APPLIED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

NWREL developed 61 new products (curriculum materials, training modules, handbooks, research syntheses) and 31 publications (reports, policy papers, and literature reviews) during 1999 for widespread dissemination. Requests were filled for 56,651 copies of NWREL products and publications in 1999 through its Document Reproduction Service.

To better serve the Northwest's growing Hispanic community, NWREL translated seven of its most popular products into Spanish. Designed for parents and high school students, these products provide Spanish speakers useful tips and ideas for learning activities in the areas of reading, school-based harassment, lifelong learning, and linking work and learning.

The fourth edition of one of NWREL's most popular products, Effective Schooling Practices: A Research Synthesis, was completed in 1999. Retitled Research You Can Use To Improve Results, it incorporates findings from more than 1,400 studies and summaries.

Three new publications on charter schools were completed as this education alternative gained momentum:

• Charter Schools Leadership Training Academy Workbook (2nd draft edition)
• Meeting the Equity Challenge in Public Charter Schools
• Founding Charter Schools: A Basic Guide to Working with News Media

Other major NWREL products completed in 1999 include:

• A Development Guidebook for Teachers of English-Language Learners is a three-volume set of materials for bilingual assessment and instruction.
• Actual Schools, Possible Practices looks at effective professional development in elementary school reform.
• So That Every Child Can Read reviews effective and promising practices in volunteer reading tutoring programs.
• The Journey of a Reader: K-12 Assessment Tasks and Tools is a resource book for NWREL's Six Traits of an Effective Reader assessment model.

Development continued in 1999 on major NWREL services:

• Mathematics Problem-Solving Model centers on a five-trait analytical scoring guide providing explicit criteria to guide teachers in assessment of student performance.
• Curriculum Inquiry Cycle is a professional development process that supports educators in making curricular and instruction decisions responsive to state standards, local needs, and student characteristics.
• Onward to Excellence II is a new version of NWREL's popular school reform process model.