Reports

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  Report

  Investing for Student Success: Lessons from State School Finance Reforms

  Linda Darling-Hammond

  Apr 09 2019

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  Money matters when it comes to improving our nation’s schools, but how that money is spent is critical. This report reviews and analyzes efforts by four states to undertake progressive school funding strategies in order to substantially improve learning opportunities for all students and provides recommendations for federal and state policies to address funding inequalities that contribute to the cycle of poverty.

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

  Understanding and Addressing Principal Turnover: A Review of the Research

  Stephanie Levin

  Kathryn Bradley

  Mar 19 2019

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  School principals are responsible for maintaining a positive school climate, motivating school staff, and enhancing teachers’ practice. They are vital to ensuring teachers’ success in the classroom and students’ success, but one in five principals leaves their school each year and the numbers are worse in schools in underserved communities. Inadequate preparation, poor working conditions, insufficient salaries, lack of authority, and high-stakes accountability policies are among the drivers of principal turnover that must be addressed.

  Topics Educator Quality, Educator Quality: Recruitment & Retention​, The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
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  Report

  The Federal Role and School Integration: Brown’s Promise and Present Challenges

  Janel George

  Linda Darling-Hammond

  Feb 28 2019

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  Public schools are increasingly segregated along both racial and socioeconomic lines and many of the most extremely segregated schools are also the most under-resourced, plagued by inexperienced educators, lack of access to quality curriculum, and lack of quality facilities or access to technology. Although integrated education is not a panacea, diverse learning environments benefit all students and the federal government plays a critical role in fostering school diversity.

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

  Sharing the Wealth: How Regional Finance and Desegregation Plans Can Enhance Educational Equity

  John Brittain

  Larkin Willis

  Peter W. Cookson, Jr.

  Feb 28 2019

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  In American public schools, most racial and ethnic segregation—and most financial inequity—occurs between, not within, school districts, which is why cooperative interdistrict approaches are often the most effective at addressing these problems. Looking at three regions—Boston, MA; Hartford, CT; and Omaha, NE—the authors examine interdistrict desegregation designs that use innovative funding strategies to foster equity, quality, and access. They share academic and social outcomes and identifies lessons for policymakers.

  Topic Equitable Resources​ and Access
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  Report

  The California Way: The Golden State’s Quest to Build an Equitable and Excellent Education System

  Roberta C. Furger

  Laura E. Hernández

  Linda Darling-Hammond

  Feb 21 2019

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  In 2013, California adopted its Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which has shifted billions of dollars to districts serving high-need students, created a multiple-measure accountability system, and provided all districts with broad flexibility to develop spending plans aligned to local priorities and needs. This report examines LCFF and related reforms—the decade-plus effort leading to their passage and the impact on culture, practice, opportunities, and outcomes—and explores next steps to sustain and deepen improvement. Read the report or brief >

  Topics Accountability and Improvement, Deeper Learning, Equitable Resources​ and Access
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  Report

  The Instructional Leadership Corps: Entrusting Professional Learning in the Hands of the Profession

  Rachel A. Lotan

  Dion Burns

  Linda Darling-Hammond

  Feb 21 2019

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  Teacher leaders in California are collaborating to lead sustainable professional development for implementation of new student standards within their districts. This statewide effort, the Instructional Leadership Corps, has been in place for the last 4 years and participant feedback has been overwhelmingly positive about the experience. This study describes how teacher-led learning can motivate shifts in practice, enhance teachers’ professionalism and efficacy, and create supportive systems and strategic relationships that can sustain change.

  Topics Deeper Learning: Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment​, Educator Quality: Professional Learning
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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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