Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center

As the implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) progresses, the number of schools in need of improvement is expected to rise dramatically. The focus of this symposium was to examine SEA intervention methods at the district level as a possible strategy to meet the needs of more schools with limited SEA resources. The goal of the symposium was to inform the SEA teams in three critical areas:

• National and regional models of SEAs supporting districts' school improvement efforts
• The role of state boards of education, legislatures, and other policymakers in the SEAs' statewide systems of support
• How SEAs are differentiating their support to districts

To address this goal, the NWRCC convened invited participants at States Helping Districts To Help Schools: SEA Support of School Improvement at the District Level.

Outcomes:

• Participants learned about SEA models of building district capacity to support schools' improvement efforts
• State-level teams had time to reflect on information presented in sessions and to discuss implications for their Statewide Systems of Support