Dr. Stephen L. Pruitt

Welcome to the first edition of the SREB Journal of Education Practices and Trends. Since SREB’s inception in 1948, the organization has served as a convener of education leaders, state officials, and other policymakers to improve education.

Thanks to the commitment of the region’s 16 states for more than 75 years, SREB can share data and guidance on improving education from early childhood to doctoral degrees and the workforce. We learn what works – and what doesn’t – from people across the South who work in all facets of education. These include the education and policy leaders we convene, the teachers and principals we coach, the Ph.D. scholars we mentor, and the postsecondary success staff we help share scarce resources.

The intent of this online journal is to highlight research around the education priorities of the South. Our focus is to encourage ongoing dialogue and serve as a place where scholars from schools, colleges, and states can share their research. Education, as a field of study, is constantly evolving. Assessment of newer initiatives as well as review of long-standing approaches is important to continued effectiveness and relevance.

The Journal is not intended to advance any particular approach: The articles present the findings of individual authors. You will find no agenda here political or otherwise, as SREB remains fiercely nonpartisan in its attempt to bring objective and accurate information to the people who work to make education better.

Most education journals focus on individual sectors or silos along the education spectrum. My own belief is that education is best observed as a continuum of personal growth and preparation for what comes next in life. Articles on achievement in an elementary school belong alongside topics on collegiate success, workforce alignment, student mental health, and the financial health of institutions or sectors.

I hope you enjoy this first edition with its interconnecting strands. You’ll find an update on Mississippi’s widely successful reading efforts and their impact on students, school administrators, and colleges of education. We share factors that influence bachelor degree graduates to stay in-state or move elsewhere and provide comparisons of the impact of mandatory FAFSA completion policies in three SREB states. Additional articles examine the influences of economies within states on their investments in education and the impact of the SREB HBCU-MSI Course-Sharing Consortium in removing barriers to student success. In the concluding piece, graphs from the recent State Higher Education Finance report on funding for higher education show how SREB states compare to other states. 

I invite you to share efforts and research in your own state or education field for possible inclusion in a future edition. Submission guidelines are on the Journal’s “About” page.  We encourage submissions from not only faculty and researchers but aspiring ones – student scholars who can make rich additions to the body of knowledge on education issues. I believe it is time to highlight their work on education in the South and the nation. When we share what we have learned in our individual states, students across the South benefit.