Impact Stories

 

How do we know we’re making an impact? The CCNetwork’s Impact Stories illustrate the results of our work by celebrating ingenuity and collaboration and highlighting moments that sparked change in education. Written by National Comprehensive Center and Regional Comprehensive Center staff, these stories detail key strategies, important lessons, and promising solutions emerging from the CCNetwork's work with SEAs and LEAs across the country. We also share success stories of CCSSO members here as well to elevate additional examples of ways states and jurisdictions are making an impact in education. Filter by topic, Center, or state/jurisdiction to gain new ideas and to cheer for the great work happening in your area.

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Impact Stories
The National Comprehensive Center brought together state education agency teams to function as Communities of Practice to focus on critical educational issues related to equity, out-of-school time programming, and use of American Rescue Plan funds.
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Pilot in Georgia Offers Hope for Early Literacy Improvement
To help Georgia districts meet a legislative mandate to screen all students for reading difficulties, the Georgia Department of Education launched a pilot to understand how to support them with the guidance of the Region 6 Comprehensive Center. The three-year pilot provided critical implementation data on seven pilot districts, bolstered the capacity of the Georgia Department of Education, and helped the agency better understand how to achieve policy coherence.
  • Topic(s): Education Systems & Federal Requirements, Policy & Legislation, Student & Staff Well-Being, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), Teaching & Learning, Early Education, Literacy
  • State(s): Georgia
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 6 Comprehensive Center
New Framework Unites States, Districts, and Tribes to Improve Education for Native Students  
Circles of Reflection, developed by National Comprehensive Center, represents a new approach aimed at supporting collaboration between state educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and Tribal educational departments (TEDs) to lift Native voices and address Native students’ needs.
  • Topic(s): Education Systems & Federal Requirements, SEA Operations & Performance Management, Specific Population Groups, American Indian/Alaska Native
  • State(s): Idaho, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Washington, Wisconsin
  • Center or Affiliate: National Comprehensive Center
Kansas and Missouri Leaders Champion Adaptability
The pandemic heightened the need for leaders to learn how to adapt to change efficiently and effectively and sometimes in real-time. To help local education agency leaders develop these skills, the Region 12 Comprehensive Center partnered with professional learning organizations in both KS and MO to create Executive Leadership Forums that provide a safe space for leaders to learn how to thrive during times of significant change.
  • Topic(s): Education Workforce, Leadership Development, Recruitment, Retention
  • State(s): Kansas, Missouri
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 12 Comprehensive Center
Academy Lifts and Transforms Leadership Skills in Puerto Rico
Working together, the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE) and the Region 3 Comprehensive Center created a leadership academy entitled, the Professional Development Academy for Management, Leadership, and Professionalism (EDUGESPRO, in Spanish). Since then, EDUGESPRO has impacted more than 500 school and regional leaders in Puerto Rico and has become PRDE's signature Leadership Academy program.
  • Topic(s): Education Systems & Federal Requirements, SEA Operations & Performance Management, Education Workforce, Leadership Development
  • State(s): Puerto Rico
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 3 Comprehensive Center
U.S. Virgin Island Microsite Curates Thousands of Instructional Materials with Culture in Mind
To improve student engagement and learning, the Virgin Islands Department of Education partnered with the Region 3 Comprehensive Center to create #GoOpenUSVI. Through the microsite, students and teachers now have access to thousands of high-quality open license materials that reflect students' culture as well as provide flexibility, customization, and innovation for teachers.
  • Topic(s): Education Systems & Federal Requirements, Financial Management, Education Workforce, Professional Development, Equity in Education, Culturally-Responsive Practice, Teaching & Learning, Instructional Practice
  • State(s): U. S. Virgin Islands
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 3 Comprehensive Center
Minnesota Reaps Statewide School Improvement with Unifying Framework
Recognizing the need for one unifying school improvement framework, the Minnesota Department of Education partnered with the Region 10 Comprehensive Center and developed a clear and coordinated approach for the state and district levels to use. The result was better coordination across the Minnesota Department of Education to support school improvement, the development of a multi-tiered support system framework tailored specifically for the state, and implementation support at both the state and district levels.
  • Topic(s): Education Systems & Federal Requirements, School Improvement, SEA Operations & Performance Management, Student & Staff Well-Being, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS)
  • State(s): Minnesota
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 10 Comprehensive Center
Effort to Support Early Learners Connects Wisconsin to New Community
