WestEd

The new edition of WestEd 360° is live! Read about our new role in leading the Region 14 Comprehensive Center, increasing access to inclusive early education, resources to support all the amazing principals serving school communities, and more 🤩 #EarlyEducation #Principals #EducationLeaders

We're looking forward to the California School Boards Association Annual Education Conference happening from December 5-7! WestEd CEO Jannelle Kubinec will give the keynote address on Friday, Dec. 6 - hope to see you there! California Association of Suburban School Districts

WestEd experts will present on the invisible achievement gap and leveraging local funds at the 2024 Blueprint for Foster Youth College & Career Success Conference in Los Angeles on October 28. Details below! 📍 Date and Time: Monday, October 28 at 11:15 a.m. 📍 Session: Revisiting the Invisible Achievement Gap: Education Outcomes and District Targeting of Funds in the Context of the Local Control Funding Formula 📍 WestEd Presenters: Vanessa Ximenes Barrat and Kenwyn Derby https://bit.ly/3C7nkrb

Happening on Monday, October 28: WestEd leaders from the Data Integration Support Center and the Center for Economic Mobility will join partners at the Community of Innovation: Modernizing State P20W+ Data Systems gathering: https://bit.ly/3YAxrOe It's exciting to be part of this community led by the Council of Chief State School Officers to support the progress states are making to modernize and securely manage their data systems. For more information about this work, visit: https://bit.ly/40fkFWH

It's #SafeSchoolsWeek and we affirm the importance of building strong communities where students and staff can learn and thrive. Discover 5 WestEd resources to promote #SchoolSafety ⤵️ 📌 The Reimagining School Safety Guide is based on shifting paradigms of school safety so that it is not "the absence of a negative but rather the existence of positive elements like interconnection, belonging, voice, and agency." https://bit.ly/3AfEna5 📌 Listen to students sharing their experiences with the Reimagining School Safety Guide and perspectives on school safety in this webinar: https://bit.ly/4eUtbyF 📌 Check out this WestEd E-Bulletin round-up of resources to support leaders in making informed, evidence-based decisions about school safety and climate: https://bit.ly/3YzoJzN 📌 Visit the WestEd Justice and Prevention Research Center (JPRC)'s School Safety resources: https://bit.ly/40Bmi1d 📌 Learn about the Violence Prevention Network Framework, a JPRC initiative which assists leaders in gaining a clearer understanding of the factors contributing to or preventing violence within their communities: https://bit.ly/40dMgaL

Big news! WestEd experts Dr. Ann Edwards and Dr. Drew Nucci will co-lead a new $10 million research and development center on the use of GenAI in math and science education. Funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, AmplifyGAIN will conduct exploratory studies to examine how teachers use GenAI for mathematics and science teaching and learning. The center will use insights from the studies to develop, test, and revise Colleague AI, an AI assistant developed to help teachers save time by helping them: 📔 Prepare improved lesson materials 📙 Build and conduct formative classroom assessments 📘 Provide personalized feedback to students. ✅ The center will also conduct a pilot study to assess the promise of Colleague AI for improving math and science education outcomes. “As we witness the transformative influence of GenAI in our lives and classrooms, it has become increasingly clear that targeted research to guide our use of this powerful technology is essential,” said Edwards, director of mathematics at WestEd. “AmplifyGAIN is seizing on the opportunities and challenges of this moment to provide national leadership on how GenAI tools can be best developed and used by math and science educators to improve equity and drive student outcomes.” Dr. Min Sun, professor of educational policy, organization, and leadership in the UW College of Education, and AmplifyGAIN director and principal investigator, said “We’ve already arrived at a tipping point in how this technology is changing the landscape of education. AmplifyGAIN will study the promises and barriers for teachers to effectively use GenAI in teaching and learning, develop specialized AI technologies designed with and for teachers, and study the effects of using Gen AI tools in reducing teacher workload stress and improving their work efficiency to ultimately enhance student learning outcomes.”  We're very excited to be collaborating with some amazing researchers with the ultimate goal of providing educators with evidence-based information to help them successfully navigate the new era of genAI in education. #Classroom #Teachers #GenAI #STEM

Celebrating this phenomenal group of leaders who attended the A-GAME Convening at the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Conference! 🙌 A-GAME creates Responsive Goals that are designed to capture all student learning, and can help leaders reimagine how to measure and enhance educational outcomes. 🤝 Learn more about A-GAME's resources and community of dedicated #CharterSchool authorizers, board members, school leaders, and educators: https://lnkd.in/gxHWf-ys National Charter Schools Institute, WestEd, Momentum Strategy & Research

The Center of Black Student Excellence is a transformative initiative within the Long Beach Unified School District dedicated to uplifting Black students while ensuring equitable access to educational resources. The Center's work is guided by 10 key elements derived from community engagement and aims to empower students and their families, promote academic success, cultural identity, and holistic development in an inclusive educational environment. Read more about these elements in this new report: https://bit.ly/4he0oXq #EducationalEquity

Join WestEd at American Evaluation Association’s Annual Conference from October 21-26, 2024 in Portland, Oregon. This year’s theme is Amplifying and Empowering Voices in Evaluation, and WestEd’s Science and Engineering team will present on a number of topics including: - Broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics - Implementing inclusive and culturally responsive evaluation practices - Amplifying neurodiverse voices in evaluation design and practice - Giving voice to foreign-born students - Negotiating data collection plans and data sharing among internal and external stakeholders View a comprehensive list of WestEd’s presentations: https://bit.ly/4gTxoUP

School accountability systems can be used to identify shared goals for student outcomes. Experts will share guiding principles for leaders seeking ways to focus conversations about school improvement on October 23! Register: https://bit.ly/4dI1Yhu