Over the past 4 years, the Region 14 Comprehensive Center (R14CC) has provided capacity-building support to the state education agencies (SEAs) in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas via technical assistance (TA), a process through which R14CC designs and implements projects that build SEA capacity to carry out evidence-based policies and programs. In…

Digital transformation--which goes well beyond adopting new technology--requires a comprehensive approach that addresses organizational change, strategic alignment, and employee engagement. The Region 14 Comprehensive Center (R14CC) and its partners are at the forefront of this transformation for state education agencies (SEAs). The goal is to…

Developed by the National Writing Project (NWP), the College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) seeks to improve students' argument writing by building teachers' understanding of and skill in teaching source-based argument writing. The program features intensive professional development, skill-based instructional resources, and…

This qualitative phenomenological case study investigated the role of the superintendent in the design of schools. Superintendents wear many hats, which require them to be a listener, communicator, facilitator, manager, instructional leader, and planner (Copeland, 2013). Communicating with the constituents is essential and is synonymous with the…

As originally conceptualized, Early Colleges were small schools focused purposefully on college readiness for all students. Frequently located on college campuses, Early Colleges targeted students who might face challenges in postsecondary education, including students who were the first in their family to go to college, economically disadvantaged…

Inquiry-based science interventions aim to improve students' science proficiency by helping them understand scientific processes. In these interventions, students conduct hands-on investigations of science concepts and everyday phenomena, construct explanations for what they observe, consider alternative explanations, and communicate and justify…

Inquiry-based science interventions aim to improve students' science proficiency by helping them understand scientific processes. In these interventions, students conduct hands-on investigations of science concepts and everyday phenomena, construct explanations for what they observe, consider alternative explanations, and communicate and justify…

Inquiry-based science interventions aim to improve students' science proficiency by helping them understand scientific processes. In these interventions, students conduct hands-on investigations of science concepts and everyday phenomena, construct explanations for what they observe, consider alternative explanations, and communicate and justify…

The Financial Empowerment for Student Success (FESS) Initiative was a two-year initiative focused on increasing student success through the provision of financial services. Achieving the Dream, Inc. and MDC, Inc. joined together, with funding from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, to support three Achieving the Dream Leader Colleges to…

The primary task of the educational leader is to assure high quality learning environments for all students. Research (Gordon, 2004; Sparks, 2007) supports the proposition that effective professional development contributes to instructional improvement by building educator capacity. Much of the research on professional development focuses in…

The purpose of this study was to analyze and report on a "different" model of leadership preparation that was customized to prepare school leaders to practice in schools where the student population is predominantly Latino and in an urban school setting. It is a preparation program designed to advance interactive collaboration between…

In December 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB), as the nation's major law governing public schools. ESSA retains the requirement that states test all students in reading and math in grades three through eight and once in high school, as well as the requirement that…

The Texas statewide assessment of academic skills in 1997 indicated that >55 % of the student population failed to master the mathematics objectives set by the test criteria and 42 % of the mathematics teachers at the secondary level in the East Texas region were categorized as underqualified to teach mathematics at that level. The issue of…

Accounting students are generally well aware of the skills, education, and accomplishments needed to get that first job and initially enter the accounting profession. However, it is equally important that accounting students approaching graduation have a good understanding of the skills, education and accomplishments required for an experienced…

College and career readiness has become a unifying principle for education reform leaders across the country. A majority of states have made it a top policy priority, with an increasing number of national foundations and education reform advocates supporting this work. To help state leaders build strategies for sustaining their education agendas…