Wisconsin’s Circles of Reflection (CoR) aimed to address early learning challenges and opportunities for American Indian and Alaska Native children and families. Developed by National Comprehensive Center’s Native Education Collaborative, CoR engages state education agencies, Tribal agencies, and local education agencies in cycles of issue discovery, stakeholder engagement, and implementation planning to provide high-quality, motivating educational experiences that improve Native students’ academic attainment.
  • Topic(s): Specific Population Groups, American Indian/Alaska Native, Teaching & Learning, Early Education
  • State(s): Wisconsin
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 10 Comprehensive Center
North Carolina Engineers STEM Opportunities for Its Youngest Learners
Educators in 16 North Carolina school districts are implementing high-quality STEM education programs to K–5 students thanks to a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the Region 6 Comprehensive Center. The project is focused on creating capacity at both the state and district levels to ensure their initial success can be scaled and sustained.
  • Topic(s): Education Systems & Federal Requirements, SEA Operations & Performance Management, Education Workforce, Professional Development, Teaching & Learning, Instructional Practice, Mathematics/STEM/Computer Science
Illinois Targets School Improvement by Empowering Staff
The Illinois State Board of Education strengthened resources and support provided to schools identified as in need of improvement through a partnership with the Region 9 Comprehensive Center. The collaboration has produced key resources, collaboration, and professionalism for school improvement coordinators and increased access to resources for schools.
  • Topic(s): Education Systems & Federal Requirements, School Improvement
  • State(s): Illinois
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 9 Comprehensive Center
Guam’s Social-Emotional Learning Program for PreK Students Inspires a Ripple Effect
The Region 18 Comprehensive Center (R18CC) partnered with the Guam Department of Education to institute a pre-kindergarten program focused on social-emotional learning. So far, the technical assistance being provided by R18CC has benefited students, teachers, the community, and curriculum.
  • Topic(s): Student & Staff Well-Being, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), Teaching & Learning, Early Education
  • State(s): Guam
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 18 Comprehensive Center
Team Effort Launches Comprehensive Collection of Mental Health Supports for Texas Students
The need for mental health resources in Texas has outpaced what is currently available. To meet that need, the Region 14 Comprehensive Center is supporting the Texas Education agency in building statewide, school-based mental health supports to ensure students, families, schools, and districts have access to the tools and resources necessary to address mental and behavioral health needs effectively.
  • Topic(s): Education Systems & Federal Requirements, SEA Operations & Performance Management, Student & Staff Well-Being, School-Based Mental & Behavioral Health
  • State(s): Texas
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 14 Comprehensive Center
Grant Offers Flexibility for Maine Districts, Sparking Innovation
Districts in Maine had the opportunity to creatively meet their ongoing educational challenges through the Rethinking Responsive Education Ventures grant but needed help to do it strategically. With the support of the Region 1 Comprehensive Center, the Maine Department of Education has established the necessary infrastructure to implement the grant, developed resources to support districts in successfully applying for grant funds, and designed and facilitated professional development support for innovation coaches charged with supporting district implementation.
  • Topic(s): Education Systems & Federal Requirements, SEA Operations & Performance Management, Education Workforce, Professional Development
  • State(s): Maine
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 1 Comprehensive Center
Bureau of Indian Education Targets Principal Needs with Three-Tiered System
The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) identified a need to better support school leaders to better transform education in their schools. Through a partnership with the Region 13 Region Comprehensive Center, the BIE planned and implemented a tiered system of support for school leaders that includes ongoing differentiated professional development opportunities for all types of school leader needs.
  • Topic(s): Education Workforce, Leadership Development, Specific Population Groups, American Indian/Alaska Native
  • State(s): Bureau of Indian Education
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 13 Comprehensive Center
Illinois Embraces Data to See and Solve their Teacher Recruitment Problem
To identify where and how to target efforts to strengthen and diversify the teacher workforce in Illinois, the Illinois State Board of Education enlisted help from the Region 9 Comprehensive Center to use data visualization strategies to identify loss points in the state’s teacher pipeline and create effective initiatives to support and diversify the teacher pipeline.
  • Topic(s): Education Workforce, Recruitment, Retention, Workforce Diversity
  • State(s): Illinois
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 9 Comprehensive Center
Communication and Data Use Transform School Culture in Palau
Districts and schools in Palau are seeing positive changes in teaching and learning from implementing the "Circles of Success" model, created in partnership with the Palau Ministry of Education and the Region 18 Comprehensive Center. The model focuses on student-centered instruction, data-driven teaching and decisionmaking, and improving organizational structures and practices.
  • Topic(s): Education Systems & Federal Requirements, Data & Continuous Improvement, SEA Operations & Performance Management
  • State(s): Palau
  • Center or Affiliate: Region 18 Comprehensive Center