Meet the Center

Meet the Center

The IDEA Data Center at Westat is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs. We work with states to improve IDEA data collection and reporting and support states as they analyze and use these data to make programmatic improvements.

Our Values

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    We are partnership focused.

    IDC provides a comprehensive set of services to states and, working in conjunction with states, to locals. Our approach to the delivery of these services centers on developing and maintaining strong relationships with states, which makes it possible for our highly skilled TA providers to deliver effective, state-centric TA services and products that tackle existing and emerging needs.

  • Drawing of four puzzle pieces coming together

    We understand.

    Challenged by shifting federal and state landscapes and frequent staff turnover, we appreciate that states require individualized supports to effectively implement needed changes while fulfilling current responsibilities. Our team’s deep data quality and other content expertise, strengthened by the practical experience of TA providers, most of whom are former state and local staff, allow us to support states where they are, providing timely supports to address emerging challenges.

  • Drawing of three gears meshing together

    We prioritize innovative yet practical solutions.

    We create and share practical and easy-to-use solutions that streamline processes and build capacity to address complex data issues. We share these solutions in our individualized work with state teams as well as in small, interactive groups, such as our peer-to-peer exchanges and workshops and, more broadly, through our national institutes, webinars, state-of-the-art website, and social media outreach efforts.

We are very excited about the IDEA Data Center and its efforts to support states in collecting, reporting, analyzing and using high-quality data to determine how best to improve results for children with disabilities.

—Richelle Davis
OSEP Project Officer for IDC 

Our Partners

Westat is proud to partner with the following organizations to implement the IDEA Data Center.

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  • AEM Logo
  • Human Development Institute Logo
  • AIR Logo
  • UNC Charlotte Logo
  • Compass Logo
  • Informatics Studio Logo