Unfinished Business

A Regional Education Laboratory Retrospective on School Improvement

Edited by:
Paula Egelson, Southern Regional Education Board
C. Steven Bingham, Gardner-Webb University
Barbara B. Howard, Appalachian State University (Retired)

Published 2024

Unfinished Business: A Regional Education Laboratory Retrospective on School Improvement is authored by education professionals formerly employed at SERVE, one of the ten US federally funded education research and development laboratories. SERVE’S region included the following southeastern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The school improvement recollections found in this book are supported by contemporaneous data collected for research and evaluation as well as literature, interviews and evidence from former clients and collaborators. Each of the chapter authors wrote about a school improvement initiative in which they led or participated in developing.

Compared to the other nine labs, SERVE was heavily field based. SERVE’s projects and publications focused on school improvement, research, policy, and professional development. The work was typically launched in a spirit best described as emergent design. Building on extant research and best practice, potential clients across the six-state region were approached with ideas for educational interventions and evidence to support theories of action.

It is underscored that improving America’s public schools, teachers and school administrators is a continuous process involving difficult work. It is hoped that this book will offer suggestions to educators about how to implement school improvement, including what works and what doesn’t, and how initiatives can evolve positively over time.

ENDORSEMENTS:

"This retrospective on the work done by the SERVE lab serves to underscore the important role education laboratories can play in helping schools improve the systems and processes supporting more equitable learning opportunities and higher student achievement. As the authors indicate, the work of school improvement is never finished, hence it follows that continually trying out well-grounded interventions and examining their impacts on leadership, teaching, and learning is essential to moving improvement science forward." — Betty Fry, Southern Regional Education Board

"School improvement work needs to be an “all hands-on deck” effort that engages teachers, administrators, students, parents and guardians, and stakeholders in meaningful co-ownership of helping schools be successful for all students. Unfinished Business seeks to examine the work of educational leaders and organizations who have been immersed in extended efforts to both understand and meet the various challenges of educating students. By including voices with rich experiences and perspectives, and highlighting steps taken to realize successes, this book provides insights and “lessons learned” to reflect upon in considering next steps." — Bill Sterrett, Baylor University

"What an outstanding book based on thoughtful reflections of practitioners working on improving schools! If readers want to get an understanding of federally supported research and development laboratories, this is an excellent book on lessons learned. Unfinished Business offers important technical concepts-in-practice such as stakeholder involvement, emergent designs, interventions, implementation, sustainability, and organizational culture (to cite a few), but also insightful lessons on results-oriented distributed leadership. A must-read for leaders across the board—local, state, and federal educational agencies!" — Marco Muñoz, Jefferson County Schools, KY

CONTENTS
Dedication. Acknowledgements. Endorsements. Foreword, “Mack” C. E. McCary III. The Less Traveled Road to School Improvement: The US Department of Education, Regional Education Laboratory Program, and SERVE, C. Steven Bingham. Comprehensive School Improvement at SERVE, Rebecca Rhoden Ogletree. Senior Project: A Culminating Assessment for 12th Graders, Paula Egelson. Teacher Growth and Assessment: The SERVE Model of Teacher Evaluation, Barbara B. Howard. SERVE as Change Agent: School District Reform, Paula Egelson. Leadership Development: A SERVE Program Director’s Autoethnography, C. Steven Bingham. Professional Learning Teams: Teacher Collaboration to Improve Instructional Quality, R. Anne Jolly. Class Size Reduction: A Decade of Research, Policy, and Initiatives, Patrick H. Harman. SERVE Teachers-of-the-Year Advisory Committee: Mobilizing and Organizing Southeastern State Teacher Leaders for School Improvement, R. Anne Jolly and C. Steven Bingham. A SERVE Retrospective On School Improvement: Lessons Learned, C. Steven Bingham, Barbara B. Howard, and Paula Egelson. Epilogue: Impressions From a Senior Evaluator, Susan Stemples Harman. Contributors.