SREB and South Carolina
SREB and South Carolina
An overview of SREB programs and services and how South Carolina participates in them.
Appropriations from member states support core SREB services. SREB leverages the longstanding commitment of member states to attract external funding for additional programs and services that benefit member states. States may also choose to join targeted networks for additional fees.
Policy
Goals for Education | Monitoring State Policies
Monitoring and reporting to assist education leaders and policymakers as they shape public policy. SREB tracks trends and analyzes the progress of all 16 SREB states in each area in the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education and provides Legislative Reports that detail legislative and budget actions in each state.
SREB’s Insights data tool allows leaders to explore actions across states, delve into a topic for a deeper understanding or select a detailed state report.
College and Career Readiness
Intensive work to help states implement essential components of SREB’s recommendations for statewide college and career readiness. These include assessing high school juniors to determine their progress toward the state’s readiness standards — and requiring those who are underprepared to take transitional courses in 12th grade.
Benchmarking Implementation of College- and Career-Readiness Standards
Tracks and reports progress on implementation of college- and career-readiness standards and related reforms across states. Based on this research, SREB staff support these states through reports, meetings and technical assistance.
In September 2017, SREB staff presented information on state efforts to redesign state accountability systems under the Every Student Succeeds Act at SREB’s annual Meeting of Legislative and Governors’ Staff. Five stakeholders from South Carolina attended.
SREB.org/Benchmarking >
Readiness in New State Accountability Systems
SREB’s benchmarking team distilled key elements of SREB states’ accountability systems under the Every Student Succeeds Acts into interactive profiles at Insights.SREB.org.
PUBLICATIONS
In January 2018 SREB published a set of reports on the redesign of state accountability systems. Profiles on each state describe how the state established expectations for increasing college and career readiness and also include the state’s long-term goals, school performance indicators, framework for differentiating school performance, and system of identification and support for struggling schools. An introduction to trends across states offers recommendations for making the new systems effective tools for continuous improvement.
South Carolina’s profile notes the state’s efforts to raise expectations for college and career readiness through its long-term goals and school performance indicators.
Meetings
SREB staff presented information on state efforts to redesign state accountability systems at SREB’s Annual Meeting in June 2017 and at the Legislative Advisory Council meeting in November 2017. Five stakeholders from South Carolina participated.
Technical Assistance
Between April 2017 and January 2018, SREB hosted monthly conference call meetings of a state accountability network, for SREB member states to share ideas and discuss questions about redesigning and implementing state accountability systems under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Three state education agency leaders from South Carolina participated.
Career and Technical Education
State Leaders Forum
South Carolina attendees at SREB’s State Leaders Forum on policies for high-quality career and technical education in November 2017: 7
Educator Effectiveness
Advises state and district leaders as they develop strategies to support the professional growth of teachers and principals. SREB serves as a technical advisor to state education agencies, spotlights inspiring stories of local practice and convenes stakeholders at regional meetings.
Technical Assistance
SREB supported the development and implementation of South Carolina’s educator effectiveness strategy by funding school and district administrator trainings, developing online professional learning modules, and working with districts to create long-term professional learning strategies.
In May 2018, SREB staff will provide technical assistance to Greenville County Public Schools staff who are leading the implementation of the district’s educator development strategy. SREB will produce a report for district staff that shares recommendations for improving local educator effectiveness strategies.
SREB staff met with state department staff in Columbia for two days in November 2017 to advise them on the development of their teacher evaluation system. SREB conducted focus groups with district administrators, principals and teachers. SREB produced a report for state department staff that shared site visit and focus group findings, as well as recommendations for improving the implementation of the state’s educator effectiveness strategy.
SREB staff presented before a legislative committee regarding teacher recruitment and retention strategies in October 2017.
Staff responded to two information requests from South Carolina stakeholders in the last 12 months. Constituents requested SREB analysis related to teacher recruitment and retention.
convenings
The state department sent representatives to SREB’s Sixth Annual Educator Effectiveness Convening in April 2018. They participated in collaborative working sessions with peers from 12 SREB states.
SREB staff presented on innovative ways to expand student access to high-quality instruction to state lawmakers who attended SREB’s Legislative Advisory Council Winter Meeting in November 2017.
A state team from South Carolina attended SREB’s teacher evaluation meeting, Improving Educator Effectiveness: Lessons Learned, in November 2017. Multiple stakeholder groups attended, including state agency leaders, teacher association representatives, district superintendents, principals and classroom teachers.
Department staff attended a regional meeting with their state agency peers from other SREB states in November 2017 following SREB’s teacher evaluation meeting. State department staff in charge of educator development issues met to discuss shared problems of practice in four areas: equitable access to effective teaching, leadership development, professional learning, and teacher voice.
