Contact: Alan Richard
(404) 879-5544
Released: 7/24/2006

State Leaders to Gather in N.C. to Examine Ways to Improve Achievement, Graduation Rates, Career Education

ATLANTA — State leaders from up to 32 states will gather August 24-25 in Asheville, North Carolina, to discuss ways states can raise high school graduation rates and better prepare students for college and careers through improved career/technical education and increased academic rigor and relevance.

The meeting will be convened by the Atlanta-based Southern Regional Education Board, a nonprofit organization that works with 16 member states to improve K-12 and higher education. Participants will include officials from up to 32 states who work with SREB’s High Schools That Work school improvement network (the nation’s largest), along with other state officials, educators and lawmakers.

Sessions will focus on topics such as: the major reasons too many students fail to finish high school; how some high schools in the South are improving achievement and graduation rates; the role of career/technical education centers in improving graduation rates; state policies and legislation that can lead to improved graduation rates and achievement levels; how dropout recovery programs work; and more.

To attend the meeting or to find out more about the issues that will be addressed, contact SREB Communications. More details about SREB and High Schools That Work also are available at www.sreb.org.

SREB, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, advises state education leaders on ways to improve education. SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial appointees.