Our Team

Center Partners

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions for public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier, and more prosperous. RAND brings significant experience in conducting reviews of evidence and primary research on school and afterschool-based SEL and safety initiatives. RAND will advise on evidence-based programs and practices for SEL and school safety and will serve as the Center’s evaluator.

The Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, the Bureau of Indian Education, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO will serve as the meeting hub for states, leveraging its existing networks to identify how SEAs are leading on SEL and school safety, promising practices, and needs of the field. We will use this input to examine how best to promote, structure, support, and prioritize efforts to improve the implementation of evidence-based programs or practices in SEL and school safety.

Transforming Education partners with school systems to support educators in fostering the development of the whole child so that all students, particularly those from underserved populations, can thrive. Transforming Education brings experience working with districts to identify and implement evidence-based practices and policies that create positive learning environments and support students’ social-emotional development.

The center will be led by WestEd, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research, development, and service agency, working nationally to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning and other outcomes for children, youth, and adults. Across all content-specific areas of WestEd’s education and human development work, the agency offers a range of research, evaluation, consulting, technical assistance, professional learning, tools and measures, and policy analysis. WestEd will provide overall vision and leadership for the center, subject-matter expertise, project administration, and stakeholder coordination.