NCSI Staff

NCSI Directors

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  Rorie Fitzpatrick has worked in education for more than 20 years, and has significant expertise and experience at the statewide level in improving results for students with disabilities. She came to WestEd having served as Nevada’s Interim State Superintendent, a position she held by appointment of Governor Brian Sandoval. (read more)

  Fitzpatrick’s previous responsibilities included serving as Nevada’s Chief Deputy State Superintendent and Nevada’s Director for Special Education and Federal and State School Improvement Programs.

  Before joining Nevada’s state education agency in 1998, Fitzpatrick was a faculty member at the University of Nevada, Reno. She has provided early intervention services in center-based and natural environments, as well as taught early childhood special education in inclusive and self-contained settings.

  Through Fitzpatrick’s years of experience as a senior SEA leader in special and general education roles, she has built lasting relationships with national colleagues, policymakers, and researchers, and brings these important perspectives to NCSI work.

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  Michele Rovins has 25 years of experience in the field of education, and over 15 years of experience managing a portfolio of ED contracts including 7 years creating and implementing collaborative communities. She specializes in the areas of capacity building, systemic change, technical assistance, dissemination, technology systems (read more)

  development, implementation, and evaluation, and has worked to improve educational outcomes for students with and without disabilities.

NCSI Coordination Team

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  Jessica Arnold is a Project Director in the Assessment for Learning program at WestEd. She leads professional learning, resource development, and technical assistance efforts aimed at supporting educators and leaders to effectively use assessment to improve outcomes for students. (read more)

  She serves on the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI), where leads the development and implementation of the Learning Collaborative technical assistance model, which builds networks of shared leadership and peer support among states in order to improve outcomes for children with disabilities. She also provides technical assistance and professional learning to State Education Agencies (SEAs) related to effective assessment and data practices for students with disabilities for the National Center for Educational Outcomes (NCEO).
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  Lauren Artzi is a Senior Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). She brings over sixteen years of experience in education. Dr. Artzi’s research and technical assistance activities focus on the areas of second language education, literacy instruction and assessment for English learners and students with disabilities, leadership, and multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). (read more)

  Currently, Dr. Artzi provides technical assistance through several federally funded national centers including the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) and the Lead for Literacy Center. She is also a principal investigator of a systematic replication study examining literacy instruction in the context of content-area learning. In her role on NCSI, Dr. Artzi co-leads the Evidence-based Practices priority area, serves as a content expert on the Research to Practice team and leads TA activities. Dr. Artzi holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the Second Language Education and Culture (SLEC) department at the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in TESOL from Tel Aviv University.

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  John Eisenberg has been the Executive Director of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) since December 4, 2018. NASDSE’s mission is to improve individual and organizational success for state leaders of special education by providing relevant services that impact positive systemic change and results. (read more)

  Before this role, Mr. Eisenberg worked in the Office of Special Education and Student Services at the Virginia Department of Education for fifteen years, seven of those as the State Director of Special Education. Throughout his career in special education, he worked in a variety of other roles, including Director of the Virginia Deaf-Blind Project, Technical Assistance Specialist with the National Technical Assistance Consortium for Deaf-Blindness, and a classroom teacher for students with developmental disabilities and deaf-blindness. Mr. Eisenberg proudly served on the NASDSE Board of Directors for over four years and became President in 2015. Mr. Eisenberg earned his M.Ed. in severe disabilities from Hunter College at the City University of New York and his B.A. from New York University. He is also a proud graduate of the Virginia LEND program from Virginia Commonwealth University. He comes from a family of teachers and special educators and is very passionate about improving the educational outcomes of children and families across the United States.
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  Nicole Garcia is a Senior Program Associate with WestEd’s Special Education Policy and Practice team. As a member of the National Center for System Improvement (NCSI), Nicole partners with states to improve outcomes for students with disabilities while leveraging her background at the state and local levels. (read more)

