The four-state West Region—Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah—spans nearly 500,000 square miles and is home to more than 8 million richly diverse K–12 students. They are served in approximately 2,000 districts and 14,000 public schools, from the highly remote to the densely urban. The region includes some of the nation's fastest-growing districts, and more than 30 percent of its school-age children are English learners.
Research Alliances
Regional needs and priorities are being addressed by eight research alliances:
- Dropout Prevention Alliance for Utah Students with Disabilities: In partnership with the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities and the Utah State Office of Education, the goal of the alliance is to help decrease the dropout rate of students with disabilities and prepare them to successfully transition to postsecondary options by supporting an increasing use of data and early warning systems.
- Nevada Education Research Alliance: Three regional working groups (northern, southern, and rural Nevada) are collaborating to increase rates of high school graduation and participation in postsecondary education, without remediation.
- Silicon Valley Research Alliance: Alliance members, including Silicon Valley schools and districts, and university and other research partners, are engaging in projects to improve the readiness of students for college by ensuring adequate preparation in math, beginning in the middle grades through high school.
- California Office to Reform Education (CORE) Alliance: Eight districts, comprising over a million California students in urban, suburban, and rural settings, are striving to improve college and career readiness and student achievement through coordinated work on talent management and Common Core Standards implementation.
- Educator Effectiveness Cross-State Collaborative: This alliance, with state education agency leadership and participating regional and district staff and union representatives, aims to staff every classroom with an effective teacher and to help teachers become more effective over time through the use of multiple measure evaluation and professional development systems.
- Community College Alliance on Career and Technical Education: Building on existing Career Advancement Academies, the alliance, which includes selected California community colleges, is supporting students' career aspirations through basic skills development and technical training through program and curricular innovation.
- English Learner Cross-State Alliance: State departments of education in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah are focusing on increasing English learner student achievement through better understanding of the English learner population and targeting of support programs.
- Middle Grades School Climate Alliance: This alliance of districts and middle schools in Arizona and California aims to improve school climate and facilitate the use of data-based inquiry practices as an approach to school improvement.
Corporate Experience
WestEd has served as the Regional Educational Laboratory for the Western Region since the program's inception in 1966, generating new knowledge, providing technical assistance, and conducting research to support the goals of schools, districts, and states in educating every student to high standards. WestEd also houses numerous federally funded Centers that support the region in improving education and closing achievement gaps, including the California and Southwest Comprehensive Centers, the Region IX (Arizona, California, Nevada) Equity Assistance Center, and the national Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center.
Lab Director:
Dr. Nikola Filby
Governing Board
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Contractor: REL West at WestEd 730 Harrison Street San Francisco, CA 94107 (866) 853-1831 relwest@wested.org http://relwest.wested.org |
Subcontractors/Partners:
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