Rorie Fitzpatrick

Overview

Rorie Fitzpatrick, a nationally recognized thought partner for policymakers and educators, has 3 decades of experience in educational leadership, policy development, and technical assistance at local, state, and national levels. She has extensive subject matter expertise in organizational design, student-centered leadership, and talent development. She supports school, district, state, and federal partners in realizing large-scale systemic improvement to achieve positive student, family, and educator outcomes, including deep systems support for increasing results for students with disabilities. 

As Vice President for the Center for Education Systems at WestEd, Fitzpatrick provides leadership for client expansion and experience, quality assurance, talent development and growth, and eminence and visibility for the agency’s work on school and district improvement and state policy and impact. She guides the development and implementation of these interconnected bodies of work to support local, state, and national partners in understanding what drives their results and in designing and implementing improvements with lasting impact. She creates conditions for staff to successfully provide coaching, professional learning, technical assistance, and research that supports innovation, strategic planning, use of evidence-based practices, and policy development to strengthen education systems to advance learning for all students. 

Across her career, Fitzpatrick has actively led work on system design and improvement for special education and school improvement under IDEA and ESSA; statewide accountability and support systems for educators, schools, and districts; and the creation and implementation of technical assistance and professional development infrastructure. Fitzpatrick has led the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI)—one of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education’s largest technical assistance investments—since its inception in 2014. NCSI plays a leading role in supporting state education agencies, actively serving all 50 states and 10 territories in transforming their systems to improve results for children and youth with disabilities. 

Before joining WestEd in 2013, Fitzpatrick served as governor-appointed Superintendent of Public Instruction for Nevada. She has also served as Deputy Superintendent and as Director for Special Education and Federal and State School Improvement Efforts. As part of her state education agency leadership, she guided efforts to develop and oversee implementation of state regulations; supported the creation, adoption, and implementation of legislative and governor-driven priorities; and worked to ensure effective and efficient operational systems within the state. 

Education

• MEd, special education, University of Nevada, Reno

Honors, Awards, and Affiliations

Recipient, Martha J. Fields Award of Excellence, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, 2020.

Recent Media Appearances

The Top 50 Women Leaders of Nevada for 2025 (Complete), Women We Admire, September 8, 2025