about the project

Policy briefs published by WestEd's Policy Center provide research-based analyses of current trends in education reform and highlight recent developments benefiting children and families.

The Center brings clarity to complex, emerging issues by examining all sides of the debate. Its research-based policy briefs offer specific, relevant examples as well as concrete implications for stakeholders. In 2005, the Center published Full-Day Kindergarten: Expanding Learning Opportunities, which summarized the most recent research available on full-day kindergarten, provided information on state and local reform efforts, and discussed the characteristics of an effective kindergarten program.

In 2006, the Policy Center published Reforming Teacher Pay: The Search for a Workable Goal-Driven Compensation System. This brief examined the growing interest in differentiated compensation, identifying purposes for which it is used and explaining why, among these purposes, rewarding educators for improving student achievement remains the most challenging. Drawing from research and interviews with districts that have implemented differentiated compensation systems, the brief outlined some important considerations for developing this type of pay system.