On February 18-19, 2016, representatives of 10 states participating in the Credit When It's Due (CWID) initiative attended a convening held at the University of Utah. The meeting was led by the CWID Research Team and sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The Kresge Foundation, on behalf of the CWID Funders Collaborative. The…

Two-thirds of high school students get less than eight to 10 hours of sleep per night according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sleep deprivation in teens has been linked to poor academic performance, reduced immunity, obesity, ADD-like symptoms, and even drug and alcohol use. For years, experts have said that early school…

The following profiles address how the state departments of education are helping educators prepare for and implement their states' new college- and career-readiness standards and aligned assessments, through professional learning. SREB researchers examined each state's major professional development efforts around its new standards in order to…

This article presents an interview with Wes Taylor, the 2011 MetLife/NASSP National High School Principal of the Year. In this interview, Taylor shares credit with the teachers and staff members at Lowndes High School in Valdosta, Georgia, for the school's systemic and long-lasting improvement in instruction and climate. He mentions that the…

When trying to reach their sustainability goals, schools and school districts often run into obstacles, including financing, training, and implementation tools. Last fall, the U.S. Green Building Council-Georgia (USGBC-Georgia) launched its High Performance, Healthy Schools (HPHS) Program to help Georgia schools overcome those obstacles. By…

This article describes the development and validation of the Inventory of Teaching and Learning (ITAL) as a new measure of teacher perceptions of science and mathematics learning environments. The ITAL was initially developed and administered in 2004 and has subsequently been revised annually. The ITAL is administered using a confidential…

Launched in 2008, the Strategic Data Project, housed at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, seeks to bridge the divide between educational research and practice in order to transform the use of data in education to improve student achievement. Through the project, the authors build robust research partnerships with…

The leadership of today's schools supports both students' academic success and their preparation for employment in a global work environment. As stimulus funds become available to U.S. school districts, it remains critical that technology leaders align technology acquired with those funds with system-, school-, and classroom-identified student…

This study addressed the implementation of the Working on the Work (WOW) framework in an elementary school in Northwest Georgia. The researcher examined the effectiveness of the WOW framework on teacher commitment, teacher training, student engagement, and student achievement. The researcher used quantitative and qualitative research methods to…

This article discusses a dilemma that confronts reformers who seek to improve the education system yet operate from a position outside that system. On one hand, "external" reformers have found that the implementation of school-level programs is attenuated by a lack of coherence and support in schools' environment. Districts and states…

Research suggests that the inability to complete high school graduation requirements can result in barriers that are detrimental to the success of individuals, stability of families, and the overall progress of the state and nation. The Graduation Coach Initiative was employed as a strategy for addressing chronically low graduation rates in…

The University of West Georgia implemented a successful research-based initiative, Project DEW (Developing eCore Winners) to improve retention in its eCore courses. eCore courses are those offered through a collaborative University System of Georgia program, and includes courses required to complete the first two years of an undergraduate degree.…

Building a stronger teacher workforce requires the thoughtful orchestration of multiple processes working together in a human capital system. This white paper presents a framework that can be used to take stock of current efforts to enhance the teacher workforce in school districts or educational organizations, as well as their underlying theories…

This report presents the deliberations of the Southeast Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), one of 10 RACs established by the U.S. Department of Education, identifying educational challenges across the six states in the region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. Committee deliberations took place May 23,…

"High Schools That Work" (HSTW) is a school improvement initiative that was inaugurated by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) in 1987. The main purpose of this concurrent validity study is to evaluate one or more measures by investigating their relationship to other commonly used and established measures given at or about the…