Angela McGuire

Overview

Angela McGuire has expertise in IDEA program requirements, tailored professional development, and intentional family engagement. As a Program Director within WestEd’s Early Childhood Mental Health, Development and Disabilities content area, McGuire facilitates training and technical assistance for local and state education agencies, disability service agencies, and family support agencies for cross-agency impact. She actively advocates for and integrates inclusive practices and parent–professional partnership approaches into technical assistance and training activities and deliverables. 

As the Director of the Comprehensive System of Personnel Development and Resources (CSPD-R) project, McGuire leads a core team of multidisciplinary content experts, media specialists, and administrative support professionals to design and deliver professional development and technical assistance resources and activities for California’s IDEA Part C community. Her team has pioneered web-supported training, optimizing a variety of platforms to deliver, reinforce, and enhance the integration of new knowledge and policy into effective practice. From 2012 to 2024, the CSPD-R delivered over 6,000 course completions across 9 comprehensive, competency-based courses for California early intervention professionals.  

McGuire has authored and contributed to multiple deliverables and publications, including comprehensive training curricula, handbooks, manuals, issue briefs, frameworks, presentations, videos, instructional scripts, and promotional campaigns. She is regularly consulted by parents and program directors alike to work through difficult transitions and problems of implementation. She values and enthusiastically applies her experiences as both a former general education classroom teacher and “veteran parent” of a child with disabilities. Since the birth of her first child, who has Down syndrome, she has actively sought, advocated for, and assisted full community access and inclusion for individuals with disabilities from birth through adulthood. 

Education

• MA in education, California State University Sacramento 
• BA in education, Kent State University 

Select Publications

Torres, D. (Host). (2024, April 10). The critical role of early intervention (No. 11) [Audio podcast episode]. In Leading voices podcast. WestEd. https://www.wested.org/resources/leading-voices-podcast-series-episode-11-the-critical-role-of-intervention/  

McGuire, A., Peterson, A., & Kuchle, L. (2021). Guiding questions: The FAIR Test. National Center for Systemic Improvement at WestEd; Center for Prevention and Early Intervention. 

McGuire, A., Peterson, A., & Kuchle, L. (2021). Three circles of evidence-based decision making to support students with disabilities. National Center for Systemic Improvement at WestEd; Center for Prevention and Early Intervention. 

McGuire, A., Peterson, A., Thompson, A. L., & D’Agord, C. (2021). Part B SPP/APR FFY 2020–2025 expanded stakeholder engagement. National Center for Systemic Improvement at WestEd; Center for Prevention and Early Intervention. 

Buysse, V., Derrington, T., Mathur-Kalluri, M., & McGuire, A. (2018). Got evidence – an animated video with some questions and answers about evidence-based practices in early childhood [Video]. National Center for Systemic Improvement at WestEd; Center for Prevention and Early Intervention. 

Buysse, V., Derrington, T., Mathur-Kalluri, M., & McGuire, A. (2018). Three circles of evidence-based decision making. National Center for Systemic Improvement at WestEd; Center for Prevention and Early Intervention. 

Recent Media Appearances

4 ways to support partnerships with families, Edutopia, April 10, 2024.