Creating a Rigorous and Accessible Learning Environment for Each and Every Student
WestEd believes in empowering schools and districts to develop an aligned, equitable educational framework that ensures full participation of each and every student in an inclusive learning environment designed to support improved student outcomes.
Drawing on our deep expertise, we offer professional learning to facilitate collaboration through peer planning, peer observation, and feedback to help teachers learn and improve their practice. Our professional learning experiences build upon the belief that all students are considered general education students first and that professional learning teams are representative of all internal and external partners with a vested interest in this process.
Our workshops can be provided virtually, on-site, or as a hybrid model. Participants will be equipped to implement evidence-based practices. Follow-up coaching is provided to refine practices and achieve a sustainable and equitable educational system.
Our partnership with WestEd set the tone for the systemic enhancements our district needed to make to reach our mission. WestEd provided student-centered, engaging, thought-provoking professional development that led us to dig deep into our data and decision-making discussions. With WestEd’s partnership, I know we are on the right path to make drastic improvements!
Dr. Kathy Ruggeberg, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning, Rock Island – Milan School District #41
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
WestEd provides professional learning experiences for districts to develop an equitable MTSS framework that supports school and district leadership teams in making data-informed decisions about students’ academic, behavioral, and social emotional needs. MTSS creates a continuous improvement cycle to maximize instructional practices and interventions that sustain student growth.
MTSS aligns initiatives, resources, and supports across tiers of prevention and intervention to ensure each and every student’s learning needs are met. MTSS provides leadership teams with the tools to implement strong universal instruction that is data driven, aligned to standards, and differentiated to meet the needs of diverse learners in their classrooms.
High-Quality, Inclusive Instructional Practices
We work collaboratively with a school or district to create personalized professional learning plans that build teacher and leader capacity around inclusive and universal instructional practices designed to maximize student access and outcomes such as:
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) – Professional learning experiences create inclusive, flexible, and culturally responsive classrooms, and improve outcomes for students with disabilities. These experiences can be offered as a training of trainers model or as a job-embedded learning series.
Co-Teaching – Workshops are offered that establish a shared understanding of the purpose of co-teaching as a valuable component of implementing inclusive practices to meet the academic and behavioral needs of students with disabilities.
English Learners with Disabilities – This series focuses on developing and implementing academic instruction in the inclusive classroom that addresses the unique needs of English Learners with disabilities and other learning needs. Participants will gain the knowledge and skills to implement practical, research-based instructional strategies that tailor academic instruction for dually identified students.
Behavior Supports – Our WestEd experts establish a partnership with your teams as they develop a schoolwide positive behavioral support system. Participants will develop tools and strategies used to teach and acknowledge expected behavior along with developing a function-based, problem-solving mindset.
Special Education Program Review
Our support is designed to engage districts in an examination of their services for students with disabilities.
By conducting comprehensive reviews, we will provide data-driven findings and recommendations for student success and suggestions for implementation in your state, region, district, or school.
We collect and analyze information that assists districts in gaining a deeper understanding of their efforts to educate students with disabilities. Our work identifies opportunities for achieving a dependable, efficient, and cost-effective system that produces positive outcomes for students with disabilities.