Kathy DiRanna
K-12 Alliance Director

Tel: 714.438.3806 714.438.3808 Email: kdirann@wested.org Mailing Address:

As Director for WestEd's K-12 Alliance, Kathy DiRanna initiates and maintains advocacy for California K-12 science and mathematics education reform. The Alliance provides professional development programs that address and enhance teacher content knowledge, instructional strategies, assessment, and leadership development. During its 20-year history, the Alliance has worked with more than 4,000 elementary schools, 500 middle schools, and 300 high schools, impacting thousands of teachers and students. DiRanna has conducted extensive work in systemic reform, serving at WestEd as the Co-Principal Investigator/Project Director for the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded California Systemic Initiative and the Principal Investigator for the NSF-funded Science Partnership for Articulation and Networking (SPAN) project. DiRanna's current projects include: concluding the professional development program for the NSF-funded Center for the Assessment and Evaluation of Student Learning (CAESL) to develop teacher assessment knowledge, skills, and practice; providing technical assistance to state, national, and international programs, such as working with the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association's Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee to develop a California Science Professional Development program for 4th–5th grade teachers; working with the Washington University-St. Louis Math Science Partnership to enhance teacher assessment practice (a spin-off from the CAESL work); helping San Diego high schools implement the Using Data Project, which, in turn, helps faculty members analyze student data in a collaborative process to identify student learning problems, investigate possible causes, and generate solutions; developing a collaborative coaching to improve teaching and learning model with the Merck Institute for Science Education to be used in Thailand; and working with 16 California Math Science Partnerships (MSPs) to improve teacher content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge in math and science. All evaluation reports of MSPs show teacher growth in content knowledge and pedagogical skills. In addition, both student achievement on classroom assessments and test scores on CST 5th grade science have increased. DiRanna helped shape California's science reform by serving on the 1992 California Science Framework Committee and two Instructional Materials Advisory Panels, and contributing to the California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) and Science Module for the California School Leadership Academy. More recently, she contributed to the Science Content Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten Through Grade 12, and has advocated for quality science programs as part of the California Science Teachers Association's "watchdog" committee for instructional materials. DiRanna coauthored Assessment Centered Teaching: A Reflective Practice and Unleashing the Power of Collaborative Inquiry, both published by Corwin Press; Guide to Selecting and Purchasing Science Instructional Material, published by the K-12 Alliance and the California Science Teachers Association (CSTA); and The Facilitator's Guide to Science Assessment, published by the California Department of Education. She also wrote and edited Making Connections, published by CSTA. A featured speaker at state and national conferences, DiRanna received the California Science Teachers Association's highest award, the Margaret Nicholson Award for Distinguished Service to Science Education. She also received the WestEd Paul Hood Award for Distinguished Service. In almost 30 years as an educator, DiRanna's teaching experience has ranged from elementary school through community college. She received an MA in zoology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Which Projects involve Kathy? California Building a Presence for Science (CABAP) Center for Assessment and Evaluation of Student Learning (CAESL) K-12 Alliance