Message from the Director
July 2006
During the Center's first period of operation which ended on June 30th, we successfully launched several state and regional technical assistance efforts to help state leaders address the complex challenges of meeting NLCB goals. A 2006 summary of work was presented to our U.S. Department of Education (USED) program officer and to our NECC Advisory Board at its first Annual Meeting held in May. Our Year 2 work plan has been submitted to our program officer. These plans are reviewed and revised quarterly to adapt to changing work progress and priority needs.
Here are just a couple of highlights of our start-up year:
- We have developed a mission-driven, dedicated, talented team of technical assistance providers. Our four organizations are working together to help our state education agencies build capacity to improve learning outcomes for all students;
- Improving literacy outcomes is a major thrust of our work. We are supporting three states in our region on their statewide preK-12 literacy plans, and two of our three regional efforts are aimed at supporting improvements in literacy. Working with the national Comprehensive Center on Instruction, our Adolescent Literacy Team is compiling research-based resources on adolescent literacy. On June 5 and 6, the Partners in Literacy: Enhancing Teaching Quality in New England initiative convened leaders from higher education, state education agencies, and local education agencies in a symposium on teacher preparation, licensure, and professional development based on reading, literacy, and teacher education research. Catherine Snow, Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of Education at Harvard University, delivered the keynote address on Knowledge to Support the Teaching of Reading, drawing on her book of the same title.
Leaders in each New England state are finding ways to span program and organizational boundaries to meet their challenges with all too limited resources. We are committed to supporting these efforts through both state-level and regional solutions.
We look forward to working with leaders throughout the region to ensure that New England's enormous talent and predisposition to excellence are harnessed to good ends.
- Carol Keirstead, Ed.D.