Database of Federally Funded Technical Assistance and Research Centers

The CEEDAR Center: Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform Center (CEEDAR) is designed to help State Education Agencies (SEAs), Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs), and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) create aligned professional learning systems that provide teachers and leaders effective opportunities to learn how to improve core and specialized instruction in inclusive settings that enable students with disabilities to achieve college and career ready standards. The technical assistance (TA) effort is organized around universal, targeted, and intensive TA supports. AIR, as subcontractor to University of Florida, is taking the lead in intensive TA.

The Center provides intensive TA supports to 20 states. Intensive TA services, tailored to the needs of each state, seek to reform and align the areas of licensure standards, teacher and leader preparation and induction, and personnel evaluation data systems to inform preparation program improvement. CEEDAR provides responsive technical assistance through knowledge building of evidence-based research and practice. CEEDAR also supports implementation of the research into school-based instruction and practices through online tools and resources, leadership development, collaborative teams of stakeholders, and ongoing learning opportunities.

The Center for the Integration of IDEA Data (CIID) provides technical assistance to state education agencies (SEAs) to increase the capacity to report high quality data required under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B Sections 616 and 618. CIID supports the integration of IDEA data systems and processes with the Statewide Longitudinal Data System (SLDS).

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.