WestEd

When researchers and curriculum designers build a math course together, what does it look like in practice?

Today's free webinar has the answer.

At 12:30 p.m. PT / 3:30 p.m. ET, WestEd's Angela Knotts from our math research team joins Kadron Johnson from the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin to introduce the Integrated Statistics and Quantitative Reasoning (ISQR) course, already being piloted in 11 states and designed for 11th and 12th graders with diverse postsecondary goals.

Free to attend. Done in 30 minutes. Register now: https://bit.ly/4fkhAMv

Every summer, millions of kids lose reading progress they worked hard all year to build. The good news? Research shows we can change that.

WestEd's Senior Research Associate Rachel Tripathy is joining Book Trust's free virtual discussion circle on June 2 to talk about what the evidence says about summer learning loss and what families, educators, and communities can do about it.

It's free, it's virtual, and it's for anyone who cares about kids and reading. Come learn with us.

Registration is free. Link: https://bit.ly/4uccHZv

Learning math as an adult is not just about passing a test. For many people, it is about opening a door to learning and opportunity. That is the learner WestEd had in mind when partnering to develop Adult Numeracy in the Digital Era (ANDE) course and it's why it's now available to every program, instructor, and learner who needs it.

ANDE is a 10-week, openly licensed course that connects numeracy and digital literacy to the real situations adult learners already navigate like budgeting, problem-solving, and making sense of data in everyday life. A quasi-experimental study of more than 300 students found that ANDE participants tended to score higher on math knowledge measures than peers in standard instruction with especially strong results for learners building foundational skills. Instructors reported that it changed how they teach math and helped their students genuinely master the material.

The full curriculum is available now at ande-oer.wested.org, including student lessons, teacher instruction notes, engagement supports, and an online preparation platform—everything a program needs to get started. Developed with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and World Education, and funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), ANDE reflects WestEd's commitment to generating insights from research and data to inform and improve practice.

Explore the course and share it with colleagues and peers. Go to ande-oer.wested.org

If you're headed to the First 1,000 Days! Early Head Start Conference, don't miss WestEd's pre-conference session!

"Let's Play! For Twos and Threes" is a hands-on, full-day workshop led by Carly Bedard, Krista Murphy, and Michelle Galindo built for educators who work with toddlers and know that play isn't just fun, it's foundational.

You'll explore:
✅ Why play is essential to healthy development
✅ Open-ended materials and loose-parts play
✅ Setting up your environment (including stress-free cleanup!)
✅ Schema theory and what it tells us about behaviors like dumping or throwing

You'll leave with a workbook full of research and resources, a loose-parts starter kit, and family handouts ready to bring back to your classroom.

Member: $275 | Non-member: $300
📌 Note: Registration for the full conference is required.
👉 Register here: https://bit.ly/3POek1x

Across the country, educators are reimagining what high school math can look like for every student, and we're proud to be part of that work.

WestEd and the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin are piloting a new course called Integrated Statistics and Quantitative Reasoning (ISQR) in 11 states this coming school year. Built around hands-on projects and real-world data investigations, it's designed for 3rd- and 4th-year students with all kinds of postsecondary goals—college, workforce, and everything in between. Starting fall 2027, course materials will be available as a free open educational resource for any district that wants them.

Are you a high school math teacher, principal, or district leader? Join us for a free 30-minute webinar with WestEd's Amy Getz and the Dana Center's Kadron Johnson to learn how ISQR is being rolled out and how your school or district can get involved.

30 minutes. Real impact. Register now: https://bit.ly/4dwcHNN

Reading Apprenticeship is developed with a clear vision to help every student read, write, and communicate in the disciplines. The next opportunity to bring that vision to your school or district is coming up fast.

Our professional learning offerings are designed to help educators elevate learning with strategies that help students engage with text more independently, build comprehension through their own thinking, and push through challenging content.

And for educators ready to apply that vision to writing, Writing Apprenticeship helps students write with purpose and confidence across subject areas.

👉 Learn more about our Summer of Learning opportunities and register today: https://bit.ly/4o120I4

When language development and content learning happen together, newcomer students don't just catch up. They take off.

