Office of School Improvement
Office of School Improvement
Staff
SREB’s Office of School Improvement has spent decades investigating what works to build and sustain lasting capacity for change in schools nationwide.
Our staff have deep expertise as classroom teachers, school, district and state education leaders, research and evaluation specialists, and policy analysts.
Quinton Granville
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Quinton Granville joined SREB’s School Improvement team in 2014. As an instructional coach, he partners with teachers and educational leaders to strengthen instructional practices that are essential to empowering all students to achieve. His work in schools focuses on disciplinary literacy and strategic coaching. He is also a co-leader of SREB SMART (Science and Math Alternative Route to Teaching), a program that helps new and developing teachers thrive in the areas of instructional planning, classroom culture, student engagement and assessment and feedback.
Karen Gray
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Karen Gray is a school improvement instructional coach at SREB, where she provides ongoing coaching, feedback and professional development to teachers as they work to improve their practice. She joined SREB in August 2019, bringing 32 years of experience in the public education system. Her experience with SREB dates to 2014 when as a secondary math supervisor she led Jefferson County Schools in Alabama in the implementation of the principles of SREB’s powerful math practices.
Beth Green
Program Director, Advanced Career
Beth Green leads the Advanced Career initiative at SREB, where she is responsible for implementing AC in states, districts, and schools. She provides leadership for AC implementation, coordinates activities and staff, and organizes and implements AC professional development. Beth joined SREB in 2007 as a school improvement consultant, later facilitating AC curriculum development, and began development of a network of schools implementing AC through academy design.
Michelle Harada
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Michelle Harada is an Instructional Coach in SREB’s School Improvement Division where she supports schools and teachers through coaching and professional development in mathematics. She joined SREB in 2023, bringing more than 17 years of experience in the private and public education sector.
Prior to SREB, Michelle was a middle school math and science teacher in NYC and a middle school math teacher in Georgia for 10 years before serving as a math instructional coach.
Pam Hogans
Administrative Specialist
Pam Hogans joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2010 with more than 20 years of administrative experience in the field of education. Pam serves as an administrative assistant for the Division of Research and Accountability in the Office of School Improvement, where she coordinates and supports research and evaluation projects for SREB’s diverse client base.
Rebecca Holt
Research Associate
Rebecca Holt works with SREB program directors and coaches to manage data collection for school improvement initiatives. She joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2010. Rebecca has experience in program development, coordination, writing, editing, researching, reporting and database management with nonprofit agencies, including Habitat for Humanity, the Marcus Institute and Partnership Against Domestic Violence. Rebecca holds a master’s in sociology from Georgia Southern University.
Donn Kirkwood
Senior School Improvement Leadership Coach
Donn Kirkwood joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2014 as a literacy coach for the Literacy Design Collaborative program, through which he helped teachers and leaders in seven states use LDC practices and backward design techniques to develop exemplary curricula, improve instruction and increase student outcomes.
Rodriquez Leonard
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Rodriquez Leonard joined SREB in 2021, bringing 16 years of experience in public education. He was an English language arts teacher with the Birmingham City Schools district. He also worked as a master teacher, school improvement grant coordinator, and freshman academy coordinator.
Rodriquez holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Montevallo and a Master of Arts in English language arts – secondary education from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Connie Lester
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Connie Lester joined SREB’s office of School Improvement as a leadership coach in April 2012. Prior to SREB, she spent 27 years as an English language arts teacher, department chair and high school writing portfolio cluster leader in Kentucky schools. After leaving the classroom, Connie became a member of Kentucky’s Highly Skilled Educator Program, where she provided schoolwide instructional and leadership support to struggling schools.
Kimberly Livengood
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Kimberly Livengood joined SREB as a school improvement instructional coach in July 2019, bringing more than 25 years of teaching experience at the high school level in North Carolina and Tennessee. She began her work with SREB as a math consultant. She earned her National Board Certification, her certification in Teaching the Gifted, and her endorsement to teach AP Calculus while teaching in North Carolina.
Kim holds a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She lives in North Carolina.
Connie Luper
School Improvement Senior Leadership Coach
Connie Luper joined SREB’s office of School Improvement in 2016. As a senior leadership coach, she brings more than 31 years of experience working on issues of education practice in the public education sector. In this role, Connie helps schools develop rigorous career pathways and CTE programs and blend them with a rigorous academic core. She also leads trainings for teachers and principals in literacy, numeracy, project-based learning and instructional leadership. Connie is currently supporting career academy development efforts in large districts in Alabama and Georgia.
Gaye Martin
School Improvement Instructional Coach
Gaye Hutton Martin joined SREB in 2018 as a school improvement instructional coach for the Teaching to Lead program, bringing over 30 years of experience in public education and corporate training and development. Prior to SREB, she was a career and technical education coordinator in Tennessee where she managed a new CTE teacher prep program, using SREB’s Teaching to Lead program, for a large, urban school district.
George McFarland
Leadership Coach
George McFarland joined the SREB School Improvement team in June 2022. Prior to joining SREB, George worked in Texas public schools for 31 years. He served in various educational roles including, teacher, athletic director and head football coach, assistant principal, middle school principal, high school principal, Chief Financial Officer and superintendent of schools.
Kari Meldrum
School Improvement Instructional Coach
With 30 years of experience as a mathematics educator, Kari has dedicated her career to enhancing mathematics instruction and fostering a love for the subject among students. She has served as a math teacher and district mathematics specialist, and is currently a mathematics instructional coach for the Southern Regional Education Board. In this role, which she began in 2023, Kari collaborates with school leaders and teachers to improve mathematics education for all students.
Amanda Merritt
Division Director, Development & Innovation
Amanda Merritt is the Division Director of Development & Innovation in the Office of School Improvement. She leads a team of researchers and coaches who develop grant proposals and provide support to teachers, local instructional coaches and school and district leaders on school improvement processes. Previously, she has served as a senior leadership coach and mathematics instructional coach at SREB.