Since its founding, SREB has focused on postsecondary attainment as a means for improving the social and economic vitality of the South. Today, SREB remains committed to increasing college access and completion rates, with an emphasis on groups that have been historically underserved by higher education. This report outlines SREB strategies to…

Third grade is a critical checkpoint in a child's educational journey. By the end of third grade, children need literacy skills that prepare them for increasing curriculum demands in fourth grade and beyond. Students who are not reading on grade level by this point are significantly more likely to drop out of high school or fail to graduate on…

To improve the effectiveness of new teachers, the SREB Teacher Preparation Commission called on states to: (1) Hold all new teachers in a state to the same high standards, and require practice-based licensure tests; (2) Require high-quality clinical teaching experiences; (3) Develop statewide data systems for continuous improvement; and (4)…

Many states are experimenting with mechanisms for making college more affordable while maintaining quality and access. This report examines promising or innovative state programs to improve college affordability and credential attainment. Many of these approaches show innovative thinking and bear watching to see if they result in meaningful…

This brief report offers analysis of ACT and SAT results from 2008 to 2013 in the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) region. The brief focuses on the increase in test participation rates and points to policies that SREB states initiated that affected these rates. Five SREB states currently require 100 percent student participation on the…

This latest brief updates education leaders on the key policies the 13 (Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia) Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states plan to implement under federal waivers to No Child Left Behind. It details,…

Most states nationwide have had policies for several decades that limit the number of students assigned to public K-12 classrooms. Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states, led by Tennessee and Texas, spearheaded this effort in the 1980s, and SREB's own "Legislative Briefings" have marked the growth of class-size policies across…

Through the "Strengthening Statewide College/Career Readiness Initiative" (SSCRI), Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has collaborated with states on state policy goals and actions needed to improve high school students' academic readiness for postsecondary study and reduce the need for remedial work. SREB created and implemented…

The first page of this report sets forth starkly the imperative for states to increase substantially the numbers of postsecondary education degrees and certificates earned each year by their residents: By 2018, the United States will fall far short of the number of new college degrees needed for an emerging economy that increasingly depends on…

By 2007, more than 950 charter schools, some of them nearly 15 years old, were operating in 13 SREB states, with enrollments approaching 350,000 students. This report explores how the achievement of charter school students in certain SREB states compares with the achievement of traditional public school students, and it examines roles of statewide…

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…

Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Tennessee have given all the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states a new tool to help focus their colleges and universities on state needs. These three states have created plans for their higher education institutions by drawing on leadership from a broad range of state agencies. They identified state needs and…

Many rural high schools use technology to provide greater opportunities for students, but most rural high schools do not use technology to meet student and teacher needs nearly as often, or as effectively, as they could. A critical need exists for the development of state level policies and programs for all schools, especially targeted to rural…

Challenge to Lead calls for every student to earn a high school diploma that prepares him or her for college and a career. One indicator of progress toward this goal is the success rate on high school graduation tests required by states. Comparisons of Southern Regional Education Board, SREB, state policies, however, show that high school tests…