NY-RISE
WestEd is excited to work with the New York State Education Department to launch the NY-RISE (Resources, Information, Support & Engagement) initiative, along with our partner organizations: the Center for Learner Equity, Manhattan Strategy Group, and Tugboat Education.
Funded through NYSED’s Charter School Programs grant, this three-year series of professional development workshops and technical assistance webinars will strengthen the individual and collective capacities of charter school stakeholders in the following content areas:
Board Governance | Financial Operations |
Special Education | Home to School Connections |
To ensure that each training is relevant and engaging, the NY-RISE team is seeking input on specific topics and resources within each content area. Your feedback will directly inform program offerings for this initiative, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to Robin Chait, Project Director, with ideas and/or requests.
As a nonpartisan research, development, and service organization, WestEd partners with education and other communities to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning, with the aim to make a positive difference in the lives of children, youth, and adults, especially those who are least well served. Success for every learner — infants to adults — is WestEd’s primary focus.
WestEd’s School Choice team works nationwide to improve educational quality and access for all students in traditional schools, public charter schools, and schools of choice. This team focuses specifically on work in school improvement, special education, instructional transformation, school culture, charter authorizing, and talent management, which allows them to serve various partners with a holistic approach to improving quality for all students.
WestEd staff leading the NY-RISE Initiative:
Tugboat Education (Tugboat) is a consultancy that focuses exclusively on supporting organizations committed to education reform. Tugboat’s mission is to support education reform by providing the practical regulatory, compliance, and operational expertise that will empower non-profit and governmental leaders to achieve their missions. Tugboat’s vision is that innovative education organizations armed with affordable, high-quality expertise can learn to use the complex regulatory environment of public education to their advantage - utilizing it to further their programs rather than being impeded by it.
Tugboat staff contributing to the NY-RISE Initiative:
Manhattan Strategy Group (MSG) is a nationally recognized small, minority-owned management and social sciences consulting firm that works with federal and state government agencies and their programs to achieve performance excellence. MSG has successfully managed over $120 million in federal and state contracts since 2008, supporting clients by providing TA, research and evaluation, management and technology, and information and communication support and services. MSG works to improve education opportunities with a focus on adult learners, charter schools, English language learners, early childhood education, family engagement, and STEM education.
MSG staff contributing to the NY-RISE Initiative:
The Center for Learner Equity (formerly the National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools, or NCSECS) is the first organization to focus solely on proactively working with states, charter authorizers, special education and charter school advocates, and other stakeholders to raise awareness, improve access, create dynamic learning opportunities, and address barriers that prevent students with disabilities from accessing a high-quality education in the public school of their choice.