  Under NCSI, Garcia supports states as a technical assistance facilitator and is a member of the Results Based Accountability and Support (RBAS) and System Transformation Priorities as well as the Stakeholder & Family Systems Elements Team.
  Prior to joining WestEd and NCSI, Garcia served as an Education Specialist at the Oregon Department of Education, supporting school districts through IDEA compliance monitoring and providing technical assistance. Garcia is a trained mental health counselor who has provided in-home early intervention services to children with developmental delays or autism spectrum disorders and brings expertise from her time at the District of Columbia Public Schools most recently as the Deputy Director of Academic Programs.
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  Alexandria Harvey joined WestEd in 2020, to work with the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) focused on equity, race, and disability work. She leads the Race X Disability Thought Leaders Conversation Series for NCSI facilitating conversations centered around the intersection of race and disability with national leaders (read more)

  in this space.
  Dr. Harvey recently completed her Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of Florida where she focused on culturally relevant education. Her dissertation was on the self-efficacy of preservice teachers and their ability to enact culturally responsive classroom management practices. She began her career in education as a varying exceptionalities teacher in Alachua County Public Schools in Florida. Following her experience in the classroom, she transitioned to starting her Ph.D. program. During her time at the University of Florida, Alexandria was a graduate assistant for the CEEDAR Center, providing technical assistance for the states of Tennessee, New York, and Florida. She also facilitated a Topical Action Group for Culturally Relevant Education, which aligns closely with her research agenda of culturally relevant education, with a tight focus on culturally responsive classroom management.
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  As a Senior Program Associate and Project Director at WestEd, Susan Hayes supports education systems create more equitable teaching and learning conditions and therefore outcomes for students with disabilities and their peers. (read more)

  Specifically, Hayes helps state education agencies critically assess and improve their special education policies and practices through her work with several federally funded technical assistance centers including the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI), the IDEA Data Center (IDC), and the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). Within these centers, Hayes works closely with state clients on a myriad of priority issues related to improving outcomes for students with disabilities including the development of special education accountability and support systems (often known as general supervision systems) that prioritize improved student outcomes while ensuring compliance with IDEA, design of state assessment and accountability systems for students with disabilities, implementation and evaluation of OSEP’s required State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP), IDEA data collection, quality, and reporting challenges, and general/special education collaboration. On NCSI, Hayes serves as the co-lead for the Results Based Accountability and Support (RBAS) Systems Transformation Priority and as an STP Coordinator. She is also a member of the Systems Coherence Systems Elements Team and serves as a TA Facilitator to Alabama and Connecticut.
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  Stephanie Jackson, Ph.D., is a Managing Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and directs policy, technical assistance, and evaluation projects for federal, state, and local policymakers. Dr. Jackson has more than 35 years of experience in a variety of educational environments, including general and special education settings, magnet schools, charter schools, and higher education. (read more)

  She has been recognized for her educational leadership in schools and her practical and realistic perspective to foster the learning of all students, including students with disabilities. Currently, Dr. Jackson serves as a principal investigator and senior advisor for the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI). In addition, Dr. Jackson is project director of the IDEA Part D Analysis, Communications, Dissemination, and Meeting Task Ordering Contract for the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). In this role she has assisted OSEP with communicating evidence-based research to practice, supporting students with disabilities in schools across the country. From 2010-2012, Dr. Jackson served as the project director for the National Center on Response to Intervention, another federally funded technical assistance center, which helped states build their capacity to support districts in implementing RTI. Prior to joining AIR, Dr. Jackson worked as a general education and special education teacher, a special education administrator, an elementary school principal, and associate director of a research institute in a large, urban university.
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  Debra Jennings is a nonprofit leader and social justice warrior who is nationally known for organizing and supporting parent advocacy organizations committed to positively impacting general and special education issues with an equity mindset. While serving as Executive Co-Director of Statewide Parent Advocacy Network of New Jersey (SPAN) for nearly twenty years, Debra expanded the impact and influence of the org, regionally nationally and internationally through agile leadership, innovative program expansion, collaborative partnerships and substantive grant acquisitions. (read more)

  Ms. Jennings is a founding member of the National Association for Family School and Community Engagement and has served on a local school board and as as an advisor for numerous state and national initiatives, including the National RTI Center, National Center for Systemic Improvement, Statewide Family Engagement Centers program, the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations, and NJ’s ESSA Committee of Practitioners and Special Education Stakeholders’ Workgroup to name a few. With core commitments to cultural competency, inclusion and compassion, her efforts have ensured that the diverse voices of parents/families and communities are accurately represented in arenas where practices are discussed and policies made, impacting children and families, generationally. Accounting for her skilled-passion as influencer and advocate, Debra brings a diverse toolkit of professional expertise (commercial construction, economic development, finance, and legislative affairs); education (economics, non-profit management and urban studies) and personal experience as the mom of two adult daughters, one of whom received special education services and the other who participated in Title I Basic Skills. Both are college graduates. Debra Jennings is a native of Chicago and currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, a middle school administrator, and a continuous stream of young adult relatives and friends that she houses and mentors as they find their way into adult life and careers.
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  Laura Berry Kuchle, Ph.D., a Senior Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), is currently working with the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI), the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII), the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR Center), and the IDEA Data Center (IDC). (read more)