SREB staff presented on teacher shortages at the SREB Meeting of Legislative and Governors’ Staff in September 2017.
reports and data
SREB produced the following resources for South Carolina leaders during the last 12 months:
School Is My Happy Place, May 2018, which showcases the innovative strategies used to develop a positive school culture at an elementary school in central Florida.
Mentoring New Teachers: A Fresh Look, January 2018, which proposes three action areas for states, districts and schools to support the development of novice educators and their mentors.
Evaluator Training: A Guide for States, September 2017, which spotlights seven components associated with effective training for observers of teachers.
Feedback on Teaching: A Fresh Look, July 2017, which features strategies for district and school leaders to establish and sustain better feedback practices.
Information Request Series, shares SREB responses to stakeholder questions on topics including educator evaluation, teacher certification, and principal recruitment and retention issues.
Educator Effectiveness Bill Tracker interactive tool, updated weekly to allow constituents to track legislative bills across eight areas, including teacher preparation, evaluation and professional learning.
A bi-weekly educator effectiveness e-newsletter
Teacher Preparation
SREB’s Teacher Preparation Commission met during 2016, 2017 and 2018 and will publish its final recommendations to improve teacher preparation programs in late 2018.
The Commission published its first report, More than the Numbers: Teacher Preparation Data Systems State Policy and Recommendations, in September 2017.
Postsecondary Education
Affordability
SREB’s Commission on College Affordability in the South recommended policies and practices to keep college costs within reach of all students. In addition to Commission’s report, policymakers can draw on updated regional and individual state affordability profiles to understand how costs impact families at different income levels.
SREB convened state higher education agency academic officers in October 2017 to discuss factors that impact college affordability. Attendees learned from each other about new policies for tuition, fees, financial aid, transfer, textbook costs, online courses, collaboration with K-12, readiness, and serving returning adults. A representative from the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education participated.
SREB assisted South Carolina policy staff with a request for information on postsecondary financial aid issues and technical assistance with higher education planning.
State Services
Connects policymakers with custom information, presentations and assistance on education issues as they arise. Leaders in member states are encouraged to contact SREB for data, analysis and advice.
SREB staff visited South Carolina to meet with legislators and staff, and attend committee meetings in 2018.
Throughout 2017-18, legislators, legislative staff and governor’s staff from South Carolina requested assistance on topics including higher education data, transition courses, digital learning and alternative instruction delivery.
Meetings
South Carolina staff were among those from 10 SREB states at the 2017 of legislative and governors’ staff to discuss topics that will likely be on agendas during upcoming legislative sessions.
South Carolina legislators were among those in attendance at the 2017 meetings of SREB’s Legislative Advisory Council and Legislative Work Conference.
Curriculum and School Improvement
Advanced Career
A new approach to career and technical education that combines college-readiness academics with hands-on, project-based assignments focused on modern careers. Advanced Career helps prepare students for as many options as possible after high school: a high-value job, college, community college or technical school.
South Carolina was the lead state working with SREB to develop the AC clean energy technology pathway.
South Carolina participation in AC programs, 2017-18:
Aerospace Engineering: 6 schools
Clean Energy Technology: 4 schools
Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management: 2 schools
Integrated Production Technologies: 1 school
Teachers trained: 14
Awards
In July 2017, Patrick Smallwood of the Center for Advanced Technical Studies in Chapin won an Outstanding Advanced Career Teacher award. The South Carolina Department of Education was honored for Outstanding Advanced Career State Support.
Readiness Courses:
Math Ready and Literacy Ready
Courses specifically designed to help underprepared students succeed in the next phase of education.
Ready for college
Courses to teach young adults the reading, writing and math skills they must have to succeed in college. They are taught in an engaging way that leads students to learn and think independently, read for information and solve problems.
SREB Readiness Coureses are being implemented in selected schools during the 2017-18 school year.
Ready for high school
New courses for the transition from middle grades to high school. Underprepared students take the classes in eighth or ninth grade.
South Carolina is one of 10 states that has participated in developing, field testing, training or piloting Ready for High School Literacy or Ready for High School Math. The courses are being implemented in selected schools during the 2017-18 school year.
High Schools That Work
The nation’s largest school improvement program. HSTW strategies transform high schools into places where all students master complex academic and technical concepts. More than 1,150 schools in 30 states use the framework, its six design features and nine key practices, to raise student achievement and graduation rates.
HSTW State Network
Member states select schools to receive services. The fee for state membership in the consortium covers several services and visits.
South Carolina is a member of the High Schools That Work state network, with 171 active schools in 2017-18.
Contracts for Direct Support
Schools, districts and states contract with SREB for targeted school improvement services such as on-site coaching, technical assistance and professional development.
