Learning Innovations at WestEd is pleased to be a partner in the new federally funded Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Lab (NEIREL) and in the New England and New York Comprehensive Assistance Centers . NEIREL is a partnership between the Education Development Center, Inc. (lead organization), the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and WestEd (with its northeast regional program Learning Innovations). Learning Innovations and WestEd staff will help to fulfill the federal legislative intent of serving "the educational needs of the regions, using applied research, development, dissemination, and training and technical assistance to bring the latest and best research-based and proven practices into school improvement efforts." NEIREL will serve the New England, New York, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands as the regional laboratory for five years under contract from The Institute of Education Sciences (IES). The core theme underlying the work is “evidence-based education.” The overarching goal of our work is to help preK-16 educators, at the state, district, and school levels, increase their use of scientifically-based evidence to improve student achievement and reduce performance gaps among student groups. The New England Comprehensive Center (NECC and the New York Comprehensive Center (NYCC) are supported by multiple partners including: RMC Research Corporation (lead organizations), the Education Development Center, Inc (EDC), the Education Alliance at Brown University, the New York Teachers Centers (NYTC), and Learning Innovations at WestEd. We seek to fulfill the mission of the comprehensive centers through providing support to state education agencies staff in developing their capacity to assist districts and schools in improving outcomes for all students. Our staff will bring their knowledge, and experience to this work across the areas of NCLB and in particular, will promote development in teacher quality, adolescent literacy, comprehensive assessment systems, parental involvement, and e-learning.