Join WestEd for a free 30-minute webinar on May 28 to see what that looks like in practice.

📅 May 28 | 12–12:30 p.m. PT / 3–3:30 p.m. ET | Free & Virtual

You'll learn how to design instruction that integrates language development with rigorous content learning at the same time, not one after the other. The session draws on QTEL (Quality Teaching for English Learners), WestEd's research-informed approach to supporting Multilingual Learners across all content areas.

It also previews the QTEL Summer Institutes, in-person professional learning experiences for educators who want to go deeper on this work.
📍 Santa Cruz, CA | June 22–25
📍 Austin, TX | July 13–16

👉 Free webinar registration: https://bit.ly/4cUoQx1
👉 QTEL Summer Institutes: https://bit.ly/4erJzcA

If you coach or evaluate principals in Arizona, you already know how much that role shapes what's possible in schools. SOPA—the Arizona Supervisors of Principals' Academy—is an eight-month professional learning network designed to help you do that work even better.

Now in its sixth year, SOPA brings together superintendents, assistant superintendents, directors of schools, HR directors, leadership coaches, and other central office leaders from across Arizona's public and charter schools. Together, participants build skills in coaching, evaluation, and principal support through monthly coaching sessions, in-person regional learning, and practical tools that make supervision more data-driven and impactful.

Sessions run August 2026 through March 2027, and participation can result in continuing education credits. SOPA also aligns with the Arizona Department of Education's Principal Leadership Academy.

Not sure if it's the right fit? Informational sessions are available to help you decide. If you're ready to invest in your practice and your principals. Apply before July 25.

Apply now or request more information: https://bit.ly/4wjgkPY

📅 Kickoff: August 20, 2026 | Seven sessions through March 2027 | Rolling admission

Schools serving newcomer students are being asked to move away from remediation-first approaches and toward instruction that builds language and content knowledge at the same time. That shift is harder than it sounds, and most educators are navigating it without much support.

On May 28, WestEd is offering a free 30-minute webinar with Lee Hartman, who has spent his career teaching, coaching, and designing curriculum for newly arrived immigrant students. The session draws on the Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) framework to show how integrated language and content instruction actually works in practice, and what it looks like to hold high expectations while scaffolding for access. It is open to teachers, coaches, and school and district leaders.

The session runs 30 minutes, is free, and is designed for teachers, instructional coaches, and district and site leaders. Register here: https://bit.ly/4cUoQx1.

The session also provides a preview of WestEd’s QTEL Summer Institutes, in which educators and leaders engage in deeper, sustained learning to support Multilingual Learners.

How can modern assessment systems help turn data into insights that drive better decisions and improved outcomes?

WestEd's assessment experts will present at the 2026 National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) in Austin, Texas, June 22–24, 2026. Hosted by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), this conference brings together education leaders and policymakers to explore the theme Connecting the Dots: Building Coherent Systems to Support Student Success.

Drawing on more than 20 years of world-class content development expertise, technical credibility, and innovation capacity to shape the future of assessment and learning, our experts will lead or co-lead four sessions bringing that experience to bear on some of the field's most pressing questions and issues:

• Early literacy screener implementation
• Accountability and school improvement systems
• Artificial intelligence (AI)–based difficulty prediction
• Cutting-edge R&D for Generative AI implementation

WestEd presenters include:
• Matt Brunetti
• Mel Wylen
• Mitch Herz
• Sarah Quesen

WestEd will be joined by copresenters from state departments of education, assessment development organizations, and research partners across the field.

Learn more about WestEd's presentations at this year's conference: https://bit.ly/491QN3p

At WestEd, we are leading the way to identify and amplify innovations that enhance learning through next-generation assessments that meet the highest standards of validity, reliability, fairness, and accessibility. From cross-language early math and literacy screeners to workforce-focused instruments and grade-band learning progressions, we bring psychometric rigor and forward-thinking approaches to assessment design, scoring, reporting, and more.

Learn more about Assessment at WestEd: https://bit.ly/4thHdRA