About

About the Center

 

The National Research & Development Center to Improve Education for Secondary English Learners operated from 2020 to 2026 with funding from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), U.S. Department of Education.

 

Led by WestEd in partnership with researchers from the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, and UCLA's National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), the Center worked to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for secondary English Learners. Through research, curriculum development, professional learning, and partnerships with schools and education agencies, the Center sought to strengthen the connections between research, policy, and classroom practice.

​

The Center's work focused on identifying and addressing barriers to academic success for secondary English Learners while developing and studying instructional approaches that support language development, content learning, and meaningful participation in rigorous coursework.

 

The Center brought together a multidisciplinary team of researchers, educators, curriculum specialists, and technical assistance leaders with expertise in English Learner education, bilingual and multilingual education, second language acquisition, curriculum design, educational measurement and assessment, quantitative and qualitative research methods, professional learning, and school improvement. The work was further strengthened by an advisory board of nationally recognized scholars in language, literacy, education policy, and equity.

​

Although the Center's funding period has ended, this website remains available to provide ongoing access to the research, publications, tools, and resources developed through its work.