SREB provided 38 days of contracted services at Battery Creek High School, Whale Branch Early College High School and Whale Branch Middle School — all in Beaufort County School District. The services were in the areas of counseling for careers, powerful literacy and math practices, Readiness courses and needs assessments.
Richland School District One received 35 days of leadership coaching in eight schools.
Technology Centers That Work
Helps shared-time centers produce high-demand, high-wage graduates. SREB provides staff development, technical assistance, publications and assessment services. The network includes 218 sites in 16 states.
Active centers in South Carolina in 2017-18: 22
Twenty-two centers participated in two regional workshops in the 2017-18 school year. Analyzing and Improving Your Center’s Industry-Recognized Credentials provided tools for centers to self-assess and determine the quality, content and rigor of external examinations relevant to CTE fields.
Math In CTE trained teachers to create math-enhanced CTE lessons using a seven-element pedagogic framework and develop a plan for integrating those lessons naturally into their courses.
In addition, at the CTE Summer Business Summit, TCTW provided multiple sessions including Simulated Workplace, Supporting New Teachers, New Teacher Training, Overview of the New TCTW Framework and Math-In-CTE. Anderson Five Career Campus is using the Teaching to Lead curriculum to develop teacher-leaders with plans for all CTE teachers to go through professional development.
Awards
Anderson District I & II Career Technology Center in Williamston was honored in July 2017 as an Outstanding Technology Centers That Work Site.
Making Middle Grades Work
Engages state, district and school leaders in partnerships with teachers, students, parents and the community to raise student achievement in the middle grades. In addition to workshops and school visits, SREB links schools to the professional development resources they need.
In 2017-18, 186 South Carolina middle grades schools participated in the network. Furman Middle School in Sumter County School District contracted for six days of project-based learning and STEM professional development in the 2017-18 school year.
Counseling for College and Careers
Awakens students to career goals and connects them to the high school and postsecondary programs of study to succeed in them. SREB offers workshops, materials and coaching for districts, schools and technology centers, which then involve teachers, counselors, administrators, parents and community partners.
SREB is conducting Counseling for Careers professional development and ongoing coaching in Sumter County Schools and Beaufort County School District.
Professional Development
For Teachers, Principals and Counselors
College- and Career-Readiness Networking Conference
Conference to share effective instructional strategies of the Literacy and Mathematics Design Collaborative frameworks.
South Carolina attendees at the July 2017 conference: 147
SREB.org/NetworkingConference >
Go Alliance Academy
Strives to increase the postsecondary education and career success of all students by providing timely and relevant professional development in college and career readiness to school counselors, teachers, principals, career coaches and college access advisors.
South Carolina is one of 16 member states and one of the six founding states.
Go Alliance Academy Representative: Karen Woodfaulk, Director of Student Affairs, South Carolina Commission on Higher Education
High Schools That Work Staff Development Conference
Annual conference for thousands of school leaders, teachers and counselors from middle grades, high schools and technology centers across the country.
South Carolina attendees at the July 2017 conference: 894
South Carolina lead all SREB states in total conference attendance.
Learning-Centered Leadership Program
Works with district, state and university partners to prepare aspiring principals and school leadership teams to lead school reform to ensure that students are ready for college and careers. This program offers training, guidance and technical assistance.
South Carolina attendees at the 2018 Annual Leadership Forum: 4
National Technology Centers That Work Leaders Forum
Annual Forum for state department of education leaders, directors, principals, teacher-leaders and counselors representing high schools and technology centers across the country.
South Carolina attendees in 2018: 16
Literacy and Math Professional Development
SREB is partnering with states on a large-scale effort to help districts and schools adopt, spread and sustain effective literacy and math teaching strategies to meet their state’s college- and career-readiness standards.
SREB’s Powerful Literacy Practices empower language arts, science and social studies teachers to build meaningful assignments aligned to their state’s college- and career-readiness standards. Teachers take ownership of their professional growth, and students take ownership of their learning.
SREB’s Powerful Mathematics Practices use formative assessment lessons — part assessment, part instruction — to help teachers know whether their students understand material they have been taught. Teachers learn to adapt assignments and engage students so they understand the hows and whys of math.
During the 2017-18 school year, this SREB professional development reached South Carolina educators in 90 schools.
South Carolina teachers, principals and trainers who participated in training and coaching: 1,210
Project-Based Learning in Career Pathway Courses
Training model for teachers in high-skill career and technical education programs and career pathway academic courses. Academic and career and technical education teachers improve assignments and assessments by working with business and industry partners to develop projects that require students to apply college- and career-readiness and technical-academic standards.
