Director, System Improvement Leads
El Dorado County Office of Education, Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA)

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Heidi Hata serves as director for the System Improvement Leads (SIL) grant project at the El Dorado County Office of Education.  The SIL project is a collaborative effort between the El Dorado County of Education SELPA, the Riverside County SELPA, and the West San Gabriel Valley SELPA.  The SIL team works collaboratively within the statewide system of support to improve outcomes for students with disabilities by building the capacity of Special Education Local Plan Areas (SELPAs) and Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) in the areas of: data use and governance, high leverage practices, and continuous improvement methodologies.

Prior to working on the SIL team, Heidi was a teacher, school psychologist, and special education director.  A lifelong educator, Heidi entered the field because she believes that education is a fundamental civil rights issue. “Every day that I choose to be an educator, my actions either perpetuate the inequities in our system or disrupt them.” She strives to serve the education community by bringing a system thinking lens to school improvement initiatives.

Heidi was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i.  Although she enjoys returning regularly to visit friends and family, she now calls Oakland, CA home.