Publications
The Skills Employers Demand
An Analysis of the Research
This report reviews the research on non-technical skills to identify the success skills employers most often seek. It summarizes relevant studies, skills gaps and credentialing to help policymakers, educators and businesses align efforts to prepare students for the workplace.
How a Network of Jefferson County Schools Partnered to Accelerate Sustainable Change
In this case study, learn how SREB
partnered with 12 schools in Jefferson County, Alabama, to form
networked improvement communities focused on promoting
meaningful, sustainable change. Their goal was simple yet bold:
Harness improvement science and continuous improvement strategies
to accelerate eighth- and ninth-grade math achievement for Black,
Latinx and low-income students.
Three years and one pandemic later, SREB and Jefferson County educators reflected on the successes, challenges and lessons learned from their efforts.
Developing Effective Interdisciplinary Focus Teams
Focus Teams Guide
School leaders who have used the
Making Schools Work design to improve student achievement credit
the use of teacher-led focus teams that involve teachers and
school and district leaders in working together to ensure that
key school and classroom practices form the foundation for school
improvement.
This guide offers an overview of SREB’s approach to using focus teams to drive and sustain successful school improvement efforts, along with helpful tools for structuring and facilitating focus team meetings.
About Our Problem-Solving Process
As schools, districts and states
plan to use a massive infusion of recovery funds, SREB’s
research-based, classroom-tested problem-solving process can help
you ensure your efforts to improve student engagement and
achievement have a lasting impact.
In this brochure, learn how you can harness the power of our problem-solving process to sustain lasting capacity for change and meet bold goals for student achievement.
The Engineering Design Process
Download our printable poster
Highlight the key steps of
inquiry-focused, project-based instruction in your school or
classroom with our downloadable, printable poster of the seven
steps of an engineering design process.
Finished poster size: 27 x 39 inches
Inequity in Education: Identifying Variations in Students’ School and Classroom Experiences
Research Report
This research report presents the
results of a study designed by SREB’s Research and Accountability
team to identify and unpack sources of inequity in K-12 public
education. The study examined results from student surveys
administered in 2018 to over 7,800 students in 15 states across
the United States. Grounded in SREB’s research-based Key Practices for
quality education, student surveys probe whether schools may be
setting a low bar for achievement or allowing biased thinking
about students’ academic ability to affect their school climate.
Shared-Time Technology Centers
A Study of Six State Funding Systems
Students need learning experiences connected with the world of work to equip them to enter the workforce and secure good jobs. This report provides an overview of funding for career and technical education and a detailed look at CTE funding models in Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia. Produced by SREB for the Kentucky Career and Technical Education Task Force, it also offers considerations for actions to improve CTE.
Increasing Access & Equity: A Whole School Approach
In this article that appeared in the March 2019 edition of ACTE’s Techniques magazine, SREB’s Dale Winkler and Scott Warren address how SREB’s school improvement frameworks provide a structure that empowers schools to make the changes needed to expand or improve access to high-quality programs and ensure that all students — regardless of their gender, race, socioeconomic background, ability level or location — discover a purpose for learning and life.
This article is reproduced with the kind permission of ACTE.
Literacy Across the Curricula
Teacher Success Stories
The teachers featured in this publication describe their experiences using literacy-based assignments to immerse students in grade-level assignments. Read how the practices increased student learning and achievement across disciplines.
Making Math Matter
High-Quality Assignments That Help Students Solve Problems and Own Their Learning
This report presents results of teacher and student surveys on how powerful Mathematics Design Collaborative practices are shifting how teachers teach. It also summarizes student achievement data from schools using the strategies in four states. In vignettes and testimonials, teachers who completed SREB professional development on MDC share how they have grown as teachers and how their students’ understanding of math concepts has improved.
Engaging Students in Deeper Learning Through Powerful Literacy and Mathematics Assignments
Too many students graduate high school without the foundational literacy and math skills needed to succeed in postsecondary education and careers. This can change if students are exposed to literacy and math practices that expose them to the types of grade-level assignments that will advance their achievement and prepare them for college and careers.
SREB offers professional development to teachers in powerful literacy and math practices that produce positive results. Read about survey results of more than 37,000 students.
Connecting Classrooms, Careers and College
SREB’s Making Schools Work School Improvement Process
Connecting Classrooms, Careers and College offers a guide to SREB’s Making Schools Work school improvement process and related services.
Valuing Both Cs in College- and Career-Readiness Accountability Systems
How states can use career pathways to close credential attainment and skills gaps.
This publication explores how state accountability systems currently address college readiness and academic and technical career readiness and offers recommendations and examples of policies and practices that incentivize and reward districts and schools for preparing more students to earn credentials and degrees in high-demand career fields.
Case Study: Columbia Area Career Center
Project-Based Learning: A Formula for Rapid Results
This case study details how a Missouri tech center took steps aimed at making its center a national leader in CTE by taking on a daunting and improbable task: implementing project-based learning schoolwide in less than a year.
Career Pathways
Accelerating Access to the Middle Class
More and more jobs require some education past high school, yet we are not preparing enough students for college, careers or both. Career pathways from middle and high school through college and into the workplace can accelerate access to the middle class.
Case Study: Hunterdon County Polytech Career Academy
Hunterdon County Polytech Career Academy is a shared-time career academy in New Jersey. The center made drastic changes to transform a traditional vocational school into a vibrant 21st-century CTE center.
Case Study: Piedmont High School
Raising Rigor and Expectations
Piedmont High School is a high-achieving school with a 2015 graduation rate of 99 percent. This case study details how the school used the High Schools That Work design to put in place the building blocks to foster a culture of continuous improvement to ensure every student has the opportunity to succeed.
Turnaround High School Principals: Recruit, Prepare and Empower Leaders of Change
The publication takes an in-depth look at the kinds of principals required to turn around the lowest-performing 5 percent to 10 percent of public high schools in America. Schools stuck at the bottom of the performance chart need first–rate principals with the motivation, vision, skill and commitment to make dramatic improvements in schools and student achievement. The report describes how we can identify, prepare and support these “turnaround” principals.
Recognizing Academic Achievement in Career/Technical Education: Conditions for Awarding Academic Credit for Career/Technical Courses
This report details the merits and challenges involved in awarding academic credit to career/technical courses that embrace rigorous college-and career-readiness academic standards equivalent to those found in traditional academic courses.
Progress Over a Decade in Preparing More Effective School Principals
Over the past 10 years, SREB has helped states and public universities across the region evaluate their state policies for preparing school principals who are leaders of instruction. This benchmark report reviews the past decade and looks at 10 learning-centered leadership indicators to gauge how far states have come and how far they need to go in selecting, preparing and supporting leaders of change.
