WestEd will implement research-based educational leadership assessment system to facilitate school improvement

Madison, Wis. and San Francisco – Nov. 18, 2015 – WestEd and the Wisconsin Center for Education Products and Services (WCEPS) today announced a collaboration to provide a new school quality improvement service using the Comprehensive Assessment of Leadership for Learning (CALL) system. The partnership seeks to further support school leaders during an era of heightened accountability and public scrutiny.

CALL’s implementation is a critical component of the service. The research-based, schoolwide leadership assessment and feedback system was developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and assesses K-12 leadership practices distributed across a school.

CALL begins with a survey that inquires about critical instructional leadership practices in a given school. The CALL system then provides actionable data and targeted feedback to inform school improvement plans that are carried out in individual schools. WestEd will now provide technical assistance to schools and districts to help refine and implement school improvement plans informed by valuable CALL data.

“Joining forces with WestEd enables us to provide a unique improvement opportunity to schools and districts across the country,” said Mark Blitz, Project Director for CALL. “This partnership combines the benefits of WestEd’s hands-on expertise in large-scale school improvement initiatives with CALL’s research-based assessment of distributed leadership in schools.”

CALL was originally developed through more than four years of research and field-testing. It focuses on how well and how often teachers and administrators carry out critical day-to-day leadership tasks.

The result of a CALL implementation is specific recommendations for improvements that are correlated to five critical domains that determine school success. WestEd will provide valuable in-person operational support for the CALL implementation throughout schools, districts, and state agencies to improve teaching and learning.

“WestEd partners with districts and schools nationwide to provide comprehensive trans­formation services that help bring about rapid and sustainable improvement,” said Joe Sassone, Director of Integrated Services for WestEd. “We look forward to adding the CALL survey to WestEd’s toolkit of services that impact the lives of students.”

For more information about this collaboration, visit www.leadershipforlearning.org.

About WestEd

WestEd is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research, development, and service agency that works with education and other communities throughout the United States and abroad to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults. WestEd has more than a dozen offices nationwide, with headquarters in San Francisco. More information is available at WestEd.org.

About the Wisconsin Center for Education Products and Services (WCEPS)

WCEPS disseminates the innovative educational products and services created at the University of Wisconsin – Madison (UW). Separate from, but affiliated with, the UW, WCEPS extends the impact of the university’s educational innovations to support further research and development. Visit wceps.org for more information on the diverse array of research-proven products and services available through WCEPS. More information about CALL can be found at www.leadershipforlearning.org, or by phoning 877-272-5593.

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WCEPS Contact
Mark Blitz
mark.blitz@wceps.org
877-272-5593
wceps.org