Transforming California Education: EmbraceAbilities Drives Inclusive Change

Tim Villegas: Hi friends. This is Think Inclusive, the podcast from the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education. I’m Tim Villegas. Today’s episode is about dreaming big and doing the work to make those dreams real. We’re talking about a project that’s quietly transforming how California supports students with the most extensive support needs.

It’s called Embrace Abilities, and it’s not just a grant—it’s a movement. You’ll hear from two educators, Marsha Riley and Kristin Standke, who are helping lead this work from the Los Angeles County Office of Education. We’ll explore what it means to build inclusive systems from the ground up, even when the odds and the structures aren’t in your favor.

But first, a quick word from our sponsor.

This season of Think Inclusive is brought to you by IXL. IXL is a fantastic all-in-one platform designed for K–12 education. It helps boost student achievement, empowers teachers, and tracks progress seamlessly. Imagine having a tool that simplifies what usually requires dozens of different resources.

Well, that’s IXL. As students practice, IXL adapts to their individual needs, ensuring they’re both supported and challenged. Plus, each learner receives a personalized learning plan to effectively address any knowledge gaps. Interested in learning more? Visit ixl.com/inclusive.

After a short break, we’ll hear from Marsha Riley and Kristen Standke of Embrace Abilities. Catch you on the other side.

Okay, we’re in Visalia, California. It’s day two of the Embrace Abilities Learning Institute. The air is buzzing, not just with conversation, but with possibility. Educators from across the state have gathered here, and they’re not just attending another professional development event—they’re co-creating something new, something bold.

Tim Villegas: I sat down with Marsha Riley and Kristen Standke, two leaders from the Embrace Abilities Grant Project, and what struck me most wasn’t just their knowledge—it was their hope.

Marsha Riley: Coordinator III with the Embrace Abilities Grant Project at the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Kristen Standke: Senior Program Specialist for the Embrace Abilities Grant Project at the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Tim Villegas: Why don’t we just start out with some reflections on the event? I know we’re in day two, but anything that stood out to you from just the last couple of days?

Marsha Riley: I’m sure Kristen has some ideas, but I think what stands out is just the overall positive, warm feeling that we have from everyone—from the attendees to the site visits, the feedback from the site visits, the staff, the students, and how welcoming everyone is at Tulare County Office of Ed. Just how everyone wants to be here and seems to feel honored to be here. This isn’t a place that they have to be or were voluntold. It’s a place that—wow—this is somewhere we get to be.

Kristen Standke: Yeah. I think it’s been magical to hear everyone’s conversations. I walked into the MCIE session yesterday, and in the corners where they were in their groups, just hearing them talk about how to support each other and how to create systems change and shift mindsets so that our students with disabilities are included more in general education classrooms.

Tim Villegas: Let’s back up. What is Embrace Abilities? It’s one of seven Special Education Resource Leads funded by the California Department of Education. But unlike the others, this one focuses specifically on students with extensive support needs—those who often end up in segregated and separate classrooms, or even separate schools.

Marsha Riley: “Extensive support needs” is kind of the clincher there. So we have our lane, but it’s almost like a bike lane, right? Because it’s extensive support needs. There is another Special Education Resource Lead that focuses on inclusion, but that’s kind of more general. Ours is county office-run programs, regionalized programs for students with extensive support needs.

Tim Villegas: Their goal? To help County Offices of Education (COEs) build the capacity to support inclusive practices—not just in theory, but in real classrooms with real students.

Over the past year, the Embrace Abilities team visited dozens of counties across California. They didn’t come in with answers. They came in with questions. They listened to families. They observed classrooms. They asked: What’s working? What’s getting in the way? And then they did something radical—they co-created solutions with the people doing the work.

At the Learning Institute in Visalia, I saw this in action. Educators weren’t just learning—they were dreaming. They were asking: What if we didn’t have to send students away to get support? What if we could build that support right here?

Kristen Standke: California is interesting in that each county office has its own personalities, challenges, and bright spots. When we’ve looked at the state, it’s been interesting to see just how different each one is—looking at what they’re working with and their challenges, and how those challenges and supports can eventually spread throughout the state where other county offices might be in similar positions.

Tim Villegas: So this morning you presented year one of your grant and that you went around California and visited a lot of different sites. Were there some common themes from the educational systems you visited that were priorities for them as you were figuring out how to support systems to include learners with extensive support needs?

Marsha Riley: Leveraging available resources. We had one small county office where they had a student placed there through the foster care system in one city, and because the student came in with an IEP, the current level of support needed was in another city—30 to 45 minutes away, even though it was the same county. The foster care parents weren’t able to do the transportation. They didn’t have a bus, but they had employees living in that city, working at the high school. So they worked out the transportation for this student. Now, is that best for inclusion? I don’t know—I don’t see the IEP—but they leveraged the resources to get the student in a place where they could assess and see what was needed. Could the student come back? So things like that—just knowing your small group, your staff, who lives where. They pivot. They do that.

