Education

Early Education and Care

Westat’s research and technical assistance supports in early education and care encompass a wide range of topics, including cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and language development, as well as supportive instruction, assessment, policy, and professional development for early education and care staff, educators, and administrators. Throughout this work, Westat staff explore how to create inclusive and diverse educational environments that support the learning and development of all young children, including those from diverse cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as those with disabilities or special needs. Through our work in early education and care, Westat aims to advance our understanding of how young children learn and develop, and how to create high-quality, inclusive, and effective early education and care programs that promote the well-being of young children and their families.

Educational Assessment

How does student educational performance change over time? What are the experiences and opportunities related to differences in students’ educational performance? How does student educational performance vary across the states? How does the U.S. compare in terms of students’ educational performance internationally? The key tool to uncover the answers to these kinds of questions is educational assessment studies. Findings from educational assessment studies help inform policymakers and guide educational improvements for children, students, and adults worldwide. Westat is at the forefront of these efforts, fielding large-scale national and international educational assessment studies to track these issues and important trends, with the aim to support student learning both within the U.S. and across the globe.

Educator Effectiveness

Access to effective educators is key to student success—in and out of the classroom. Westat collaborates with educators and organizations to assess complexities and provide strategies, resources, and evidence-based practices to succeed at both the organizational and individual levels. We partner with federal and local entities to support areas that span the teacher and leader pipeline from preparation to retention, with a focus on diversifying, supporting, and retaining a highly effective and diverse educator workforce. Together with our partners, we build capacity in a variety of areas that support educators and, ultimately, lead to student success.

Learning Acceleration

How should Accelerated Learning be implemented? How are educators best supported during implementation? Is there a different approach to implementing Accelerated Learning for students with diverse needs? How should families and other stakeholders be engaged during the acceleration process? Westat’s technical assistance and education policy teams have a deep understanding of evidence-based strategies that can support states, districts, and schools to accelerate learning through integrated and targeted supports, instructional approaches, tutoring, and high-quality out-of-school time.

Special Education

Westat approaches the evolving learning and behavior needs of children with disabilities through activities that address nearly every aspect of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Westat conducts research projects to evaluate initiatives and programs focused on improving outcomes for children with disabilities and creates technical reports about the implementation of IDEA. Our nationally recognized technical assistance centers build capacity toward greater equity and offer states the services and resources they need to improve their IDEA data quality. Through these endeavors and many others, Westat strives to ensure the provision of the most effective education possible for every learner.

STEM

Creating successful STEM learners and broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are widely acknowledged to be critical goals of our educational system and essential to maintaining our global competitiveness. Westat works with a broad range of clients—federal agencies, foundations, state and local governments—to support and strengthen the STEM enterprise. Our work addresses resource equity, student learning, educator effectiveness, faculty development, and institutional capacity building. Our research, evaluation, and technical assistance examine both programs and strategies for attaining broadened participation and provide tools and technical assistance for knowledge dissemination and adoption of best practices.