Number of South Carolina teachers and administrators in training or coaching in 2017-18: 9
Number of participating schools in South Carolina during 2017-18: 6
Postsecondary Education
Academic Common Market
A tuition-savings program for college students in SREB member states who want to pursue degrees not offered by in-state institutions. Students can enroll in out-of-state institutions that offer their degree program and pay the in-state tuition rates.
During calendar year 2017, 2,130 degree programs were available, 152 institutions participated and 3,355 new students were certified for study.
In 2017, 121 South Carolina students participated in Academic Common Market, saving, on average, $8,910 each and a collective total of $1,087,018 in tuition.
ACM State Representative: Saundra E. Carr, Academic Common Market Coordinator, South Carolina Commission on Higher Education
Regional Contract Program
Gives students the opportunity to earn a professional health degree from participating institutions in other states through in-state tuition rates at public institutions, or reduced tuition at private institutions. More than 600 students participate each year.
Participating students from South Carolina: 115
State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement
A nationwide system to open more high-quality distance education offerings for students and ease the regulatory burden on institutions. SREB member states may opt in to offer distance education activities in other SARA states.
South Carolina is an approved member of SARA.
South Carolina SARA Representative: Clay Barton, Licensing Program Coordinator, Postsecondary Institution Licensing, Academic Affairs, South Carolina Commission on Higher Education
Fact Book and Data Exchange
Publishes one of the nation’s most comprehensive collections of comparative data through a cooperative effort of state postsecondary education agencies. Data are updated annually on topics including population demographics, college completion, tuition and fees, cost of attendance, state appropriations and faculty salaries.
South Carolina leaders receive the SREB Fact Book on Higher Education, as well as South Carolina: Featured Facts From the SREB Fact Book on Higher Education and the annual SREB State Data Exchange tables.
South Carolina’s participating agency and SREB-State Data Exchange coordinator: Mary (Mim) Armour, South Carolina Commission on Higher Education
Council on Collegiate Education for Nursing
Helps expand and strengthen schools of nursing to reduce the critical shortage of nurse educators needed to educate the nation’s registered nurses. The Council surveys institutions for nursing education trends and shares online graduate nursing courses.
As of April 2018, five South Carolina institutions are members, listed here with their representatives to the Council:
Charleston Southern University: Andrea Meir, Dean
Clemson University: Kathleen Valentine, Director
Medical University of South Carolina: Gail Stuart, Dean
University of South Carolina – Aiken: Thayer McGahee, Dean
University of South Carolina – Columbia: Jeannette Andrews, Dean
Doctoral Scholars Program
Supports minority students to help them earn Ph.D.s, begin careers at colleges and universities, and diversify campus faculties. The SREB-State Doctoral Scholars Program hosts the annual Institute on Teaching and Mentoring, the nation’s largest gathering of minority doctoral scholars, with more than 1,200 attendees.
Scholars funded by South Carolina in 2017-18: 33
2017 Institute attendees from South Carolina: 39
Scholars South Carolina has supported since joining in 1993: 127
Graduates since 1993: 85
Graduates currently employed: 78
Percent employed in education: 78
South Carolina-supported Ph.D. students have attended these institutions since 1993:
Clemson University
Medical University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
University of Texas at Arlington
University of Virginia
Interstate Cooperatives
Educational Technology Cooperative
Membership group of state K-12 and higher education coordinating and governing boards that represent more than 800 colleges and universities and 3,100 school districts in SREB states. The ETC focuses member agencies and state policymakers on using technology wisely, helps states understand technology issues and forms an action agenda for effectively using technology in education.
South Carolina representatives attended the spring and summer webinars.
South Carolina sent two attendees to the 2017 ETC annual meeting on teaching and technology. Trena Houp of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education served on a discussion panel for personalized learning. Peggy Torrey of the South Carolina Council on Competitiveness presented a breakout session on the personalized learning initiative TransformSC.
South Carolina ETC representatives helped determine SREB’s 10 Critical Issues in Educational Technology and served on working groups for revisions.
Trena Houp of the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education is a member of the ETC executive committee.
In May 2017, South Carolina sent a team of educators and policymakers to the SREB and digiLEARN Personalized Learning Regional Meeting to learn more about how to develop a comprehensive and sustainable effort. Houp represented higher education technology for South Carolina at the meeting.
South Carolina ETC representative: Trena Houp, Program Manager, South Carolina Commission on Higher Education
Technology Purchasing Savings
Schools, universities and agencies in SREB states saved $3.3 million on more than $33 million in technology purchases during fiscal year 2017 — double the FY2016 savings — through SREB’s participation in MHECtech discount agreements. Organizations in each of the 16 SREB states participated.
South Carolina saved $87,682 on $886,566 in technology purchases in fiscal year 2017.