A Message from President
David S. Spence

Five years ago, Southern Regional Education Board members approved the Challenge to Lead Goals for Education — 12 ambitious goals to help SREB states lead the nation in educational progress. The sustained commitment of SREB states to these goals is an extraordinary accomplishment, recognized nationally. And the results are impressive.

College enrollment is booming in SREB states, especially for women and black and Hispanic students. Many SREB states are seeing record gains in elementary-grades reading achievement, and seven SREB states now beat the national average in fourth-grade reading proficiency on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. Record numbers of students — more than one in four — now take Advanced Placement courses in high school. And the region continues to lead the nation in the quality and availability of state-sponsored prekindergarten.

But much work remains. I firmly believe that our greatest education challenges today are to help more students in each state graduate from high school and to ensure that all high school graduates are well-prepared for college or the workplace.

Toward those ends, we are working aggressively with states to develop ways that state policies governing standards, assessments and accountability can help high schools achieve — effectively and practically — several important goals: graduating all students, setting higher standards, and raising achievement to college- and career-readiness levels. Our high schools face unprecedented expectations, and we must be sure that state policies reflect the right messages and priorities and that policies directed toward one goal do not conflict with others.

Two of the region's prominent governors are leading special SREB committees to improve high school education. Governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia, who also is the current SREB Chair, leads the SREB Committee to Improve High School Graduation Rates and Achievement. Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia leads the SREB Committee to Improve Reading and Writing in Middle and High Schools. Each committee consists of state legislators, state K-12 and higher education chiefs and others, and they will develop policy recommendations that all states can consider as they strive to help more students graduate from high school on time, with the skills they need to continue their learning in college and career training.

As we look to SREB's 60th anniversary in 2008, no other region can boast of the same dedication to educational improvement as the 16 SREB states. The willingness of SREB states to embrace common improvement goals and to take sustained action to meet these goals over many years surely will fuel higher achievement in high schools — and every educational level — in the years ahead.