In 2013, Westat joined with two subcontractors, the University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, to evaluate the Foster Youth Strategic Initiative in Los Angeles County (LAC) and New York City (NYC). The Initiative grew out of an extensive research and synthesis process that helped the Foundation better understand challenges facing Transition-Age Youth (TAY), identify key levers and successful models for change, and incorporate the perspectives of a wide variety of stakeholders. The Initiative is built on a theory of change proposing that funding three components (TAY self-sufficiency services, systems change, and new knowledge) will synergize efforts in LAC and NYC around improving outcomes for TAY.

The Hilton Foundation provides grants to organizations and entities with the potential to actualize the Foster Youth Strategic Initiative's components. As of May 2014, grantmaking totaled $23,917,033. Currently 19 grantees are funded to support TAY self-sufficiency through direct services; 11 funded grantees are focusing on systems change; and 6 grantees are generating new knowledge about TAY. From a regional, or site-level perspective, there are 16 grantees focused on changes for TAY in LAC; 9 grantees are focused on TAY in NYC; and 4 grantees (designated as dual geography) are focused on changes in both LAC and NYC.

The primary goal of the evaluation is to inform learning about TAY. In order to investigate a multi-faceted and strategically informed initiative, the evaluation is designed to be broader than a program evaluation. Over 3 years, the evaluation team will assess the value added by Hilton Foundation's investments in improving outcomes for TAY and will ground the data in national and regional contexts.

Since 2006, The James Irvine Foundation has invested more than $100 million in Linked Learning, a promising approach to transforming education in California. In 2009, the Foundation launched the California Linked Learning District Initiative ("the initiative) to demonstrate this approach in nine districts. The multiyear evaluation for this large initiative has a two-fold purpose: to document the work, results, and lessons from districts that are applying Linked Learning systemically; and to measure the effect of this comprehensive implementation on student outcomes.

SRI International's fifth annual evaluation report on the progress of the initiative comes at a time when Linked Learning is gaining momentum among K–12 and postsecondary educators, policymakers, and business leaders as a promising approach for preparing all students for college, career, and life. In early 2013, 63 districts and county offices of education were selected to participate in the California Linked Learning Pilot Program, which serves as a test of how Linked Learning can be expanded across the state. In June 2014, 39 partnerships received a total of $250 million through the California Career Pathways Trust, a competitive grant designed to develop work-based learning infrastructure, create regional partnerships, and improve and expand career pathway programs statewide. In 2015, a second round of grants will provide an additional $250 million to district and community college partnerships across the state.

It is within this context of increased funding and policy support for Linked Learning that we present this fifth-year evaluation report. Previous evaluation reports have focused on the development of district systems and structures to support new and existing Linked Learning pathways. As we close out the fifth year of our evaluation, we turn our primary attention to the students who participate in these pathways to ask the following questions: Who enrolls in pathways? Who stays? How do students feel about their experiences? What are their perceptions of the skills they are gaining? What effect does participation in a Linked Learning pathway have on students' high school outcomes?

To answer these and other questions, this report offers updated findings on student engagement and achievement outcomes from the nine districts participating in the initiative. Additionally, for the first time, our report takes an in-depth look at the issue of student equity and access to pathways through an analysis of student enrollment patterns across pathway career themes and of pathway retention among student subgroup populations. Finally, it assesses pathway students' experiences with academic and technical curricula and work-based learning, their perceptions of the skills they are gaining as a result of their pathway experiences, and their plans for the future.

Lessons from the experiences of the nine initiative districts are highly instructive for those that are just beginning to engage with or scale up Linked Learning. As context for understanding students' experiences in pathways and their outcomes, this report provides an update on the nine districts' efforts to develop and improve systems and structures to support Linked Learning and their initial plans to use new funding sources and regional partnerships to sustain Linked Learning.

Since 2006, The James Irvine Foundation has invested more than $100 million in Linked Learning, a promising approach to transforming education in California. In 2009, the Foundation launched the California Linked Learning District Initiative ("the initiative) to demonstrate this approach in nine districts. The multiyear evaluation for this large initiative has a two-fold purpose: to document the work, results, and lessons from districts that are applying Linked Learning systemically; and to measure the effect of this comprehensive implementation on student outcomes.

