Communications Advisor Janice Lowen Agee writes and edits a wide range of publications, proposals, and project reports for WestEd's Comprehensive School Assistance Program.

Agee's work addresses many crucial education issues, including closing the achievement gap, turnaround strategies for schools, early childhood learning, and migrant education. She was editor of Multiple Pathways to Student Success: Envisioning the New California High School, a first-in-the-nation publication on the feasibility of expanding the multiple pathways approach statewide to transform high schools and prepare students for future success.

Agee also is an Adjunct Professor of English at Sacramento City College’s Davis campus, where she has the opportunity to see instructional issues firsthand. She works with a diverse group of postsecondary students, teaching them about the importance of developing good writing skills.

Previously, Agee served as Executive Editor at the California Department of Education, where she was the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Publications Advisor. She was responsible for reviewing documents published by the Department or posted on its website. Prior to that, she served as Assistant Director in the Communications Office, where her duties included working with the media.

Agee has written or edited dozens of documents and task force reports that have had a major impact on educational policy, covering issues such as reading instruction, high school reform, technology in schools, and professional development.

She has won numerous awards for her publications, both as author and editor, from educational, government, and public relations groups, including a National Press Club Award. She has also received the WestEd Staff Recognition Award for Exceptional Contribution to the WestEd Community for her work on the Local Accountability Professional Development Series.

In addition, Agee has written and edited documents for a variety of organizations and agencies, including the California Academic Partnership Program, the California Department of Mental Health, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and the California Department of Consumer Affairs.

Agee received a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley; did graduate work at the University of London, England; and received an MA in English from San Francisco State University.