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SERVE Center - The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
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Mississippi Mississippi                            

The SERVE Center has a significant history of working with educators in Mississippi, beginning in 1990 with the U.S. Department of Education's Regional Educational Laboratory-Southeast (REL-SE). SERVE Center's state liaison helps link research, public policy, and resources to the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) and statewide school improvement initiatives. The SERVE Center's vision of an educational system that empowers sand equips all people to realize their infinite possibilities and promise is aligned with the MDE's vision of "a quality education for every child." Below are some examples of the work that we do through the REL-SE to support MDE's vision.


Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: A Dialogue on Research and Practice
For the fourth consecutive year, the Mississippi Department of Education’s Office of Federal Programs hosted a school improvement symposium. The symposium was designed to provide technical assistance for schools and districts identified for school improvement based on AYP calculations. “Rethinking School Improvement: Rising to the Challenge” allowed nearly 400 educators from across the state access to research, practical information, and effective practices to assist in the development of a plan for consistent and sustained improvement. The REL Southeast presented a session on turning around low-performing schools featuring Dr. Sam Redding, Director of the Center on Innovation and Improvement and one of the authors of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Practice Guide Turning Around Chronically Low-Performing Schools. The goal of the session was to enhance participants’ knowledge and application of research on turning around low-performing schools. Dr. Redding presented an overview of the practice guide’s recommendations and panels comprised of school leaders responded to the presentation by connecting the publication’s recommendations to examples of strategies they have used to successfully turn around schools and sustain consistent improvement.

Assisting Students Struggling with Emergent/Early Issues in Reading in
Pre-K through Second Grades
Technical assistance on research-based guided reading instruction was conducted by REL-SE literacy staff for 13 Pre-K through 2nd Grade teachers at William H. Walton Elementary School in the Jackson (MS) Public School District this spring. Teachers were provided an opportunity to view modeling of guided reading instruction and preparation of a guided reading lesson plan.

Connecting Research in Practice: Creating an Environment That Supports Students Struggling with Reading in Pre-K through 2nd Grades
Teachers and administrators from six urban elementary schools in grades Pre-K through 2nd in the Jackson Public School District came together this spring for a presentation on findings and recommendations on research practices offered in the Institute of Education Sciences Practice Guide, Assisting Students Struggling with Reading: Response to Intervention and Multi-Tier Intervention in the Primary Grades (2009). The researcher/speaker was Dr. Sylvia Linan-Thompson of the University of Texas, Austin and one of the authors of the practice guide. A panel of practitioners offered their perspectives on the use of the practice guide recommendations. Participants were provided the opportunity to reflect on and discuss the extent to which the recommended RtI practices are implemented in their schools.