  She previously directed the evaluation of a state pilot program from 2015-2019 and supported the extension phase evaluation project until 2021. For NCSI, she leads the Research-Informed Practice Capacity Building Team, which provides technical assistance related to supporting implementation of evidence-based practices and frameworks. She previously was a member of the Data Use Team. For NCII, she serves as the Evaluation Coordinator. In this role, she leads the formative evaluation, coordinates with the independent summative evaluator, and serves as the evaluation liaison to the project officer and the Center to Improve Project Performance. She previously supported the Tools Charts work and the English Learner Technical Work Group and served as a TA liaison. For the CEEDAR Center, she supports the Center’s evaluation with a focus on internal/formative evaluation efforts, including data analysis and report writing, and supporting the external evaluation team with protocol development and report review. She previously was the AIR formative evaluation task leader, served as TA State Facilitator for New Hampshire, and contributed to TA product development. For IDC, she serves as a TA specialist. She holds B.A.s in Spanish and Psychology from the University of Kentucky and earned her M.Ed. and Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. Her training emphasized applied behavior analysis, Response to Intervention, data-based team problem solving, and systems change and reform. For her dissertation and internship, she focused on culturally responsive practices and services for English language learners. She is also certified as a What Works Clearinghouse reviewer under standards version 4.1 for both group and single case designs. Prior to joining AIR, she worked as a school psychologist in Ohio public schools.
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  Angela McGuire, M.A., is a Project Director for WestEd and serves as a Technical Assistance Facilitator and a Content Specialist for the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI). She co-leads the Stakeholder and Family Engagement (SaFE) Systems Elements Team (read more)

  to provide supportive guidance and technical assistance regarding planning, implementation, data collection and analysis, and evaluation of State Systemic Improvement Plan activities, especially those related to stakeholder and family engagement. She assists constituents and NCSI teams to integrate stakeholder and family engagement in the development, implementation and support of evidence-based practices, data collection and reporting, and design and delivery of technical assistance. She also promotes and expedites the fusion of family expertise and perspectives in the delivery of technical assistance activities and development of NCSI products through facilitation of the Family Expertise and Resources for Systems Transformation (FERST) team, an active collaboration with NCSI’s Parent Center partners. She has expertise in strategies for evaluation for program improvement, tailored professional development, and intentional family engagement. As co-director of WestEd’s long-standing Early Start Comprehensive System of Personnel Development and Resources project, she leads the design and delivery of web-supported training for the California Early Start Online Personnel Development System, deploying a multidisciplinary team and optimizing a variety of platforms to deliver, reinforce and enhance the integration of new knowledge and policy into effective practice. As a “veteran parent” of a child with disabilities, McGuire actively advocates for and integrates the “parent voice” and parent-professional partnership approaches into technical assistance and training activities and deliverables.
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  Kevin Macpherson, Ph.D., is an Improvement Specialist on WestEd’s improvement science team and works within the National Center for Systemic Improvement. Kevin builds the capacity of special education leaders across the country by facilitating communities of practice, providing direct technical assistance, and developing tools for LEA(read more)

  and SEA leadership. Kevin has spent more than a decade in K-12 education. He started his career as a Teach for America corps member, and before WestEd, he was the Associate Director of Special Education at KIPP in Northern California. In that role, Kevin codified regionwide special education operations, streamlined data systems, and spearheaded a continuous improvement initiative for high school special education. Kevin earned his Ph.D. in Special Education from UC Berkeley, where he researched social-psychological factors, including student motivation. Kevin combines his experience as a practitioner and researcher to support teams to empathize, reimagine, and redesign systems within and around schools to promote equitable outcomes for all learners, particularly students with disabilities.

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  Dona Meinders, M.A.,is a Project Director at WestEd. Meinders’ career focus has been on improving outcomes for children and youth with disabilities at both the systemic and individual student levels. In her role on the leadership team for the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI), Meinders uses her expertise in systems alignment and improvement to provide coherence across the Center’s structures internally and externally. (read more)

