Office of School Improvement

Overview

Office School Improvement
Staff

SREB’s Office of School Improvement has spent decades investigating what works to build and sustain lasting capacity for change in schools nationwide.

Our staff have deep expertise as classroom teachers, school, district and state education leaders, research and evaluation specialists, and policy analysts.

Profile

Dale Winkler
Senior Vice President, School Improvement

Dale Winkler was named vice president of school improvement in April 2018. He joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2015 as special assistant to the senior vice president of the organization’s school improvement team, where he brings more than 19 years of experience working on issues related to leadership and policy in the area of college and career readiness. 

Video: Dr. Winkler describes SREB’s improvement process. Watch >

Profile

Jason Adair
Program Director, Literacy and Mathematics

Jason Adair is the program director for literacy and mathematics in SREB’s School Improvement division. He leads a team of content coaches as they develop and deliver high quality professional development to teachers, instructional coaches, and school and district leaders. Jason joined SREB’s school improvement team in 2011, bringing more than 10 years of experience in the public education sector. He was a middle school and high school mathematics teacher and instructional coach in Florida for eight years before leading K-12 mathematics in Gaston County, North Carolina.

Profile

Erin Anderson-Williams
School Improvement Leadership Coach

Erin Anderson-Williams joined the SREB School Improvement team in 2021, bringing more than 20 years of educational experience in student support, instructional leadership and development. She served as a student services coordinator and social skills teacher for five years in private school in Tennessee before serving as a high school counselor for six years in the public school sector. She served for ten years as a public school administrator prior to supporting middle and high school principals as an executive director of school support and improvement.

Profile

Chris Bailey
Instructional Coach

Chris Bailey joined SREB in 2022 as an instructional coach with Teaching To Lead.  Beginning his career as an agricultural education teacher, Chris has served as a CTE teacher, career development coordinator, assistant principal, principal and CTE Director in four North Carolina school districts.  He has served in various leadership roles with the North Carolina ACTE and the NC Administrative Division. 

Profile

Steve Broome
Senior Director, State & District Partnerships, School Improvement

Steve Broome joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2006 as the director of state development for high schools and middle grades for High Schools That Work, He brought more than 15 years of experience working on issues of education policy and practice in the public education sector. Steve has worked with state and local leaders in 32 states through HSTW.

Profile

Jenn Carter
Contract and Grant Coordinator, School Improvement

Jenn Carter is the contract and grant coordinator for school improvement. She joined the Southern Regional Education Board in 2003 as a graphic designer/editorial assistant in school improvement. From 2008 to 2017, she worked in human resources as administrator and later project manager. In 2017, she returned to school improvement as a data management coordinator and then accounting coordinator. Prior to joining SREB, she designed jewelry and was an inventory manager at an international gold marketplace distributor.

Profile

Ivy Coburn
Division Director, Education & Workforce

Ivy Coburn is the division director of Education and Workforce initiatives at SREB, through which she brings K-12, postsecondary, workforce and industry leaders together to adopt policies and practices that expand career development and training opportunities for students, create seamless transitions from high school to further studies, and empower students to enter and advance in the workforce.

Profile

Cena Davis
Senior School Improvement Leadership Coach

Cena Davis is a senior school improvement leadership coach. She joined SREB in 2015 as a leadership consultant with a career pathway focus. Cena brings more than 31 years of educational experience related to teaching, learning and leading change in public education. She previously served as a teacher, principal, Alabama State Department of Education principal coach, and adjunct professor. She also assisted in opening a new school system as a director of curriculum and instruction and CTE coordinator.

Profile

Leslie Eaves
Program Director, Project-Based Learning

Leslie Eaves leads the project-based learning program at SREB, where she designs professional learning experiences for teachers to implement PBL. She joined SREB in 2016, bringing more than 16 years of experience in the public education sector. She holds both a technology education and 9-12 math license. Prior to SREB, Leslie taught high school engineering courses in North Carolina. She joined North Carolina New Schools in 2011 as a math content coach and a general instructional coach, where she implemented school-centered learning strategies and STEM practices.

Profile

Tokitha McWain-Ferguson
School Improvement Leadership Coach

Tokitha McWain-Ferguson joined SREB’s School Improvement team in 2019, bringing 18 years of educational experience in mathematics, instructional leadership and school improvement. She previously served as an education consultant for six years at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction District & School Transformation Division and as a teacher trainer and school administrator in Doha, Qatar. Throughout her career, her roles have included elementary and high school administrator, middle school teacher, mathematics facilitator and instructional coach.   

Profile

Linda Floyd
Director, State and District Partnerships

Linda Floyd joined SREB’s school improvement team as director of Technology Centers That Work in 2017. With more than 35 years of experience in education, Linda most recently worked for the Kentucky Department of Education, where she provided leadership, supervision and evaluations of principals in 27 state-operated career and technology centers.

Profile
Judy Frank

Judy Frank
Director, State and District Partnerships

Judy Frank is director of state and district partnerships. She was previously program director of Making Middle Grades Work initiative, where she coordinated middle grade services across the organization and supported leadership and content coaches in school redesign. She joined SREB in 2015 as a school improvement consultant to the organization’s High Schools That Work/Making Middle Grades Work initiative, bringing more than 33 years of experience working on issues of education policy and practice in the public education sector.