Kristen Standke: And I think also just relationships. Some of the county offices have good working relationships with their LEAs and how they’re supporting them. Some programs are run by the districts and the counties are supporting. Even this past year, there’s a county that gave their programs back to the district. When counties give the programs back to the districts, you’re cutting more of that red tape. It’s no longer “this student is funded under this agency” and “these students are funded under that agency.” It’s now all one. The districts have the responsibility for those students because now they truly are their students. LA County is actually one of those counties that has given programs back to the district. We are not running programs other than probation or specialized art schools.

Tim Villegas: The Embrace Abilities team didn’t just collect stories—they collected data. And from that data, they identified promising practices that are making a difference. All of these are in their annual report, which we will link to in the show notes.

Here are just some of them:

• Prioritizing staff training and retention. When educators feel equipped and valued, they stay—and students thrive.
• Family engagement. Families aren’t just participants—they’re partners. One County Office of Education even created videos to help families understand the IEP process.
• Inclusion with same-age peers. Not just proximity, but participation—real inclusion.
• Leveraging available resources. From creative transportation solutions to deaf mentor programs, COEs are finding ways to make it work.
• A whole-student approach. Because students are more than their IEPs. They’re people with dreams, strengths, and stories.

These aren’t just best practices—they’re human practices.

Of course, there’s still work to do. The report also identified key opportunities for improvement, like:

• Increasing access to same-age general education peers
• Raising academic expectations
• Updating program schedules to match general education hours
• Moving from person-dependent systems to sustainable systemic approaches

These aren’t just small tweaks—they’re big shifts. But they’re possible, especially when we do the work together.

Tim Villegas: Any final thoughts to wrap up our discussion?

Marsha Riley: I’m just excited that we’ve had this opportunity in year one to visit and collect all the information, and then take that and have this Learning Institute. Our visits were co-created with each county office, and the Learning Institute—we co-created the learning from that, in addition to the people who registered. What would you like to see? Even in year three, we are co-creating that learning. I think that is such an important part of this. Because again, we don’t know. But can we have these conversations to get people together to identify—hey, there are other people doing this work. How can we support what you need, where you’re at, and move forward?

I just love the feeling of this. It feels almost magical—like this gift. Wow, we’re doing this. It’s such a different world than when I was a site administrator at the middle school level. Just such a different feel—not putting out fires. This way, it’s like, wow, we’re dreaming together and supporting each other. Because we understand things aren’t great sometimes, and there’s opportunity for improvement. Okay, this is where we’re at, and this is where we’d like to be. I think we’re just so grateful that we get to do this work—and by design.

Kristen Standke: I think I just love the energy and the motivation to do what’s best for kids. I think back to being in the classrooms and it’s like, “Know better, do better,” because I feel like then you do it. The system has always been the way the system is, to an extent. Looking back now, it’s like, oh, that could have been better, and that could have been different. Now, seeing the system from a broader view has been really impactful and inspiring—to see what’s possible and to look at the system as a place for growth. We can do better. It’s been really cool seeing so many people excited about this work and wanting to do what’s best for kids and support them in the classroom. It’s been awesome.

Tim Villegas: Thank you both for your time. Really appreciate it.

If you are an educator listening to this, you might be thinking, “This all sounds great, but I am just one person.” Here’s the thing—so are Marsha and Kristen. So are the teachers and families they work with. And yet, together, they’re changing the system.

Inclusion isn’t about perfection—it’s about persistence. It’s about asking better questions. It’s about believing that every student belongs, and then doing the work to make that belief a reality.

Here’s what I’d love for you to do: send me an email at tvillegas@mcie.org and tell me—what was your favorite episode of Season 12 of Think Inclusive? We’re wrapping up this season, and I’d love to know—was it this one? Was it another story that moved you, challenged you, or gave you hope? I want to hear from you, because your voice matters. And because this podcast is for you.

That’s all the time we have for this episode of Think Inclusive.

This podcast is written, edited, mixed, and mastered by me, Tim Villegas. Original music by Miles Reich, with additional tunes by Melody. Think Inclusive is a proud production of the Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education.

A big thank you to our sponsor, IXL. Check them out at ixl.com/inclusive.

And if you’re still listening, it probably means that you believe in this work. Help us keep it going by donating at our website, mcie.org. Just click the button at the top of the site and chip in five, ten, twenty dollars. It would mean the world to us—and to the students and educators we serve.

You can find a link to the full Embrace Abilities year-end report in the show notes.

Thanks for being here. And remember: inclusion always works.