  She is a co-lead for the Systems Coherence Systems Elements Team, is a team member on the Low Performing Schools and Systems State Transformation Priorities and has supported the Shared Interest Group work in Equity and Access. She also supports states as a technical assistance facilitator and is part of the TA Coordination Team which works to align the work of the teams across the Center. Her work at the State and Local Education Agency levels has focused on developing tools and resources to improve State System of Support for students with disabilities. Meinders has also led work at the SEA levels to align and imlement inclusive practices for students receiving special education services and to integrate strategies, supports and processes for students with disabilities within various state initiatives. Meinders has a Master of Arts in Education from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Bachelor of Arts in Child Development from California State University, Sacramento and administrative and teaching credentials in general and special education.
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  Katherine Nagle, Ph.D., is a Senior Program Associate at WestEd. Nagle has almost 20 years experience providing technical assistance (TA) to states, conducting special education policy analysis, designing and conducting research and evaluation into programs and practices, and implementing continuous improvement practices. (read more)

  On the National Center for Systemic Improvement, Dr. Nagle provides TA to seven states, co-leads the systems coherence capacity building team, supports the results-based accountability strategic transformation priority, and is part of the technical assistance coordination team. Dr. Nagle reviews state systemic improvement plans helps states to identify and implement coherent improvement policies and practices, assists in improving state general supervision systems and increasing stakeholder involvement. On the National Center for Education Outcomes she provides TA on assessment issues and students with significant cognitive disabilities. On the IDEA Data Center, Dr. Nagle provides content expertise and develops tools and resources on Indicator 3 of the SPP/APR. At SRI International, she provided support for the Center to Improve Project and Program Performance and the Model Demonstration Coordination Center. She was involved in the Evaluation of Response to Intervention Practices for Elementary School Reading, lead evaluator on an Investing in Innovation development grant to improve secondary mathematics achievement in rural communities, and co-director of the Montana Continuous Improvement in Education Research project to improve secondary literacy for American Indian Students. Dr. Nagle also supported work on the National Study of Alternate Assessments, the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2, and provided TA to enhanced assessment grantees to improve the technical quality of alternate and modified assessments.
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  Amy Peterson, M.A., is a Senior Researcher at American Institutes for Research (AIR). She currently co-leads the Stakeholder and Family Engagement Systems Elements Team for the National Center for System Improvement (NCSI) and is a member of the evidence-based practice systems transformation priority.(read more)

  In these roles she supports the development of tools and resources focused on authentic stakeholder and family engagement and provides technical assistance support to states to facilitate stakeholder engagement efforts. She formally co-led the language and literacy collaborative for NCSI and helped to develop self-paced learning modules focused on leaning by convening. She also currently directs product development, web activity, dissemination, and collaboration for the National Center on Intensive Intervention and PROGRESS Center. She has been conducting public policy and education research, communications, and technical assistance to support schools, districts, and states in defining and refining their MTSS frameworks, implementing evidence-based practices, using data, and engaging stakeholders since 2006. She also has worked across grade levels supporting early childhood efforts while at the National Association for the Education of Young Children and through early warning system implementation and dropout prevention efforts at AIR.
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  Kathleen L. Pfannenstiel, Ph.D., Senior Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), provides technical assistance (TA) and professional development to states and school districts with an emphasis on improving results for students with disabilities. (read more)

  Currently, she serves the National Center on Systemic Improvement (NCSI) co-lead of the Evidence-Based Practices cross-state learning collaborative and provides technical assistance to three states. Through this work, she works to build state capacity in the areas of systems-level and instructional coaching, Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS), differentiated TA, evidence-based practices, SSIP support, and special education general supervision and monitoring. In addition, Dr. Pfannenstiel is also the principal investigator for an Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) model demonstration grant. She works with middle school general and special educators to increase the use of evidence-based practices in mathematics to increase outcomes for students in special education. Dr. Pfannenstiel is also a site coach/TA provider for PROGRESS Center, a OSEP funded center focused on improving outcomes and special education programming. Prior to joining AIR, Dr. Pfannenstiel was an educational specialist in special education at the Region 13 Educational Service Center in Austin, TX and a project coordinator for three MTSS-mathematics grants at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. She has experience teaching at the university level and has taught in public schools in Illinois and Texas at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
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  Colleen Riley, M.Ed, is currently serving as a senior technical assistance content specialist for the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE). Riley provides coaching and mentoring to state directors of special education and state education agency staff. (read more)

