This article outlines an appreciative inquiry (AI) into a departmental professional development process and describes the resulting implementation of an appreciative peer evaluation meeting as one part of the new professional development process. Using AI, a departmental faculty development committee sought to re-envision the professional…

Collaboration among Tribes, state educational agencies (SEAs), and local educational agencies (LEAs) is essential for supporting Native students and their education. This infographic highlights the importance of Native education and provides resources, examples, and funding opportunities to enhance collaboration.

In March and April 2018, the Center on School Turnaround at WestEd continued its Thought Leadership Forum series, hosting two online forums on talent development for state education agency officials who are members of the Leadership Council of the Network of State Turnaround and Improvement Leaders. The monthly forums for 2018 are intended to…

This brief reviews state plans submitted to the U.S. Department of Education as of October 1, 2017. It focuses on three key topics for early learning in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): setting clear goals and policy priorities for early learning, integrating early learning into school improvement, and supporting early childhood educator…

In their seminal 1995 article, Barr and Tagg encouraged higher education to think differently about undergraduate education and suggested that a new paradigm be adopted that focused less on what is taught and more on what is learned. Dubbed the learner-centered paradigm, this reframing of education challenges long standing practices and removes…

A state department of education (SDE) served by the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) at SEDL requested information regarding state use of schoolwide, large-scale professional learning communities (PLCs). Specifically, the SDE staff wanted to know the following with respect to PLC work in other states: (1) Are PLCs state-mandated through…

This guidebook provides an introduction to Instructional Improvement Systems (IIS) for State education agency (SEA) managers and program leads. Functional components of a theoretical IIS model are discussed and used as a reference point for the introduction a seven-step planning and implementation cycle designed to guide SEAs in the development of…

The following profiles address how the state departments of education are helping educators prepare for and implement the Common Core and aligned assessments through professional learning. The major professional development efforts around the Common Core were examined in order to understand the overall efforts of each state. An exhaustive list of…

In North Carolina (NC) there are a total of 58 community colleges, each of which provides a unique approach to handling support for adjunct faculty. The NC Community College System provided a good setting to explore how one state in particular compares to current research on administrative support of adjunct faculty in the areas of hiring,…

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 brief provides an overview of the Instructional Improvement System (IIS) models for State education agencies in Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island, along IIS goals in the following areas: (1) Standards and Curriculum; (2) Instructional Practices; (3) Assessment and Growth; (4) Learner Profiles; (5) Data…

Academic service-learning is based on the value of university-community partnerships. But what about campus partnerships? Who on campus best understands and most effectively administers academic service-learning programs? Locating service-learning programs solely in academic affairs or student affairs departments certainly simplifies the process.…

In 2002, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) initiated an innovative and ambitious program for improving student learning through the effective use of instructional technology. Until that point, most technology projects in schools were geared toward integrating technology into the curriculum, and they tended to focus on…

The deans or department chairs of the 46 state-approved schools and departments of education in North Carolina were surveyed to determine the impact of the state-imposed regulations on their program development and implementation efforts. The respondents were asked if the state-imposed rules and regulations governing teacher education programs…