Local, state, and federal policymakers and other education leaders make decisions every day that impact our schools, the educators who work there, and the students who attend them. These policymakers want high-quality, objective, research-based information to help guide their decisions.

Since 1995, SERVE has worked closely with state and regional policymakers to provide timely, cogent, research-based information and to assist them as they consider such issues as developing rigorous standards for achievement, closing achievement gaps, funding an adequate and equitable education for all students, and training, hiring, and retaining highly qualified teachers. SERVE's policy work focuses primarily on identifying, analyzing, synthesizing, and disseminating research-based information in order to better inform district, state, regional, and national policymakers.

This work is conducted primarily through the SERVE Education Policy Program (link to number 5 in Educ. Policy Program file), which is staffed by six senior policy research analysts who work with the Chief State School Officers or their designees in the SERVE states. SERVE staff recognizes the complexity of the decision-making process and the context within which education policy decisions are made and has developed an infrastructure for sensing policy information needs, researching the issues, targeting the audience, communicating and disseminating the information, and providing opportunities for policymakers to convene for study and for collaboration.

The SERVE Region consists of six states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina—that have been in the forefront of education reform in the last 20 years. They are among the first states to have developed high-stakes accountability systems for districts, schools, teachers, and students. The legislation and other policy decisions that built those systems continue to be revised and refined. SERVE has a long history of working with policymakers in the six states.

Federal education legislation has long had a major impact on states, districts, and schools throughout the nation. SERVE's website provides information for policymakers on key federal education legislation, such as No Child Left Behind, the reauthorization of IDEA, the higher education act, and the Education Science Reform Act, among others.

SERVE realizes that there are numerous education policy entities in universities, regional laboratories, non-profit agencies, etc. that conduct research, analyze and synthesize research, and disseminate that information, so SERVE produces an annotated bibliography of the key studies that are produced monthly. To view this resource, visit the What's New section of this website.