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Charity Welch, Ph.D. cwelch@air.org Primary Interests Disproportionate Representation Cultural Competence Education Policy and School Reform Home-School-Community Collaboration Personnel Preparation

Charity Welch is currently a Senior Research Analyst with AIR, who joined the EMSTAC team in 2000. At EMSTAC She works on projects geared to enhance educational opportunities for children nationwide. She blends her practical experiences with her knowledge of research-based practices to bridge the gap between research and practice. She has been identified as a national expert in disproportionality and therefore, provides leadership at EMSTAC, in the areas of cultural competence and disproportionate representation of students of color in special education classes. Additionally, she assists school district personnel with action plans that focus on problem identification, program evaluation, assessment, program implementation, and consensus building. Her overall goal is to improve achievement for students with disabilities, and those who have been placed at risk for failure. Charity's other major responsibility at AIR includes leading a team who supports OSEP in its efforts to shape national discourse to guarantee well-trained personnel in K-12 programs, and in Institutions of Higher Education.

Before coming to AIR, Charity worked in private industry and in educational settings. In private industry, Charity worked at Westinghouse as a Production Planner, enforcing total quality management (TQM) procedures for the production of complex ground based and air-borne radar systems.

Her career in education began over 20 years ago teaching students with disabilities in urban schools. In addition to teaching, Charity has been a team leader and a Director of Education. As Director, she received recognition for her success at improving reading and math achievement scores for students in an urban setting. She also received commendation for building effective partnerships between home, school, and community. Recently, she was involved in research projects at the Center of Minority Research in Special Education, at the University of Virginia. She also conducted extensive research on social welfare policies including education policy, which was presented at Oxford University.

Charity was chosen to be a facilitator at the Harvard Graduate School of Education Summer Institute, High Stakes Assessment and Students with Disabilities, where she facilitated discussions between institute participants (i.e., educators, parents, professors, and policymakers) regarding the identification and implementation of equitable assessment strategies for students with disabilities. She has participated on several national task forces aimed to increase equity, access, and opportunities for all children. Charity is an adjunct professor and a research consultant for the ILIAD project, which is funded by OSEP to enhance administrators' ability to implement effective programs for students from diverse populations. Charity is a guest reviewer for Behavioral Disorders and has accepted an appointment to the publication committee for the Division of International Special Education and Services (DISES).

Charity has a Ph.D. in Special Education with a Secondary Concentration in Education Policy Studies from the University of Virginia. She also holds an M.Ed. in Special Education from Coppin State College, and a Certificate in Business Management from Goucher College.

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