About Us

In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education selected WestEd as the agency to operate the Southwest Comprehensive Center (SWCC) with RMC Research Corporation and American Institutes for Research (AIR) as subcontractors on this project. The SWCC works collaboratively with the states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah to help all children achieve to high standards.

Who We Are

WestEd is a nonprofit research, development, and service agency, working with education and other communities to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults. WestEd and the subcontractors RMC and AIR each draw on more than 40 years of successful experience managing and providing technical assistance for the U.S. Department of Education.

Federal Technical Assistance Network

The SWCC is part of a federal network of 16 Regional Comprehensive Centers, each serving individual or clusters of states. The network also includes five Content Centers designed to develop materials and products in support of the Regional Centers, specifically in the areas of Assessment and Accountability (WestEd); High School Reform (American Institutes for Research); School Innovation and Improvement (Academic Development Institute); Instruction in Reading and Mathematics (RMC Research Corporation); and Teacher Quality (Learning Points Associates). These Regional and Content Centers will operate through 2010. The network of centers will also work closely with the Regional Educational Laboratories and other technical assistance providers to ensure effective coordination of services.

CC Priorities

The Comprehensive Centers are charged with building state capacity to implement fully the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and specifically to improve student achievement and close achievement gaps. The SWCC is designed to provide assistance to the five State Departments/Offices of Education, as well as to statewide groups and organizations that assist districts and schools. The SWCC has five priority areas:

Support states to align assessment and accountability systems with NCLB.
Increase states’ capacity and infrastructure to support district development and improvement.
Enhance and support each state's system of support for program improvement in schools.
Increase state capacity to recruit, induct and retain quality teachers.
Build state capacity to initiate high school reform.

Contact Us

Dr. Paul Koehler of WestEd serves as the Director of the SWCC. Associate Project Directors are Marie Mancuso of WestEd and Dr. Shelley Billig of RMC Research. Headquarters are located in the Phoenix, Arizona office of WestEd with an affiliated RMC Research office in Denver, CO. The SWCC can be reached by calling 866-979-7322, or by e-mail at tvincen@wested.org.