Improving School Performance
At a Glance | Services | Significant Work | Products
Examples of Significant Work
Race to the Top Technical Assistance Network: As a partner in the Race to the Top Technical Assistance Network, SEDL is leading the network’s technical assistance to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), including conducting regular needs assessments and developing technical assistance plans for the state. SEDL is providing a state specialist to lead and coordinate these efforts.
District and School Improvement: Through School Improvement grants (SIGs) and other funding, SEDL builds the capacity of district and school leaders to plan, implement, and sustain improvement efforts, including transformation and turnaround. Support includes developing leadership; improving data use in decision making; aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessments to state standards; building knowledge in core content areas; implementing Response to Intervention (RtI); and improving the quality and coherence of instruction across classrooms. For example, in South Carolina, SEDL is helping the Georgetown School District improve literacy instruction and student learning through the Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle, a process for job-embedded professional development that supports professional learning communities.
Southeast Comprehensive Center(SECC): SEDL's SECC works with the state departments of education of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina to build their capacity to assist districts and schools engaged in school improvement. In South Carolina, SECC staff provided professional development to help education leaders implement SEDL’s Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle in schools that did not make Annual Yearly Progress (AYP).
Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC): SEDL's TXCC works with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the state’s 20 regional education service centers (ESCs) to help them improve underachieving schools. For example, TXCC staff are providing the ESCs with professional development on the Working Systemically approach to school improvement. This approach focuses on key components and competencies at all levels of the local educational system to improve leadership and student learning.
Past Work
Regional Educational Laboratory (1996–2006): Much of SEDL’s past work in improving school performance was conducted through Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) contracts. SEDL's REL contracts covered the southwestern region of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, and was 1 of 10 laboratories funded by the U.S. Department of Education to help underperforming schools and districts improve student achievement, especially in reading and mathematics. The REL’s work involved an ambitious agenda of research, development, and dissemination initiatives.
Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement: Housed at Learning Point Associates, the Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement helps schools and districts organize, plan, implement, and sustain school improvement. SEDL assisted the center by identifying research-based strategies and translating them into positive change.
Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) Awards Database (1998–2006): SEDL hosted and maintained the CSR Awards Database, which provided information on schools receiving CSR funds.
