About Us
About WestEd & the SWCC
In 2005, the U.S. Department of Education selected WestEd as the agency to operate the Southwest Comprehensive Center (SWCC). WestEd is a national nonpartisan, 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. The Southwest Comprehensive Center at WestEd partners with RMC Research Corporation and American Institutes for Research (AIR) to bring additional expertise in providing technical assistance on behalf of 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 Comprehensive Centers:
- Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center
- National High School Center
- Center on Innovation & Improvement
- Center on Instruction
- National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality
The comprehensive centers work closely with federally funded research organizations, such as the Regional Educational Laboratories, and other technical assistance providers to ensure effective coordination of services. The three Regional Educational Laboratories serving southwestern states are:
Regional Educational Laboratory-West
Serving Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah
Contact: Gary Estes, WestEd
415.615.3187
Regional Educational Laboratory-Southwest
Serving Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas
Contact: Dean Nafziger, Edvance Research
210-558-1902
Regional Educational Laboratory-Central
Serving Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
Contact: Louis Cicchinelli, McREL
303.337.0990
For a complete listing of the national regional education lab network, visit the Regional Educational Laboratories website.
CC Priorities
The purpose of the Comprehensive Centers is to build the capacity of states (state departments of education) to implement, in accordance with the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002, the goals and provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that directly affect school improvement through training, professional development, and technical assistance.
The Southwest Comprehensive Center provides assistance to the five states in the Southwest region: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. The work of the SWCC is focused on six priority goals:
- Strengthen and align state assessment and accountability systems.
- Build and sustain state systems of support for district improvement.
- Build and sustain state systems of support for school improvement.
- Increase state capacity to recruit, prepare, and retain high-quality teachers.
- Support high school improvement.
- Integrate technology applications in state reform efforts.
