This "impact story" details how the Region 7 Comprehensive Center supported the Mississippi Department of Education in improving its Professional Growth System and building statewide capacity to support its effective use.

In light of national challenges brought on by COVID-19, on April 6, 2020 Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform (CEEDAR) hosted a virtual meeting of State Education Agency and Educator Preparation Program leaders from across the country focused on the following: (1) strategies that preparation program faculty…

High-quality data is essential when looking at student-level data, including data specifically focused on students with disabilities. For state education agencies (SEAs), it is critical to have a solid foundation for how data is collected and stored to achieve high-quality data. The process of integrating the Individuals with Disabilities…

Colleges strive to increase leadership, service, and employability skills of their students; professional organizations are one way for students to learn such abilities. One AAFCS-accredited department has a student organization that has found relative success. Students indicated a desire for additional information about the field of family and…

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…

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…

On April 10, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee, the Reform Support Network brought together leaders from State education agencies planning to make educator compensation a key component of their equitable access plans. The convening featured presentations by the Tennessee Department of Education and district leaders who explained how the State has…

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…

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is working to respond to increased interest in the use of growth models for school accountability. Growth models are based on tracking change in individual student achievement scores over multiple years. While growth models have been used for decades in academic research and program evaluation, a…

Preparing future citizens for postsecondary education and careers that span a continuum of sophistication is not a new topic in education. However, the rapid changes in technology and increased competition from industrialized nations have changed the landscape and meaning of college and career readiness. As part of a strategy to better prepare…

This paper responds to a request asking for a Response to Intervention (RtI) background information and a scan of what states are doing in this area. This paper presents summaries that provide basic information about the status of state RtI initiatives in each of the southeastern states. The information was collected from State Education Agency…

Developed to share information presented at a Southwest Educational Development Laboratory Regional Exchange (SEDL/RX) conference, this document includes reports and related materials on educational computing applications in southwestern school districts and states. Basic computer terminology is defined, and software evaluation instruments are…

Partnerships among education agencies including institutions of higher education, local school districts, and the State Department of Education offer tremendous opportunities for attaining the mutual goal of educational improvement in Mississippi. A collaborative staff development program for teachers is described. (CB)

Illustrates the potential for inconsistent interpretations of the statutory regulations of the Education Consolidation Improvement Act by describing the different approaches Connecticut, Arizona, New York, and Mississippi are taking in implementing the law. (CMG)

Provides a retrospective update of a 1974 profile of the English department at Hinds Community College, Raymond, Mississippi. Discusses the major changes for the school: (1) it is no longer a "junior college"; and (2) it has expanded its campus. Describes the faculty, activities, curriculum, extracurricular activities, school changes,…