Robin Jarvis
Program Director
Robin Jarvis is Program Director of SEDL's Improving School Performance program. She oversees the work of SEDL's Metairie, Louisiana, office and serves as the director of the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC). The SECC addresses state and local capacity building in key content areas and school improvement, including reading/literacy, math, science, the use of scientifically based research, professional development and teacher quality, and instructional strategies for specific populations (e.g., English language learners, children with disabilities, and children living in poverty). Dr. Jarvis also oversees several other initiatives in the southeastern states, including SEDL’s involvement in a local Early Reading First project and SEDL’s school improvement and turnaround work in school districts in Louisiana and South Carolina.
Contact Information
You may contact Robin Jarvis at 512-391-6512 and 225-257-4986
Dr. Jarvis’s interests include school improvement and systemic reform, accountability, leadership, and early childhood education.
- School Improvement: Dr. Jarvis’s doctoral research focused on school effectiveness and school improvement. She went on to lead the Louisiana Department of Education’s statewide school improvement efforts, including developing the Distinguished Educator Program, which provides direct support to schools identified as academically unacceptable. She also served as director of Louisiana’s Division of School Standards, Accountability, and Assistance, leading policy and program development for schools undergoing improvement as part of the state’s accountability system. At SEDL, Dr. Jarvis oversees the organization’s work with underperforming schools and school districts across the Southeast.
- Accountability: In her role as director of the Division of School Standards, Accountability, and Assistance, Dr. Jarvis was responsible for leading the development and implementation of Louisiana’s accountability system under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In this role, she worked closely with state assessment and data systems to ensure their alignment with accountability requirements.
- Leadership: Dr. Jarvis has a PhD in educational leadership, has taught graduate-level education leadership courses, worked for 2 years as an elementary school principal, and has held a number of leadership positions in the Louisiana Department of Education, including serving as acting superintendent of the Recovery School District in New Orleans. As director of the Division of Professional Development, Dr. Jarvis was responsible for overseeing the state’s leadership development program for aspiring leaders, assistant principals, and principals.
- Early Childhood: Dr. Jarvis has a master’s degree in elementary education with a focus on early childhood. She also taught kindergarten for 7 years. Currently, she oversees SEDL’s fee-for-service work in the Early Reading First project in Madison Parish, Louisiana, which began in 2007.
Prior to coming to SEDL, Dr. Jarvis served as the acting superintendent of the Recovery School District in New Orleans. Previous positions with the Louisiana Department of Education include program manager with the Distinguished Educator Program; director of the Division of Professional Development; director of the Division of School Standards, Accountability, and Assistance; and assistant superintendent of the Office of Student and School Performance. In these roles, Dr. Jarvis worked with accountability, curriculum, assessment, and special education issues in Louisiana and served as state director for various federal programs, including Titles I, II, and V and Reading First. She also has 13 years' experience in K–12 public education as an elementary school principal and a K–3 classroom teacher in East Baton Rouge Parish. Education
Dr. Jarvis received a bachelor's degree in elementary education; a master's degree in elementary education, with a focus on early childhood; and a PhD in educational leadership and research, with a focus on school effectiveness and school improvement, from Louisiana State University. Selected External Publications
- Mathews, G. S., & Jarvis, R. (1998). Forty years in the wilderness: The convoluted story of the East Baton Rouge desegregation case. In R. Fossey (Ed.), Race, courts, and equal education: The limits of the law (pp. 71–94). New York: AMS Press.
- Fossey, R., Soniat, K., & Jarvis, R. (1995, August). Review of Section 504 and the schools, by Perry Zirkel and Jeanne Kincaid. NOLPE Notes, 30(8), 5–6.
- Green, T., Kaase, K., Moore, A., Beale, B., Jarvis, R., & Graniero, J. (2008). How technical assistance centers working together have made a difference. Panel presentation at the Leveraging Resources Conference: A joint meeting of OESE Comprehensive & Equity Assistance Centers & OSEP Technical Assistance & Dissemination Centers, Washington, DC.
- Heroman, D. S., Pol, S. L., Jarvis, R. G., Kemper, E. A., Teddlie, C., Kochan, S., & Franklin, B. (1998). Case studies of the Louisiana School Effectiveness and Assistance Program (SEAP). Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.
- Jarvis, R., & Teddlie, C. (1998). The impact of organizational structure on instructional leadership in middle schools. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.
- Jarvis, R., & Teddlie, C. (1998). Instructional leadership in middle schools: A shared or solitary phenomenon. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.
- Kemper, E. A., Kochan, S., Jarvis, R. G., & Durland, M. (1998). Gathering and analyzing intensive school-level process data: A review of SEAP-II. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.
- Fossey, R., & Jarvis, R. (1997). African American students in “desegregated” schools: East Baton Rouge as a case study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
- Heroman, D., Jarvis, R., & Pol, S. (1997). How do they compare? Student and teacher perceptions of elementary school climates over the 15-year period of the Louisiana School Effectiveness Study. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
- Jarvis, R. (1996). The social scene of school building level committee meetings? Domain, taxonomic, and componential analyses. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southwest Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.
