Anne Louise Thompson Granfield brings expertise in special education, systems change, policy implementation, program evaluation, fiscal management, and leadership to her work with WestEd’s National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) and the Center for IDEA Fiscal Reporting (CIFR). Both centers are funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education to support state education agencies. Her work has resulted in increased stakeholder engagement in policy development and practice and heightened accuracy and efficiency in oversight of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act at state and local levels.
Prior to joining WestEd, she was Connecticut’s state director of special education; during her leadership, the state met the highest federally ranked determination status. She served for 15 years at the state level influencing the development of disability policy and implementation of least restrictive environment initiatives to improve the educational outcomes of children with disabilities. She was a director of special education, preschool services, and Title I services; a special education teacher; and adjunct faculty in the United States and the Netherlands.
She has presented nationally and internationally on fiscal issues, leadership, and topics in special education and has multiple publications, including co-authoring Ideas for Inclusion: The School Administrator’s Guide (1995) by Sopris West. She received the LRP Publications’ JoLeta Reynolds Award in 2007 for her impact on the quality of special education services.
Thompson Granfield received a PhD in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an MA in educational psychology and administrator credentials from the University of Connecticut, and a BS in special education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.