Join WestEd Improvement Science experts at the National Summit on Improvement in Education, March 30 – April 1, in San Diego, California. The Summit convenes educators, policymakers, researchers, and others to share innovative ways to build systems that better serve teachers, students, and communities. Attendees can participate both in-person and remotely.
This year, WestEd’s presentations will focus on practical measurement to support mathematics teaching, chronic absenteeism, and Real-Time Problem Solving (RTPS).
WestEd Staff Presentations
March 31, 2025
Empowering Teachers and Students: Using Practical Measurement to Support Math Teaching
In this methods session, we describe what practical measures are and how they might be used to empower educators and students to use data to solve meaningful problems. Practical measures that are easy to use and prioritize learning from actionable data can help educators improve the quality of instruction. To emphasize this, we will share an example of a set of practical measures designed to support teacher. Participants will learn about the measurement development process, test this new measure in practice, and explore opportunities to integrate practical measures in their own educational system.
Time: 9:00am – 10:30am PDT
Location: High Tech High Room 137
Speakers: Brent Jackson (WestEd), Sola Takahashi (WestEd), Rebecca Neri (WestEd), Jahneille Cunningham (WestEd)
April 1, 2025
Interrogating Improvement: Reimagining Improvement Science for Empowering Learning Environments
In this session, participants will explore the crucial role of equity and justice in the field of improvement science (IS). Participants will learn from a group of equity and justice-centered improvers about how they designed learning experiences for their team to critically evaluate and refine IS methods. The session will 1) equip participants with approaches, skills, and lenses for interrogating IS tools and methods; 2) provide a space to delve into vital connections between IS work and educational equity; and 3) help participants apply a justice-oriented framework to the design and execution of improvement projects.
Time: 9:00am – 10:30am PDT
Location: High Tech High Room 137
Speakers: Isiah Iniguez (WestEd), Carlos Sandoval, Rebecca Neri (WestEd)
Chronic Absenteeism Improvement Review with New Visions for Public Schools
A powerful routine where improvement teams reflect on their data and learning, share a dilemma, and receive feedback from experts who can provide a fresh perspective and push. Join this fishbowl type session to experience this routine, learn more about a team’s work, and glean insights to inform your own improvement efforts. New Visions works with 71 school teams across New York to identify different types of chronic absenteeism and provide targeted and differentiated support. A subset of these schools are piloting regular 1:1 “check-ins” as the core intervention for “butterfly” students – students who want to be at school, but consistently miss a day or two each week. Come learn more about this work, grapple with a dilemma together, and glean insights to inform your own improvement efforts.
Time: 9:00am – 10:30am PDT
Location: High Tech High Room 148
Speakers: Ryan Gallagher (HTH GSE), Sola Takahashi (WestEd), Sandra Park, Edgar Rodriguez (New Visions for Public Schools), Jonathan Green (New Visions for Public Schools)
Beyond Firefighting: Solving Problems to Root Using Real-Time Problem Solving (RTPS)
Education leaders often find themselves firefighting — addressing immediate issues only to see them resurface. Real-Time Problem Solving (RTPS) offers a method that tackles problems at their root, focusing on individual incidents, rather than problem generalizations, to uncover and address their underlying causes, then sharing these solutions across the system. Guided by the principles “systems, not people” and “solve, don’t fix,” RTPS fosters sustainable solutions that reduce inequitable outcomes. In this session, participants will engage in hands-on RTPS activities, developing practical skills and mindsets to implement meaningful, lasting improvements in their own work.
Time: 9:00am – 10:30am PDT
Location: High Tech High International Room 218
Speakers: Tomas Molfino (WestEd), Jon Dolle (WestEd), Josh Stern (WestEd)
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