Beth Howard
Program Associate (SC Liaison)
Beth Howard is a Program Associate (SC Liaison) with SEDL's Improving School Performance program. Dr. Howard works with the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) to build the capacity of state education agencies as they assist schools and districts. In this work, she leads efforts in needs-sensing, planning, and coordinating the delivery of technical assistance and professional development in South Carolina and assists in providing similar services to other states served through the SECC.
Contact Information
You may contact Beth Howard at 803-240-1748
Dr. Howard’s interests include high school reform, improving school performance, and college and career readiness. Her doctoral work focused on the causes of increased student achievement in rural high-poverty schools.
- High School Reform: Dr. Howard has more than 18 years of experience working as an educator and assisting high schools in their reform efforts. She has served as a teacher, a coach, and an instructional leader in assisting staff in understanding and using local, state, and national data along with state and federal legislation to assess, monitor, and improve student achievement. Through her work she has provided direct on-site technical assistance to administration and teachers in the areas of curriculum development, climate and culture, collaborative planning, and utilizing best instructional practices for increasing student learning.
- Improving School Performance: Since 2000, Dr. Howard has worked in collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Education to provide direct support to low-performing schools and was instrumental in the development of the Palmetto Priority Schools/Turnaround initiative for the state. This initiative created a partnership zone for state-identified low-performing schools working to meet state and federal accountability requirements. These schools received support through state-identified teams and private and public-sector partnerships.
- College and Career Readiness: Dr. Howard has worked as a school counselor and is currently an adjunct professor in the area of counselor education. She prepares future counselors in developing the necessary skills to assist their students in becoming college and career ready. She works to train graduate students in transforming counseling programs that assist all students, are data driven, and are held accountable for student success.
Dr. Howard joined SEDL in November 2010. From 2006 to 2010, she was a coordinator and then interim director at the South Carolina Department of Education. Previously, she served for 4 years as an on-site curriculum specialist working for the state department with low-performing schools. In addition, she has more than 5 years of experience as a graduate-level adjunct professor in counselor education and has served as a high school and middle school administrator, school counselor, and mathematics teacher in South Carolina. Education
Dr. Howard holds a BS in mathematics and an MEd in counselor education from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and an MEd and EdS in educational leadership from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. She also received a doctorate in curriculum and instruction while attending the University of South Carolina. SEDL Publications
- Rapid Response: Flex Quarter Schedules and Extended School Years (2011)
- Southeast Comprehensive Center eBulletin, Volume 5, Number 2: Increasing High School Graduation Rates and Improving College Enrollment for High-Need Students (2011)
- Howard, B. (2007). Exploring improvement in poverty-stricken rural schools: The case study of Bethune-Bowman high school (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Dissertation Abstracts International (UMI No. 3296661).
- Howard, B. (2000–2010). Series of statewide presentations on providing support to low-performing schools, curriculum, instruction and assessment, and rural schools research.
