Lessons Learned From Los Angeles

• In Event: Nurturing Consortia in the Maelstrom of Education Reform: Conversations With Chicago, New York City, Baltimore, and Los Angeles

Abstract

The Los Angeles Education Research Institute (LAERI) is a newly-formed, independent, non-profit organization designed to use high-quality, interdisciplinary research to improve educational outcomes for youth in Los Angeles, focusing first on the Los Angeles Unified School District as a partnering agency, but expanding to other Los Angeles County school districts over time. LAERI works in collaboration with district leaders and managers, administrators and teachers, and community stakeholders to ensure that its research addresses important problems of practice and produces results that are actionable. LAERI’s core work is organized around the goal of developing a coherent and cumulative knowledge base about Los Angeles students and schools that will inform policy and practice in ways that lead to concrete improvements in students’ educational achievement and attainment. This cumulative knowledge base is built upon a mix of quick turnaround studies that identify possible solutions and long-term examination of the impact of solutions on key outcomes.

Author

• Meredith Phillips, University of California - Los Angeles