Events

The Virginia Department of Education and REL AP partnered to co-design and support an evaluation of Virtual Virginia, a state-funded program offering online courses for middle and high school students. During our session at STATS-DC, presenters shared approaches developed through this work for collecting new sources of implementation and cost data, and integrating them with studies of a program's outcomes to inform decisions of policy and practice. Participants learned ways to strengthen evaluation rigor using extant data, strategies to improve survey response rates, and methods to understand local cost that state education agencies can implement.

This virtual discussion focused on supporting students in their transition to postsecondary. Attendees learned about and discussed an evidence-based summer counseling strategy designed to support students during the challenging transition between high school graduation and fall college enrollment. Participants discussed practical considerations for local adoption of summer counseling and heard from practitioners who have had success implementing transition supports.

The Rural College Access and Success Summit brought together teachers, principals, superintendents, legislators, non-profit leaders and many others to share ideas and strategies for ensuring that rural youth have the opportunity to successfully transition from high school to college and to career. REL Appalachia staff presented the session Mapping Our Way to Academic Success for More Students to share our work partnering with Kentucky teachers to develop Innovation Configuration (IC) Maps. IC Maps are a tool to help teachers improve their practice and boost academic success.

This half-day workshop was an opportunity for secondary and postsecondary educators and program leaders to network and discuss strategies for engaging families. The event shared evidence-based resources and build awareness of the supports that educators and other professionals can provide families in the region as students explore opportunities after high school and prepare for the realities of postsecondary education.

This workshop was an opportunity for secondary and postsecondary practitioners to discuss strategies that can help students transition smoothly from high school to postsecondary education and training programs. Participants learned about evidence-based practices and build awareness of the supports that educators and other professionals can provide students in the region during this important transition.

The Rural College and Career Readiness partnership hosted a virtual professional learning opportunity to discuss the role of families in postsecondary planning and to learn about how research can be used to support identification and implementation of strategies that work. The webinar built on the previous workshop in the series Family Engagement for Successful Student Transition.

The Improving Postsecondary Transitions partnership presented this interactive session at the Virginia College Access Network Conference. The presenters discussed the evidence levels included in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) and facilitated activities to apply ESSA evidence levels to an intervention. Participants learned about REL Appalachia projects and provided input on project design to better address stakeholder needs.

This interactive training event discussed the importance of family engagement in postsecondary pursuits and strategies for schools and districts to strengthen family engagement. Presenters shared information about the REL Appalachia Rural College and Career Readiness partnership and opportunities for future support.

This half-day workshop was a unique opportunity for educators to network and discuss strategies that can help students transition smoothly from high school to postsecondary education and training programs. Participants learned about evidence-based practices and built awareness of the supports that educators and other professionals can provide students in the region during this important transition.

The Rural College and Career Readiness partnership met to review their partnership logic model, research agenda, and data catalog; identify which research agenda questions can be answered using the currently available data and which would require additional data; and discuss next steps for the partnership in implementing the research agenda.

The SWVA Economic Forum engages participants through a shared vision of regional collaboration, growth, and innovation for all of Southwest Virginia. REL AP staff convened with leaders in business, government, and community and economic development organizations with the common goal of improving the economic growth and diversification of the region. REL AP shared our work in promoting the success of traditionally underserved students in postsecondary education and careers through their partnership with education stakeholders in the region.

REL Appalachia hosted a session presenting data on the employment and financial benefits of postsecondary education and training and sharing research-based perspectives on rural students' participation in college. Facilitators guided participants through interactive activities to reflect on their own experiences as educators and advisors and consider research-based approaches to helping more students pursue postsecondary education as a pathway towards achieving their career dreams.

REL staff met with members of the Virginia Postsecondary Transitions partnership to co-develop a research agenda to guide the partnership's work.

REL staff met with school and district leaders and data specialists in the Kentucky Rural College Readiness Partnership to identify the data needed to answer research questions identified in the partnership's research agenda.

The event, hosted simultaneously at three of the community colleges in southwest Virginia, was an interactive, engaging day designed to increase secondary administrative and instructional leaders' awareness of the benefits of postsecondary education and training, the primary barriers to access, and the opportunities available in the region.

This webinar shared research-based strategies that support all learners in preparing for algebra I, including English learner students and students who are struggling. Presenters focused on the use of visual representations to support mathematics content learning and reviewed mathematics tasks to demonstrate using visual representations to see algebraic relationships. Webinar presenters highlighted research throughout, including recommendations from Institute of Education Sciences (IES) practice guides.

The Student Success in Mathematics partnership met to use the partnership logic model related to algebra readiness and success to inform planning for a new project on professional learning models (PLMs), determine the types of data available to inform the PLM project, and review the data catalog to determine if critical data is currently available across the school divisions.

This bridge event focused on why algebra preparedness in upper elementary and middle school matters and what strategies can support struggling learners and students who are English Learners. The event was intended for teachers in grades 4 to 6 who teach mathematics and mathematics leaders who are interested in learning more about algebra preparedness.

The Cross-State Partnership on Using Data and Evidence to Facilitate Action met to review their final partnership research agenda, discuss preliminary results from a landscape and literature scan related to the skills, structures, and supports district and state leaders need to create a culture of data-driven decisionmaking, and plan for future research and TCTS activities.

REL staff met with state leaders in the Cross-State Partnership on Using Data and Evidence to Facilitate Action to co-develop a research agenda to guide the partnership's work.

This workshop was designed to enhance REL staff's knowledge of and collaboration around measuring career readiness. Career readiness includes the knowledge, skills, and abilities to support students' transition to postsecondary education and training, and careers.

This year's Appalachian Education & Workforce Network Conference, entitled Learning and Earning: Pathways to Prosperity, focused on how high schools are preparing students to take advantage of the education and credentialing opportunities and how partnerships between education institutions and the workforce system are resulting in increased postsecondary education attainment and, more importantly, a stronger and better prepared and positioned workforce. REL Appalachia staff hosted the plenary session Building Bridges to College & Career: Nonacademic Support for Rural Students' Successful Transition with colleagues from REL Southeast and the United Way of Southwest Virginia.

This symposium, hosted by the Niswonger Foundation, focused on methods for helping students establish and reach their career goals. Talented educators from across the region shared ideas, learn with peers, and develop networks that share a common purpose of student success. REL Appalachia staff presented a session to review and discuss the research related to the importance of parent and family engagement and college knowledge skills in relation to postsecondary transitions.

REL AP staff supported educators at Harts PreK-8 and Omar Elementary schools in West Virginia to host community math nights. The community math nights are designed to engage educators, children, and family members in learning and talking about mathematics, helping family members participate in their child's learning and support their child's academic success. The math night activities are intended to create a shared understanding of the math concepts and raise expectations for math knowledge and achievement at home and school.

REL Appalachia hosted a workshop session on June 20 presenting data on the employment and financial benefits of postsecondary education and training and sharing research-based perspectives on rural students' participation in college. Facilitators guided participants through interactive activities to reflect on their own experiences as educators and advisors and consider research-based approaches to helping more students pursue postsecondary education as a pathway towards achieving their career dreams.