About Us
Our team comprises experienced teacher practitioners with a demonstrated track record of boosting their students' achievement, as well as cutting-edge experts in pedagogical and linguistic theory and research.
Who directs ELLA?
Pamela Spycher, PhD
Pamela Spycher, PhD, is the director of WestEd’s English Learners and the Language Arts (ELLA) project. Since joining WestEd in 2005, Spycher has provided ELLA professional development to K-12 teachers, administrators, and coaches in schools and districts across California and Arizona. Spycher writes the curriculum for ELLA in collaboration with other staff, conducts research, and collaborates with other projects within WestEd with similar goals of closing achievement gaps.
Prior to joining WestEd, Spycher was a bilingual teacher, English language development specialist, and English mainstream teacher in K-12 classrooms in California, Oregon, Europe, and Asia. She served in leadership positions for the California Reading and Literature Project and the San Diego County Office of Education. In addition, Spycher serves as an instructor in the School of Education at the University of California, Davis, where she mentors beginning teachers in the skills and art of instruction and research.
Spycher received a PhD in Education with an emphasis in Language, Literacy, and Culture and a designated emphasis in Second Language Acquisition from the University of California, Davis. Her research interests include academic language development, second language literacy instruction, teacher professional development, action research, and data-informed decision-making.
Who are the ELLA professional development providers?
Tamaye Ota
Tamaye Ota is a Senior Research Associate in the Comprehensive School Assistance Program at WestEd. She provides technical assistance, professional development, and coaching to support school improvement and reform efforts in California and Arizona. The emphasis on Tamaye’s work with schools is on building school systems and staff capacity to improve classroom instruction, especially to meet the needs of diverse learners. Tamaye assists with the ELLA (English Learners and the Language Arts) program.
Prior to employment at WestEd, Tamaye was the principal of an underperforming school in the Central San Joaquin Valley. The school served a high population of English language learners and students in poverty. With a focus on systems for quality instruction, intervention, language development, and an emphasis on professional development and coaching, the school increased from decile one to decile two in the first year.
Tamaye previously worked with WestEd serving schools participating in the Reading Excellence Act. She provided Reading Success Network training to three cadres of schools and worked directly with eight schools to implement effective K-3 reading instruction, intervention, and family literacy. She has been a Literacy Coordinator for America’s Choice standards-based school reform model and has five years of experience as a classroom teacher of Title I/EL literacy.
She received a BA in Psychology from California State University, Fresno and an MA in Administration Services at Fresno Pacific University.
Katherine Prudhomme
Katherine Prudhomme, Senior Program Associate in the Comprehensive School Assistance Program at WestEd, is a professional development provider for the English Learners and the Language Arts (ELLA) teacher professional development project.
Prior to working with WestEd, Katherine Prudhomme was an Adjunct Professor and Student Teaching Supervisor at Sacramento State University (CSUS) and National University, and a part-time Lecturer for San Joaquin County Office of Education (SJCOE). She was a teacher for over five years in K-8 classrooms, working with a diverse student population including English learners and students with special needs in California. She has served in educational leadership positions within the school districts in which she has worked as well as within the realm of higher education. She is particularly knowledgeable in the areas of curricular support and adaptations, effective teaching practices that support the learning and success of all students, supporting students with special needs, second language literacy development in English learners, and professional development and teacher education.
Prudhomme earned her MA in Education with an emphasis in Special Education from Sacramento State University.
Sharen Bertrando
Sharen Bertrando, Senior Program Associate in the WestEd Center for Prevention and Early Intervention, is a professional development provider for the English Learners and the Language Arts (ELLA) teacher professional development project. She provides training and coaching to K-12 teachers of English learners and students with special needs.
Prior to working with WestEd, Bertrando taught for over nineteen years serving a diverse student population of English learners and students with special needs from preschool-college throughout California. She developed a transitional school to work program for adolescents with disabilities based on a community college campus, and was a day program coordinator for an international full immersion language school in Oregon. She trained and served as a master and supervising teacher to student teachers working towards earning their specialist teaching credentials and a recipient of the Exceptional Achievement Award for providing integration opportunities for students with disabilities. She is particularly knowledgeable in the areas of integrating technology into the curriculum to support student engagement and motivation, student diversity in learning styles, and students with special needs; designing and implementing curricular supports and adaptations; effective teaching practices that support language and literacy development in struggling learners and English learners; and professional development and teacher education.
Bertrando earned her MA in Educational Leadership from Sacramento State University.
Silvia DeRuvo
Silvia DeRuvo is a Senior Program Associate in the WestEd Center for Prevention and Early Intervention. As a Special Education Resources Development Specialist, she is currently involved in the development of materials, resources, training and technical assistance for the Least Restrictive Environment Resources Project on improving outcomes for students with disabilities. She is also assisting with WestEd's Program Improvement work and the development of resources and information briefs with the California Comprehensive Center.
DeRuvo is a former President of CARS+ (California Association of Resource Specialists & Special Educators), and has served as the liaison to several state task forces at the California Department of Education, including the Partnership Committee on Special Education, the Least Restrictive Environment Task Force, and the Task Force on Recruitment, Preparation, and Retention of Special Education Teachers. She has also been an instructor for the credential programs at California State University, Sacramento, the San Joaquin County Office of Education, and the Northern California Project Pipeline, as well as a national speaker for the Institute of Educational Development on special education issues.
Johnpaul Lapid
Johnpaul Lapid joined WestEd in 2001 as a Program Associate for the Comprehensive Schools Assistance Program. Johnpaul provides professional development and coaching to administrators, coaches, and teachers on strategies to support English language learners in both the ELD and ELA programs. Along with providing ongoing professional development, he provides technical assistance with the implementation of state and national standards, assessments, and scientifically valid methods to district, administrators, teachers, and paraprofessionals in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Hawaii.
Lapid has recently supported the Arizona Department of Education Reading First office in implementing the Arizona READS initiative. His role includes providing technical assistance to the AZ Department of Education Reading First office and delivering professional development to over 5,000 Reading First administrators, instructional coaches, and teachers, focusing on delivering a comprehensive reading program, language components, standards, assessments, and instructional strategies that directly support all students.
Johnpaul previously worked with WestEd serving schools participating in the California Reading Excellence Act. He provided Reading Success Network training in the following school districts: Oakland, San Lorenzo, Konocti, and Vallejo.
Prior to joining WestEd, he worked as an Adjunct Professor of Education through the University of Guam, where he focused on language and literacy development throughout the Pacific region. Mr. Lapid has worked across grade levels in California, Guam, and the Marshall Islands.