  She supports state agency staff in developing the infrastructure to align systems of general supervision, technical assistance and tiered support in order to improve outcomes for at risk students and students with disabilities. Previously, Riley served as the Director of Early Childhood, Special Education and Title Services at the Kansas Department of Education (KSDE). Riley provided the leadership necessary to bring the Kansas Multi-Tier System of Supports (MTSS) framework from a grassroots effort to scale with a focus on creating a sustainable system to meet the academic and social needs of every student. In addition, Riley worked to align state and federal accountability and technical assistance systems to implement the Kansas Integrated Accountability System (KIAS) and the Kansas Technical Assistance System Network (TASN). As a member of the KSDE leadership team, Riley’s responsibilities included providing and aligning resources for district and school teams to meet the requirements of multiple accountability plans including the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Kansas State Performance Plan (SPP), State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP), and the Kansas Education Accreditation System (KESA). Prior to joining KSDE, Riley was principal of a year-round K-6 elementary school in West Jordan, Utah, a local special education director, and a special education teacher. Riley’s teaching experience focused primarily on students with learning disabilities and students with challenging behaviors at all levels, elementary through high school.
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  Kristin Ruedel, Ph.D., a Principal Researcher at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), currently directs streams of work for federal, state, and local policymakers focused on enhancing educational opportunities for students with disabilities. (read more)

  Dr. Ruedel has more than 20 years of experience in the field and focuses her technical assistance and research on best practice in data literacy, systems change and implementation science, disproportionality, and integrating digital technologies to transform and enhance the teaching and learning experience. She currently serves as the AIR project lead on two OSEP-funded Centers – the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) and the IDEA Data Center (IDC) – and as the principal investigator on a professional development and technical assistance project in Texas which is focused on addressing issues of significant disproportionality. On NCSI, Dr. Ruedel not only directs the Data Literacy Systems Elements Team on NCSI which is focused on increasing state and local capacity in data literacy including data exploration, management, use, and continuous improvement but also serves as the overall Coordinator for NCSI’s Systems Elements Teams including Data Literacy, Research Informed Practice, Systems Coherence, and Stakeholder and Family Engagement.
  Dr. Ruedel has extensive experience evaluating system and classroom supports that are critical for continuous improvement and sustained implementation, developing TA/PD to build capacity of educational leaders and teachers, conducting quantitative and qualitative data analyses, and writing reports. Dr. Ruedel has worked in both domestic and international program and policy development, implementation, and evaluation with the aim of improving learning opportunities and policies to support students with disabilities. Dr. Ruedel earned her doctoral degree from the University of Maryland in special education policy with a concentration in using large-scale data sets to examine policy implementation and outcomes related to disproportionality.
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  Mary Watson has devoted her career to building capacity for special education leadership and assisting states in implementation of meaningful systemic change that impacts improved outcomes for students with disabilities. Mary has served on the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) since 2018. (read more)

  She currently co-leads the Results Based Accountability and Support (RBAS) System Transformation Priority and supports the SEA Leadership (SEAL) Systems Transformation Priority. She is a member of the Evidence Based Practice (EBP) Systems Transformation Priority as well as the System’s Coherence Systems Elements Team. Mary also serves as a state technical assistance facilitator for NCSI. Mary has an extensive background in general education, special education and administration including experience at the local, state and national level. Prior to her work with NCSI, she served as the state director of special education for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction for 12 years, was on the board for the National Association of State Directors (NASDSE) and served as President of the organization. She also worked as a professional development specialist with the National Council of Exceptional Children and served as a Governor of the National Organization. Mary and her husband, Ed, live in Raleigh, North Carolina.

External Evaluators

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  Colleen K. Reutebuch, Ph.D., is a Senior Project Manager at The Meadows Center, University of Austin Texas. Reutebuch conducts and manages research and external program evaluation at The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk, The University of Texas at Austin. (read more)

  Reutebuch has experience directing federally funded large-scale intervention (Institute of Education Sciences, Goals 2, 3, and 4), external evaluation (Office of Special Education Programs), and professional development and technical assistance projects at the state and national level (U.S. Department of Education, Texas Education Agency; Reading First, Texas Reading First; Targeting the Two Percent). Currently, Reutebuch serves as the evaluation project director and co-primary investigator for WestEd’s National Center for Systemic Improvement, the National Deaf Center, and Leaders for Literacy) and co-investigator on an Efficacy and Development Grant. Reutebuch executes and directs all aspects of research and program evaluation, including protocol development, data collection planning, data management, analysis, and reporting. Since 2014, Reutebuch has worked closely with NCSI leadership and staff, as well as OSEP representatives to identify and capture evidence of program quality and effectiveness. In the field of education for 26 years, Reutebuch has been an assistant professor of special education, lecturer in special education and reading education, and educational specialist. Reutebuch has published in peer-reviewed journals on the topics of RTI, reading difficulties, and academic enhancements and interventions.