The Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center is one of four regional Equity Assistance Centers. This center is funded by the United States Department of Education under Title IV of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The center provides technical assistance and training, upon request, in the areas of race, sex, national origin and religion to public school districts and other responsible governmental agencies to promote equitable education opportunities. Work focuses on the areas of civil rights, equity, and school reform.
Midwest and Plains Equity Assistance Center
Specialty Area
- Alternative Routes to Certification
- Educator Effectiveness
- Equity
- Family Engagement
- School Climate & Behavior
- School Mental Health
- System Alignment
Primary Audience
- School Districts
- State Education Agencies
Services
- Coaching
- Consulting
- Content Expertise
- Convening Stakeholders
- Facilitation
- Research
Regions/States
MidwestIllinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin
Level of Support
TieredAdditional Information
Technical Assistance Centers
National Center on Accessible Educational Materials for Learning
The National Center on Accessible Educational Materials for Learning (AEM Center) at CAST is a knowledge-development, information dissemination, and technical assistance project whose activities and actions are designed to:
- Expand and disseminate knowledge about Accessible Educational Materials (AEM) and technologies among key stakeholder groups.
- Increase AEM Center stakeholders’ skills; and motivation.
- Improve and enhance the organizational, material and structural capacities of AEM stakeholders so that they effectively use AEM resources.
The overall goal established by CAST and OSEP pertains to improvements in the availability and use of accessible educational materials and technologies for learning.
Specialty Area
- Accessible Education Materials
- Equity
- Family Engagement
- Multi-tiered Systems of Support
- Response to Intervention
- Transitions (from grade to grade)
Primary Audience
- Administrators
- Families
- School Counselors
- School Districts
- Schools
- State Education Agencies
- Teachers
Services
- Assessment Tools
- Coaching
- Consulting
- Content Expertise
- Convening Stakeholders
Regions/States
NationalAlaska, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Ohio, Texas
Level of Support
IntensiveAdditional Information
Other Primary Audiences: Higher Education; Workforce Development; Publishers; EdTech Developers
Technical Assistance and Training
Other Specialty Areas: Access to AEM and assistive technology; Policy
Regional Educational Laboratory West
Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) West serves four states: Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. To address the priorities and interests in these states, REL West works in partnership with school districts, state departments of education, and others to use data and research to improve academic outcomes for students. Each partnership focuses on one or more of the following four regional priority topics: educator development, early learning, postsecondary pathways, and support of the whole child.
While schools, districts, state and local support agencies, and other education stakeholders in REL West’s four-state region share many priorities, their specific challenges and needs for research and support can vary. Accordingly, REL West engages in systematic, ongoing assessment of regional education needs to determine how best to target research and provide research-based information, analysis, and analytic support.
REL West's needs-sensing approaches include:
• Actively soliciting input from state and local decisionmakers.
• Analyzing data and policy trends.
• Examining educator and policymaker requests for assistance.
• Collaborating with regional Comprehensive Centers.
• Working with our partners to determine unmet needs.
In response to the diverse needs and priorities of our nine partnerships, REL West engages in a broad range of work. Through in-depth training, coaching, and analytic support, we build the capacity of our partners to address a variety of issues. These include: tackling the complexities of cross-sector data sharing and data use; learning to make evidence-based policy and practice decisions; and addressing challenges that are context- and region-specific, including those unique to rural entities. In addition, REL West conducts applied research that is integrated with the training, coaching, and analytic support we conduct with our partners.
Specialty Area
- Educator Effectiveness
- Educator Preparation
- English Language Learners
- P-3 Systems (Prenatal to Grade 3)
- School Climate & Behavior
- Social and Emotional Learning
Primary Audience
- Administrators
- School Districts
- State Education Agencies
Services
- Assessment Tools
- Coaching
- Content Expertise
- Convening Stakeholders
- Facilitation
- Research
Regions/States
Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah
Level of Support
IntensiveAdditional Information
No additional information provided
Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest
Regional Educational Lab (REL) Midwest partners with key stakeholders in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin to develop evidence that can inform consequential decisions about policy, programs, and practice. Key stakeholders include organizations with decision-making authority and the ability to influence education policy and practice, such as state and local education agencies, school boards, institutes of higher education, and student, family, and community organizations. RELs partner with these organizations on applied research and development; training, coaching and technical supports; and dissemination.
Specialty Area
- 21st Century Skills
- Alternative Routes to Certification
- Career and Technical Education
- Early Childhood Educators
- Early Childhood Leadership
- Education Leadership
- Educator Effectiveness
- Educator Preparation
- Equity
- Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up
- Organizational Leadership
- School Climate & Behavior
- Social and Emotional Learning
- System Alignment
- Teacher Mentoring and Induction
Primary Audience
- Administrators
- School Districts
- State Education Agencies
Services
- Assessment Tools
- Coaching
- Content Expertise
- Convening Stakeholders
- Facilitation
- Research
Regions/States
MidwestIllinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin
Level of Support
IntensiveAdditional Information
Other Specialty Areas: Educational Technology
State Implementation and Scaling up of Evidence Based Practices Center (SISEP)
The purpose of the State Implementation and Scaling up of Evidence Based Practices Center (SISEP) is to help to establish implementation and scaling capacity in State, regional, and district educational systems. SISEP provides content and technical assistance toward establishing large-scale, sustainable, high-fidelity implementation of effective education practices. Our shared goal is to maximize academic and social outcomes of all students, especially those students with disabilities.
The SISEP Center provides States, Regional, and Local Education Agencies with:
- Intensive technical assistance to establish an effective and affordable infrastructure to support implementation of evidence based programs
- Coordinated and shared professional learning via webinars and communities of practice
- Online and off-line coaching, teaching and education about implementation, scaling, and system reinvention
- Tools and resources for conducting this work, including formative and summative evaluation tools for action planning, monitoring and outcome assessment.
In addition, the SISEP center provides technical assistance to:
- Establish implementation capacity in Technical Assistance Centers and projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs
- Increase implementation capacity of Local Education Agency Superintendents and other leaders
- Increase knowledge of evidence-based implementation supports for evidence based practices in Charter Management Organizations.
Specialty Area
- Education Leadership
- Evidence Based Practices & Scaling Up
- Multi-tiered Systems of Support
- System Alignment
Primary Audience
- Administrators
- School Districts
- Schools
- State Education Agencies
Services
- Coaching
- Consulting
- Content Expertise
- Facilitation
Regions/States
NationalColorado, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Level of Support
IntensiveAdditional Information
Other Primary Audiences: Technical Assistance Centers
Other Specialty Areas: Implementation Science and Improvement Science