Appalachia: Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, & West Virginia
Regional Needs
The REL Appalachia needs assessment effort relies on a wide range of activities, including face-to-face and teleconferenced discussions with state and local education officials in the region, ongoing reviews of NCLB implementation, annual state "report cards," and routine communication between our research staff, field scientists, and governing board members. Meetings, presentations, and direct communication with Chief State School Officers and key SEA staff discussions contribute substantially to our identification of emerging education needs, fast-response research studies, and technical assistance activities across the region.
The region’s primary needs are:
- Pre-K Education – improving and expanding the quality of pre-k education programs, including the identification of effective assessment systems;
- High School Reform – improving graduation rates, integrating effective career and technical education programs; and reducing school dropouts;
- Rural Education – addressing the needs of rural schools, particularly in sustaining effective leadership; and
- Data-Driven Decision Making – making better use of school and student performance data to inform practice, policy, programs, instruction, and other types of decisions.
