of two large preschool programs found mixed results, creating confusion about whether preschool programs can support student success. This report reviews these two studies and others in depth, and finds that when participants are compared to very similar students who did not attend preschool, the benefits of participation are typically found to be substantial.

  Topics Early Childhood Learning, Equitable Resources​ and Access
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  Report

  Essential Building Blocks for State School Finance Systems and Promising State Practices

  David Hinojosa

  Dec 05 2018

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  The cost for failing to properly invest in a high-quality public education for all children has grave implications for both the students and society at large. A new report shares essential state-level strategies and examples to help policymakers develop equitable and effective school finance systems.

  Topics Equitable Resources​ and Access, Accountability and Improvement
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  Report

  The Tapestry of American Public Education: How Can We Create a System of Schools Worth Choosing for All?

  Peter W. Cookson, Jr.

  Linda Darling-Hammond

  Robert Rothman

  Patrick M. Shields

  Oct 25 2018

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  Often forgotten in the policy debates on school choice are fundamental questions of whether and how choice influences access to high-quality schools, and whether, in our diverse democracy that requires common ground, choices promote or undermine integration. This report reviews research on a variety of school choice strategies and examines how public school choices can be managed to ensure all students have excellent schools to choose from and are chosen by excellent schools.

  Topics Equitable Resources​ and Access, Accountability and Improvement
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  Report

  Educating the Whole Child: Improving School Climate to Support Student Success

  Linda Darling-Hammond

  Channa Cook-Harvey

  Sep 07 2018

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  Each year in the United States, 46 million children are exposed to violence, crime, abuse, homelessness, or food insecurity—experiences that can affect attention, learning, and behavior. This report looks at neuroscience, science of learning, and child development research on whole child approaches to education that improve learning for all students, especially those living with trauma.

  Topics Deeper Learning, Deeper Learning: School Organization & Design
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  Report

  Making ESSA’s Equity Promise Real: State Strategies to Close the Opportunity Gap

  Stephen Kostyo

  Jessica Cardichon

  Linda Darling-Hammond

  Sep 05 2018

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  Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), in addition to the required indicators of schools performance, states can select indicators to measure schools’ efforts to support students and provide equitable opportunities or to identify places where additional investments need to be made to improve education and support underserved students. This report documents how states are taking advantage of this opportunity to address disparities, make schools more inclusive, and help all students succeed.

  Topics Accountability and Improvement, The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Equitable Resources​ and Access
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  Report

  Taking the Long View: State Efforts to Solve Teacher Shortages by Strengthening the Profession

  Danny Espinoza

  Ryan Saunders

  Tara Kini

  Linda Darling-Hammond

  Aug 29 2018

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  Most states have been struggling to address teacher shortages for several years, often filling the vacuum with underprepared teachers. Governors and legislators in many of these states are now working to turn the tide. A new report from the Learning Policy Institute focuses on six evidence-based policies that states are pursuing to address their teacher shortages that can help states build long-term sustainable systems to attract, develop, and retain a strong and stable teacher workforce.

  Topics Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention​, Educator Quality
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  Report

  Diversifying the Teaching Profession: How to Recruit and Retain Teachers of Color

  Desiree Carver-Thomas

  Apr 19 2018

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  More and more states and districts are recognizing that recruiting and retaining teachers of color can help meet their students' needs while also helping to curb critical teacher shortages. But prospective teachers of color encounter unique barriers to entering and staying in the profession. High-retention pathways—combining high-quality clinically rich preparation with financial support—can be especially effective at reversing those trends.

  Topics Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention​, Equitable Resources​ and Access
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  Report

  Building an Early Learning System that Works: Next Steps for California

  Hanna Melnick

  Beth Meloy

  Madelyn Gardner

  Marjorie Wechsler

  Anna Maier

  Jan 23 2018

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  There is overwhelming evidence that children’s early years, from birth through preschool, are a crucial time for their development, and that high-quality early learning opportunities support children’s school readiness, promote later life success, and yield a return of up to $7 for every $1 invested. Providing access to high-quality ECE for all children in California will require a comprehensive approach to turning an uncoordinated set of underfunded programs into a true system of supports for children, families, and providers. A complement to LPI’s earlier report Understanding California’s Early Care and Education System, this report examines the challenges California’s counties face in providing ECE and provides recommendations for improving access to high-quality ECE for all children.

  Topic Early Childhood Learning
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  Report

  The Promise of Performance Assessments: Innovations in High School Learning and Higher Education Admissions

  Roneeta Guha

  Tony Wagner

  Linda Darling-Hammond

  Terri Taylor

  Diane Curtis

  Jan 18 2018

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  A new study looks at the use of performance assessments for both K-12 learning and college admission, placement and advising. The study is the first research produced through Reimagining College Access, a national initiative of the Learning Policy Institute and EducationCounsel that for the first time brings together k-12 and higher education policy and practice leaders to recognize and foster high-quality k–12 performance assessment systems.

  Topics Deeper Learning: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment​, Deeper Learning: College, Career & Civic Participation, Deeper Learning
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  Report

  Community Schools as an Effective School Improvement Strategy: A Review of the Evidence

  Anna Maier

  Julia Daniel

  Jeannie Oakes

  Livia Lam

  Dec 14 2017

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  Education policymakers working to address the impacts of growing economic and racial inequality on students often look to community schools as an effective approach for supporting students and their families in communities facing concentrated poverty. This report, which synthesizes findings from 143 rigorous research studies, finds community schools can improve outcomes for all students, and especially those facing lack of access to high-quality schools and out-of-school barriers to learning.

  Topics Equitable Resources​ and Access, Accountability and Improvement, Deeper Learning, Deeper Learning: College, Career & Civic Participation, Deeper Learning: School Organization & Design

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