Program Associate

WestEd's Lucy Ely Pagán works with states in the Northeast to support positive education outcomes for all students, including students with disabilities. Pagán is a member of the Northeast Regional Resource Center (NERRC), housed within Learning Innovations at WestEd. She provides leadership and support to states and local school district staff in secondary transition services as well as provides support for students with disabilities to help them develop and reach their post-formal education goals. Pagán's work focuses on ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity issues; over- and under-representation of minorities in special education programs; family/school collaborations; and collaboration between general and special education. She is NERRC's state liaison for New York and Rhode Island, and is the collaborative liaison with Region I Technical Assistance for Parent Centers, where she supports collaboration and partnerships between state department of education staff and parent center staff to ensure positive educational outcomes for children and youth. Pagán provides leadership and serves as the facilitator for the Northeast Regional Workgroup on Secondary Transition, whose members include state staff, staff from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), and national organizations. This workgroup gives members a forum to discuss current issues, share promising practices, and exchange information of relevance to the education of children with disabilities and the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Pagán also has facilitated state team meetings at several state, regional, and national leadership summits around transition issues, including the National Summit of the National Drop-out Prevention Center where state leadership teams shared strategies and developed state plans to address school completion issues. She is the lead convener for the National Resource Center Priority Team on Disproportionality, comprising national technical assistance centers, Regional Resource Center technical assistance staff, and OSEP staff. This newly created national priority team leverages federal technical assistance resources, and provides a more coordinated assistance to states around the implementation and compliance of IDEA. In addition, she is a member of the newly created Regional Resource Center Secondary Transition Priority Team. Pagán has expertise and experience working with higher education, policymakers, state government, partner organizations and families, including families from ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diverse backgrounds, on issues related to teaching all learners and providing inclusive education and related services. She has expertise in and is particularly passionate about including underrepresented groups in system-changing efforts to support positive educational outcomes for all students, including students with disabilities. Her commitment to families, people with disabilities, and equity issues is evidenced in her many volunteer activities. Pagán, who is bilingual and bicultural (Spanish and English), is a board member of the Vermont Parent Information Resource Center, the National Drop-out Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities, the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center, and the national Post School Outcomes Center. She received an MA in rehabilitation counseling from the University of Puerto Rico.


Tel: 802.951.8216
802.951.8227802.951.8222
Email: lpagan@wested.org

Mailing Address:
Learning Innovations at WestEd
20 Winter Sport Lane
Williston, Vermont 05495-8134

Northeast Regional Resource Center
Special Education Curriculum Reviews for NYC Schools (LPA)