Systems Development & Improvement Center

The CECH Systems Development & Improvement (SDI) Center at UC fosters the development, implementation, and evaluation of PK20 education research and demonstration efforts that improve opportunities to learn for children and youth, their families, and the professionals who support them. At the core of many Center activities is a commitment to accelerating learning for all children, as well as partnerships - with school districts, with professional associations, with institutions of higher education, with regional providers, with the state - that improve conditions and outcomes for each student in the state.

Special emphases include supporting (1) education improvement activities that result in increased capacity to meet the educational needs of all learners; (2) technical assistance and dissemination activities - particularly in the area of low incidence sensory disabilities - that respond to and address local, regional, statewide, and national priorities; (3) personnel preparation and continuous learning activities that improve professional capacity to meet effectively a wider range of student instructional and educational needs; (4) program evaluation activities designed to support program improvement and effectiveness; and (5) other innovative efforts, consistent with the priorities of the Center and of CECH, customized based on client need and request.

The systems change area of work is focused on supporting adult learning across all levels of the education system as a means of increasing the performance of all students, including those with learning differences, as part of whole-system reform. The foundational intent of these efforts is to raise expectations and outcomes through effective leadership, strengthened instruction, and improved learning. Emphasis is placed on sustainability and scalability of change processes and improvement efforts through their alignment to established statewide systems and structures.

The TA&D area of work is focused on improving outcomes for all children, including those children with low incidence sensory disabilities (e.g., visual impairments/blindness, deafness, deafblindness) through the provision of ongoing technical assistance and dissemination to educators, related services personnel, families and community members, regional providers, and state-level agencies. The aim is to design, develop, and deliver professional development, training, and consultation that facilitate learning among adults within the system to, in turn, foster higher levels of learning for all children. Program efforts are designed to assess the needs of targeted individuals (e.g., school administrators, speech-language pathologists, special education teachers) in order to develop activities that build capacity and support knowledge and skill acquisition, and to monitor stakeholder growth and development. Partnerships with existing local, regional, and state systems are leveraged to improve conditions and outcomes for all learners.

The personnel preparation and development area of work is focused on contributing to Ohio's pool of educators qualified to meet the needs of all students, including those with unique learning challenges. Through the use of partnership models and cohort structures, the Center seeks to enhance educator preparation mechanisms and increase the alignment between preservice training and ongoing professional learning opportunities in the field, thereby strengthening the connections between P12 and higher education systems. Emphasis is placed on improving instructional practice and program improvement through the integration of evidence-based practices (e.g., science of reading) that optimize benefits for all learners. 

The program evaluation area of work is focused on conducting participatory-based evaluations of programs that have the potential to improve outcomes and results for students, professionals, families, and others engaged in educational or social service endeavors. The Center also provides customized services in response to client-identified needs.

A portion of the Center's work supports and is integral to the ongoing work of the state education agency in Ohio. The Center Executive Director and Operations Director have extensive experience in developing and contributing to improved state systems and are respected in their fields. Rather than being viewed as vendors, their strong and longstanding associations with state and regional personnel, and their frequent and ongoing interaction with state officials, contribute to their position as allies and partners in furthering the collective work of the state. At the same time, Center leadership has strong ties to several national organizations dedicated to improving results for all learners, contributing to the Center's reputation for doing high-quality, relevant, and useful work that has the potential to improve student outcomes and results on a multi-state scale.

The Center works with partners across multiple projects and initiatives. Ohio-based partners include WordFarmers Associates, a small research, evaluation, and instructional design company located in rural southeastern Ohio; the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA) and the Ohio Leadership Advisory Council (operated through BASA); the Ohio Association of Elementary School Administrators (OAESA); the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators (OASSA); the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence (OCALI); the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce; the Ohio Department of Higher Education; and Ohio's state support teams (SSTs). Key partners located outside Ohio include the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) based at the University of Minnesota, the national CEEDAR Center based at the University of Florida, and the National Center on Deafblindness (NCDB).

For more information about Center services, contact Deborah Telfer, PhD, Executive Director at telferdm@ucmail.uc.edu; or Monica Drvota, JD, Director of Operations, at drvotamj@ucmail.uc.edu.