Katherine (Kate) Nagle has been committed to improving the academic results and educational outcomes for children with disabilities and other learners throughout her career. At the state level, Nagle provides technical assistance through the IDEA Data Center (IDC), the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI), the Data Center for Addressing Significant Disproportionality (DCASD), and the National Center for Educational Outcomes (NCEO), supporting state education agencies in their efforts to improve educational outcomes for children with disabilities and their families. As part of this technical assistance, Nagle supports states through infrastructure development, improvement planning, developing high-quality data systems, addressing significant disproportionality in identification, placement, and discipline, and creating tools, resources, and materials to build state capacity to improve outcomes for children with disabilities and their families.
With WestEd since 2018, Nagle has also assisted states in improving their alternate assessments for children with the most significant disabilities and is also part of WestEd’s Charter School Monitoring team that conducts site visits to grantees of the U.S. Department of Education’s Charter School Grant Program. In addition, Nagle is an Improvement Specialist, monitoring Comprehensive Support and Improvement schools’ implementation of the Four Domains of Rapid School Turnaround.
Prior to joining WestEd, Nagle was a Research Associate at SRI International, where she was engaged in multiple technical assistance, research, and evaluation projects. Previously, Nagle was project director of the Education Policy Reform Research Institute at the University of Maryland. Nagle taught students with visual impairments and significant cognitive disabilities for 5 years in Utah and taught history and geography for over 6 years in the United Kingdom and Kenya.
Nagle received her Ph.D. in special education from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.