In 2009, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Committee to Improve High School Graduation Rates and Achievement, led by then-Governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia, released a report of 10 key recommendations for ensuring more students graduate from high school, and they graduate ready for college and careers. Among these 10 recommendations was…

Recent studies make one reality clear: While multiple factors can cause a low-performing high school to be in a turnaround situation, every high school that makes dramatic academic improvement has strong, effective school leadership. Turning a school around is no work for novices. It takes a skilled, visionary and proactive principal to pull apart…

The future of public school performance demands that states and districts actively develop and seek strong principals. Instructional leadership is the critical element that is missing in efforts to improve America's lowest-performing schools and in moving good schools to great schools. Turnover among principals currently is at an unsustainable…

Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB's) "High Schools That Work" ("HSTW") initiative works with more than 1,100 schools in 30 states and the District of Columbia to improve school and classroom practices and prepare more students for success in postsecondary studies, advanced training and careers. Forty-nine Arkansas schools, including six…

This research is part of a comprehensive effort to pinpoint the key leadership factors that improve student achievement and increase the number of high school graduates who are ready for college and careers. In this study, SREB (Southern Regional Education Board) examined the role of the district office in providing principals with the working…

Principals can profoundly influence student achievement by leading school change, but they cannot turn schools around by themselves. District leaders need to create working conditions that support and encourage change for improved achievement, rather than hindering principals' abilities to lead change. This report includes principals' perceptions…

Using the "HSTW" ["High Schools That Work"] Assessment Reading Test results, SREB [Southern Regional Education Board] has identified a set of literacy-based experiences that may contribute to higher reading achievement. This report explains the different school and classroom practices experienced by students reading above and below the Proficient…

The authors advocate harnessing the applied teaching strategies of career/technical education (CTE) and infusing them into college-preparatory academics to transform secondary schools into high-performing centers of learning where students are both challenged and engaged. By pursuing this strategy, say the authors, states can help many more…

In 2005 and 2006, the "High Schools That Work" ("HSTW") program of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and the College and Career Transitions Initiative of the League for Innovation in the Community College (League) facilitated a series of 15 state-level forums aimed at identifying ways to foster collaboration between secondary and…

Students who successfully complete grade nine are substantially more likely to graduate from high school than are students who fail the freshman year. However, many middle grades students are not academically prepared for ninth grade. This report addresses five questions that can help school leaders ensure that middle grades students know the…

This report shows that Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states are making progress in developing school leadership systems to ensure that every public school has a principal who can improve student performance, but states need to accelerate their efforts in order to meet their own achievement goals. The report calls for a new generation of…

The primary objective of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) "High Schools That Work" ("HSTW") is to help schools improve so more students can reach their full potential. The "HSTW" Follow-up Study of 2004 Graduates is one measure that gauges how well schools have prepared their students for college and careers. Students' reflections on…

Students benefit from a year or more gain in student achievement when urban district and high school leaders commit to the implementation of the "High Schools That Work" ("HSTW") design. It is not enough to be a "HSTW" site--it is about taking effective actions to implement the design. Schools that do take action witness significant progress in…

This report reviews 75 high schools in the "High Schools that Work" (HSTW) network that made statistically significant gains in at least two of three areas reading, mathematics and science--between 2002 and 2004 on the "HSTW" Assessments. In these schools, all groups of students improved achievement--regardless of race, ethnicity or socioeconomic…

This document is an important companion to the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) report "Getting Serious About High School Graduation." Together, they make powerful statements to policymakers and education leaders about the problems in high schools and what can be done to fix them. Teachers, policymakers, and parents have long agreed that…