National Center for Systemic Improvement

WestEd’s National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) helps states transform their systems to improve outcomes for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities.

NCSI provides states with technical assistance to support their school districts and local early intervention service programs in improving education results and functional outcomes for children with disabilities.

Launched in October 2014, this multiyear cooperative agreement is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and plays a major role in helping states achieve a national vision of Results-Driven Accountability for special education and early intervention programs.

NCSI builds on the previous work of the national Regional Resource Center Program, which helped states provide high-quality special education services. The center supports states to build capacity in four major areas: data use, knowledge utilization, systems change, and communication and collaboration. Technical assistance is provided at three levels:

• Universal technical assistance—designed to support all states
• Targeted technical assistance—for specific states identified by OSEP as needing assistance
• Intensive technical assistance—for a select number of states that have been identified as having long-standing challenges in reaching desired outcomes for children with disabilities

NCSI partners are American Institutes for Research; SRI International; the National Association of State Directors of Special Education; the Council of Chief State School Officers; the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network; and the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at the University of Texas at Austin, as the external evaluator.

You can contact the center at NCSI@wested.org and/or 866.664.8471.