Director, District and School Services, Learning Innovations
WestEd's Steve Hamilton supports comprehensive school improvement efforts, working with districts, state agencies, and institutions of higher education.
Hamilton serves as Director of District and School Services for Learning Innovations at WestEd. His recent work in formative assessment and local accountability systems has resulted in increased school and district use of formative and benchmark assessments and data to inform decisions about school programs and instructional practice. As a result of his work in Massachusetts and a state-funded middle school mathematics initiative, 10 districts are now using district and school assessments aligned to state frameworks (standards) to locally measure student academic gains. The Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory is studying these district local accountability practices to assess student achievement impact.
Hamilton also serves as Coordinator for Learning Innovations' work with the New England Comprehensive Center (NECC), NECC liaison to the Massachusetts Department of Education, and staff member for WestEd's Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center. His previous experience with Comprehensive Centers involved supporting and implementing Title I schoolwide programs and No Child Left Behind school improvement efforts.
His work as Regional Implementation Director for various Comprehensive School Reform initiatives resulted in New Bedford Taylor School being named by the state of Massachusetts as a "Commonwealth Compass School" for exemplary student academic improvement gains.
In addition to his technical assistance and research expertise, Hamilton has extensive experience in evaluation. He served as primary evaluator for several National Science Foundation-funded studies, including a three-year teacher enhancement initiative. Current evaluation studies focus on the use of district interim or benchmark assessments to inform practice and improve student achievement outcomes.
Hamilton’s extensive experience in school reform led him to coauthor Assessment Continuum of Schoolwide Improvement Outcomes: Implementing the Components of Systemic Schoolwide Improvement.
A member of WestEd's staff since 1997, Hamilton previously served as an elementary school principal and teacher, and director of an early childhood education program. He also worked with university professors, coordinating seminars for elementary school preservice teachers.
He has served as an elected member, finance chair, and chairperson on school committees in Vermont and Massachusetts. Along with experience and success in passing school budgets, negotiating contracts, and regionalizing a school district, Hamilton developed a standards-based superintendent evaluation informed by school committee goals and an established district vision of desired outcomes.
He received a BS in education and an MA in educational administration from the University of Vermont.
Tel: 781.481.1104
781.481.1120
Email: shamilt@wested.org
Mailing Address:Learning Innovations at WestEd
200 Unicorn Park Drive, 4th floor
Woburn, Massachusetts 01801-3324
Project Work:
Local Accountability Professional Development Series
New England Comprehensive Center
Pawtucket Comprehensive School Reform Project
Resource Involvement:Measuring How Benchmark Assessments Affect Student Achievement
