REEd is a university-based intermediary with deep ties to the TK–12 education community across the state. We are committed to moving research findings into practice and building the capacity of education systems to improve teaching and learning with the goal of reducing education inequities. We do this by testing professional growth systems for building capacity and using research practice partnerships to spread and deepen this work in many districts across the state and beyond.
Our Mission
To develop organizations’ capacity to continuously improve teacher professional growth systems so that teachers grow professionally, students achieve, and educational inequities are diminished.
Engage California organizations through research practice partnerships to create and sustain the conditions needed to implement high-quality systems
Bring specific expertise and a proven capacity-building process for fostering teacher professional growth
Enable knowledge transfer to accelerate systemic improvement and move the field
Anchored in a set of Teaching Frames
Our Unique Approach
REEd distinguishes itself from other education organizations and university centers with an approach that combines three mutually reinforcing activities.
First, we engage in research practice partnerships with local and county agencies within California, as well as the California Department of Education. We work collaboratively with them to build capacity to implement and continuously improve teacher professional growth systems grounded in concrete instructional practices. During our engagements, we capture and generate new knowledge, tools, and an evidence base for resourcing and sustaining systemic improvement.
Second, we serve as a “capacity hub” to accelerate effective implementation. To do this, we cultivate partnerships with organizations that enable the implementation of practices grounded in REEd’s evidence base. We recommend partners to others based on the specific needs they have.
Lastly, we generate new knowledge and develop and disseminate tools, frameworks, and approaches from practice-based experience that local and county agencies can use for self-directed implementation. This work helps us to broadly spread the proven elements of the capacity building process.
REEd’s innovative method for achieving its mission consists of five guiding principles:
Co-design and collaboration: We engage individuals with diverse expertise from the REEd and Local Education Agency (LEA)/County of Education (COE) team in designing, developing, and testing innovations, just as we engaged California educators in building our teaching frames.
Place-based and enduring relationships: We focus on long-term, in-depth work with a single local, county, or state agency. Engagements’ durations range from one to five years depending on the specific needs of each client agency.
Educator capacity-building: We focus on ensuring that systems and the process of continuous improvement are led and owned by the internal team over time.
Continuous improvement: We emphasize the cycle of learning, not only to improve teacher professional growth systems, but also to transfer the process more broadly to other systems within the education agency.
Informing practice and research: We aim to develop materials, tools, and instructional approaches that can be practically implemented in classrooms, schools, and districts – while seeking to advance research and theory.
Susan O’Hara joined the School of Education as REEd’s Executive Director in 2013 with a wealth of experience and background in public education, and working closely with teachers, researchers and community leaders. An educator for 20 years, Susan began teaching mathematics and science to middle and high school students in Ireland. In 2000, Susan was appointed assistant professor in teacher education at Sacramento State University. Most recently, she was associate professor and founding executive director of the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching (CSET) at Stanford University.
Susan’s research has focused on teacher professional learning and the teaching of English learners. She has been engaged in a five-year project to develop, implement, and test a professional learning model to build mentor and teacher capacity across disciplines. Susan holds a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Science Education from UC Davis, an M.A. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Southern California, and a B.A. in Mathematics and Physics from the University College Dublin.
Current Grants
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences (2017-2022). Investigating the Efficacy of the Academic Language and Literacy Professional Developmental Model.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition (2016- 2021). Building District Capacity to Support Mentors and Teachers in the Academic Language and Literacy Development of Young English Learners. ($2.5 M)
Improving Teacher Quality Grant (2016-2018). Resourcing Integrated Professional Learning Systems. ($3.2 M)
California Department of Corrections. Evaluation of California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Career Technical Education Program. ($500,000).
Improving Teacher Quality Grant. Resourcing Integrated Professional Learning Systems ($5.8M).
U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition. Academic Literacy Support for Teachers: A Capacity Building Approach ($2M).
Selected Publications
O’Hara, S., Pritchard, R. (2016). Framing Teaching for Common Core literacy standards: SOAR teaching frames for literacy. Psychology Research, February 2016, Vol. 6 (No. 2), 92-101.
O’Hara, S., Pritchard, R., & Zwiers, J. (2016). Framing the teaching of academic language to English learners: A Delphi study of expert consensus. TESOL Quarterly.
O’Hara, S., Pritchard, R., & Zwiers, J. (2016). Academic Language and Literacy in Every Subject (ALLIES): A capacity building approach to supporting teachers in Grades 3-8. In P. Proctor, A. Boardman, and E. H. Hiebert (Eds.), Teaching emergent bilingual students: Flexible approaches in an era of new standards. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
O’Hara, S., Pritchard, R., Pitta, D., and Webb, J. (2015). Implementing new technologies to support social justice pedagogy. In Papa, R., Eadens, D. M., & Eadens, D. M. (Eds), Social Justice Instruction: Empowerment on the Chalkboard. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.
O’Hara, S. & Pritchard, R. (2015). Using new technologies to engage and support English learners in mathematics classrooms. In D. Polly (Ed.), Cases on Technology and Common Core Mathematics Standards. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Zwiers, J., O’Hara, S., & Pritchard, R. (2014). Common Core Standards in diverse classrooms: Essential practices for developing academic language and disciplinary literacy. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Joanne Bookmyer joined REEd in 2001. She was selected as the Director of Collaborative Projects in 2002, a role which engaged her in various local, state, and national school reform and improvement initiatives, including external evaluator for the federal Sacramento City Unified School District Smaller Learning Community Grant, as Project Manager for a Network for a Healthy California SNAP-Ed initiative, and as the Technical Assistance Team Lead for Sierra Health Foundation’s REACH (Connecting Communities and Youth for a Healthy Future) initiative.
Renee Newton joined REEd in 2001, where she directed a statewide health access program administered through the Healthy Start Field Office. She was named director of the Center for Community School Partnerships (CCSP) in 2005 where she led a multidisciplinary team in support of school and community partnerships.
Robin Martin joined the UC Davis School of Education in 2016 as the Director of Educational Research and Evaluation. Having served in both K-12 policy organizations and public school districts, Robin brings over 13 years of practiced experience in education policy, research, assessment, and program implementation and evaluation.
Uyen Do is the Program Manager at the University of California, Davis School of Education. Uyen has earned a bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Psychology, master’s degree in Education, as well as a Multiple-Subject Teaching Credential from the University of California, Davis, and pursuing her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy. She spent five years in the classroom and over 15 years working with administrators, teachers, students, in a variety of educational settings including Expanded Learning Programs.
Diane Godard, Program Manager, joined the REEd Center in 2017 after serving as Program Manager for grant development and project management with the UC Davis Center for Regional Change. Previously, she managed empirical research as a senior research associate with the Public Research Institute at San Francisco State University.
Mackenzie Smith joined the University of California, Davis School of Education in 2017 as the Program Coordinator. In her role, she acts as the main point of contact for prospective and current clients across the state regarding statewide meetings and events and grant initiatives. Prior to joining the REEd team, she spent 4 years working in the entertainment industry, specializing in public relations and digital marketing, before transitioning to education and working for the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