SRI International's fifth annual evaluation report on the progress of the initiative comes at a time when Linked Learning is gaining momentum among K–12 and postsecondary educators, policymakers, and business leaders as a promising approach for preparing all students for college, career, and life. In early 2013, 63 districts and county offices of education were selected to participate in the California Linked Learning Pilot Program, which serves as a test of how Linked Learning can be expanded across the state. In June 2014, 39 partnerships received a total of $250 million through the California Career Pathways Trust, a competitive grant designed to develop work-based learning infrastructure, create regional partnerships, and improve and expand career pathway programs statewide. In 2015, a second round of grants will provide an additional $250 million to district and community college partnerships across the state.

It is within this context of increased funding and policy support for Linked Learning that we present this fifth-year evaluation report. Previous evaluation reports have focused on the development of district systems and structures to support new and existing Linked Learning pathways. As we close out the fifth year of our evaluation, we turn our primary attention to the students who participate in these pathways to ask the following questions: Who enrolls in pathways? Who stays? How do students feel about their experiences? What are their perceptions of the skills they are gaining? What effect does participation in a Linked Learning pathway have on students' high school outcomes?

To answer these and other questions, this report offers updated findings on student engagement and achievement outcomes from the nine districts participating in the initiative. Additionally, for the first time, our report takes an in-depth look at the issue of student equity and access to pathways through an analysis of student enrollment patterns across pathway career themes and of pathway retention among student subgroup populations. Finally, it assesses pathway students' experiences with academic and technical curricula and work-based learning, their perceptions of the skills they are gaining as a result of their pathway experiences, and their plans for the future.

Lessons from the experiences of the nine initiative districts are highly instructive for those that are just beginning to engage with or scale up Linked Learning. As context for understanding students' experiences in pathways and their outcomes, this report provides an update on the nine districts' efforts to develop and improve systems and structures to support Linked Learning and their initial plans to use new funding sources and regional partnerships to sustain Linked Learning.

In 2002, the newly founded Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation made an unprecedented 10-year "Commitment" of $300 million to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Combined with a separate, personal gift from Gordon and Betty Moore of $300 million, Caltech became the recipient of the largest donation ever made to an institute of higher learning. The Foundation's Commitment was meant to "advance Caltech's position at the forefront of higher education, technological development, and scientific research, and to foster significant scientific achievements in the life and physical sciences."

In keeping with the Moore Foundation's practice of evaluating its major grantmaking projects, an independent final assessment was completed by Science-Metrix in 2013. The Foundation asked Science-Metrix to: • Understand the impact of the Commitment on advancing science broadly; • Examine the impact of the Commitment at the institution-level for Caltech; and • Articulate lessons learned about deploying a long-term, single-institution funding model.

In 2002, the newly founded Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation made an unprecedented 10-year "Commitment" of $300 million to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Combined with a separate, personal gift from Gordon and Betty Moore of $300 million, Caltech became the recipient of the largest donation ever made to an institute of higher learning. The Foundation's Commitment was meant to "advance Caltech's position at the forefront of higher education, technological development, and scientific research, and to foster significant scientific achievements in the life and physical sciences."

In keeping with the Moore Foundation's practice of evaluating its major grantmaking projects, an independent final assessment was completed by Science-Metrix in 2013. The Foundation asked Science-Metrix to: • Understand the impact of the Commitment on advancing science broadly; • Examine the impact of the Commitment at the institution-level for Caltech; and • Articulate lessons learned about deploying a long-term, single-institution funding model.

This interim report presents estimates of the overall effect that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative has had on student outcomes through the 2013– 2014 school year. The aim of the initiative is to encourage and support strategic human-capital reforms that are intended to improve the ways in which "teachers are recruited, evaluated, supported, retained, and rewarded" (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2011). The cornerstone of the reform is the development and implementation of teacherevaluation systems that are based on student achievement growth; structured classroom observations by principals or trained peers; and other inputs, such as student or parent surveys. These evaluations are used to guide personnel practices in three broad areas—staffing, professional development, and compensation and career-ladder decisions—with the goal of giving every student access to highly effective teachers. Staffing practices include such activities as expedited recruiting and incentivizing effective teachers to work in high-need schools; professionaldevelopment practices include feedback, coaching, and mentoring related to teachers' identified strengths and weaknesses; and compensation practices include monetary rewards for effective teachers and incentives for teaching in high-need positions.

