Publications

This study points to the high concentration of homeless and highly mobile students in certain schools, grades, and ethnic groups, as well as social-emotional learning skills that can serve as protective factors for this vulnerable population.

This study points to the high concentration of homeless and highly mobile students in certain schools, grades, and ethnic groups, as well as social-emotional learning skills that can serve as protective factors for this vulnerable population.

This report shares perspectives from school principals, family engagement staff, teachers, and community partners about how the Mission Promise Neighborhood initiative is supporting children and youth from cradle to college and career.

An ethnic studies curriculum, when assigned to eighth-graders with GPAs below a certain threshold, increased ninth-grade attendance, GPAs, and credits earned.

This report reviews accountability standards for alternative schools in other U.S. states and offers recommendations about how California can identify meaningful standards to ensure the tens of thousands of students in alternative schools receive a high-quality education.

This initial assessment examines a collaborative effort in San Mateo County to address truancy and low graduation rates among at-risk teens.

Oakland Unified School District has partnered with the Gardner Center since 2014 to support its efforts to assess, enhance, and scale its community schools work; this report highlights findings from the second year of this research collaboration and includes the role of the district in supporting community school implementation and student outcomes.

A performance-assessment and incentive system in the District of Columbia Public Schools showed that replacing lower performing teachers increased student achievement.

The Youth Arts and Music Center Initiative drew on broad-based input from the community, and particularly focused on engaging young people, which played an important role in garnering support from the beginning.

This study documents how a key community project in East Palo Alto engaged young people and the benefits associated with doing so.

Among other key findings, the Gardner Center shows that Aim High improves students' academics with habits of mind that bolster performance throughout the school year.

The four case examples presented in this brief are drawn from the Gardner Center's substantial experience conducting rigorous research in research-practice partnerships.

This report proposes a conceptual framework for defining and implementing a system of integrated student supports that provides equitable access to college and career readiness via Linked Learning pathways in high schools.

In 2014, Aim High engaged the Gardner Center to identify whether it was achieving its goals of preventing summer academic slide and building a pipeline for young people of color to enter the field of education.

This brief outlines how integrated student supports within a Linked Learning framework help students build competencies for college, career, and civic readiness.

This report and four related briefs present findings from the first year of a planned three-year collaboration between OUSD and the Gardner Center to study the district's community schools, drawing on interviews with key stakeholders in five community schools and analysis of district data.

This brief provides an overview of the design and rationale behind the community school model in Oakland, setting the stage for further analysis.

This brief outlines the range of services, supports, and opportunities that community schools in Oakland provide to students and their families, especially in the areas of health and wellness, expanded learning, and family engagement.

This report details how community school interventions have positively affected student readiness to learn, support for teachers, and the school climate.  

This report highlights the key organizational structures of the OUSD community school design — collaborative leadership, strategic partnerships, and coordination — necessary to make progress toward desired school improvement and student outcomes.