Kevin Perks is Director of School and District Services in WestEd’s Quality Schools and Districts team.
As the principal designer for WestEd’s VITAL Collaboration and Reading to Learn services, Perks leads a team that provides coaching and consulting to schools, districts, and state departments of education around school improvement, literacy, standards-based curriculum, instruction, assessment, motivation and engagement, professional learning communities (PLCs), and teacher effectiveness. Perks also works on the Region 2 Comprehensive Center, which provides technical assistance to the state agencies in Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island.
Perks has written articles for a range of magazines and journals. His book Motivation to Learn: Transforming Classroom Culture to Support Student Achievement is available through Corwin Press. Kevin is also the series editor for LEAF, Inc’s subscription service for educational leaders provided by the New York State Council of State Superintendents.
Prior to joining WestEd, Perks served as a Curriculum Coordinator for a large school district in southern Maine. He helped the district redesign its system of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to better use research and data to prepare students to be college- and career-ready. Perks also taught multiple subject areas at the elementary, middle, high school, and postsecondary levels. He began his career at Marburn Academy, a school dedicated to serving students with special needs, particularly dyslexia.
Perks received a PhD in curriculum and instruction from the University of New Hampshire and an MAT from the University of Chicago.