Firm Will Work With Five-State Network To Improve Graduation Rates, Post-Secondary Readiness, English Learner Education and Overall Equity
Washington, D.C. – edCount, LLC, a research firm dedicated to supporting policy development, program evaluations and assessments, announced today that it will partner with Education Northwest and four other entities to support the Regional Educational Laboratory Northwest’s (REL-NW) efforts to provide scientifically valid research and best practices on the region’s critical education priorities.
Regional Educational Laboratories are federally-funded technical assistance centers designed to engage in applied research, development, dissemination, and training in support of the regions they serve. Education Northwest was awarded a five-year, $28.5 million contract by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences (IES) to manage and lead the REL-NW laboratory.
edCount will join the REL-NW Education Northwest team and will work with a network of eight research alliances across Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington to produce and disseminate rigorous research and build the capacity of states, districts, and schools to use well-researched evidence to improve decision-making.
The REL-NW’s regional priorities include turning around low-performing schools, increasing graduation rates and readiness for postsecondary education, and achieving greater equity by improving outcomes for all students.
edCount will provide tailored analytic and training activities to meet the unique needs of participating state and local education agencies, including developing tools to help agencies analyze and utilize data while building sustainable, internal capacity to perform the work being done by the contractors.
edCount will work closely with three of the REL’s research alliances, including the Montana AA District Network, to help alliance members strengthen their access to and use of data to evaluate and improve their dropout prevention efforts. edCount will also work with the Idaho Statewide System of Support alliance to assess data use, and the Bureau of Indian Education research alliance to help develop a common definition of graduation and improve graduation rates. In addition, edCount will also be lending its expertise to the REL’s work on behalf of English learners.
About edCount
edCount is a woman-owned professional services firm providing education consulting services to federal, state, district, and school clients centered around instructional systems and capacity building, assessment implementation and evaluation, and policy evaluation and support. For more information, please visit www.edcount.com.