This initiative is being implemented in sites that the foundation chose, including three large urban districts and four charter management organizations (CMOs) that are a part of the College-Ready Promise. The districts are Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) in Florida, Memphis City Schools (MCS) in Tennessee,2 and Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) in Pennsylvania. The CMOs are the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, Aspire Public Schools, Green Dot Public Schools, and Partnerships to Uplift Communities Schools. All sites have implemented most of the elements of the initiative to some degree, although there is variation by site. Enough change has occurred that it is reasonable to test whether there is evidence of improved students' outcomes. This report does not include results for any of the CMOs because student achievement data for the 2013–2014 school year are not available in California, where most of these schools are located.

This interim report presents estimates of the overall effect that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative has had on student outcomes through the 2013– 2014 school year. The aim of the initiative is to encourage and support strategic human-capital reforms that are intended to improve the ways in which "teachers are recruited, evaluated, supported, retained, and rewarded" (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2011). The cornerstone of the reform is the development and implementation of teacherevaluation systems that are based on student achievement growth; structured classroom observations by principals or trained peers; and other inputs, such as student or parent surveys. These evaluations are used to guide personnel practices in three broad areas—staffing, professional development, and compensation and career-ladder decisions—with the goal of giving every student access to highly effective teachers. Staffing practices include such activities as expedited recruiting and incentivizing effective teachers to work in high-need schools; professionaldevelopment practices include feedback, coaching, and mentoring related to teachers' identified strengths and weaknesses; and compensation practices include monetary rewards for effective teachers and incentives for teaching in high-need positions.

This initiative is being implemented in sites that the foundation chose, including three large urban districts and four charter management organizations (CMOs) that are a part of the College-Ready Promise. The districts are Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) in Florida, Memphis City Schools (MCS) in Tennessee,2 and Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) in Pennsylvania. The CMOs are the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, Aspire Public Schools, Green Dot Public Schools, and Partnerships to Uplift Communities Schools. All sites have implemented most of the elements of the initiative to some degree, although there is variation by site. Enough change has occurred that it is reasonable to test whether there is evidence of improved students' outcomes. This report does not include results for any of the CMOs because student achievement data for the 2013–2014 school year are not available in California, where most of these schools are located.

This interim report presents estimates of the overall effect that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative has had on student outcomes through the 2013– 2014 school year. The aim of the initiative is to encourage and support strategic human-capital reforms that are intended to improve the ways in which "teachers are recruited, evaluated, supported, retained, and rewarded" (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2011). The cornerstone of the reform is the development and implementation of teacherevaluation systems that are based on student achievement growth; structured classroom observations by principals or trained peers; and other inputs, such as student or parent surveys. These evaluations are used to guide personnel practices in three broad areas—staffing, professional development, and compensation and career-ladder decisions—with the goal of giving every student access to highly effective teachers. Staffing practices include such activities as expedited recruiting and incentivizing effective teachers to work in high-need schools; professionaldevelopment practices include feedback, coaching, and mentoring related to teachers' identified strengths and weaknesses; and compensation practices include monetary rewards for effective teachers and incentives for teaching in high-need positions.

This initiative is being implemented in sites that the foundation chose, including three large urban districts and four charter management organizations (CMOs) that are a part of the College-Ready Promise. The districts are Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) in Florida, Memphis City Schools (MCS) in Tennessee,2 and Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) in Pennsylvania. The CMOs are the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, Aspire Public Schools, Green Dot Public Schools, and Partnerships to Uplift Communities Schools. All sites have implemented most of the elements of the initiative to some degree, although there is variation by site. Enough change has occurred that it is reasonable to test whether there is evidence of improved students' outcomes. This report does not include results for any of the CMOs because student achievement data for the 2013–2014 school year are not available in California, where most of these schools are located.