Beth Howard-Brown
Program Manager

Beth Howard-Brown is Program Manager of SEDL's Education Systems Support program. Dr. Howard-Brown serves as director of the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) at SEDL, which works to build the capacity of state education agencies as they assist schools and districts. Dr. Howard-Brown also oversees SEDL's partnership with the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast at Florida State University. Prior to joining SEDL, she served as an interim director at the South Carolina Department of Education. Dr. Howard-Brown also has experience as a curriculum specialist working with low-performing schools, a graduate-level adjunct professor in counselor education, and as a high school and middle school administrator, a school counselor, and a mathematics teacher.

Contact Information
You may contact Beth Howard-Brown at 803-936-0752

or by using SEDL's contact form.

Areas of Expertise
Dr. Howard-Brown’s interests include high school reform, turning around low-performing schools, and college and career readiness. Her doctoral work focused on the causes of increased student achievement in rural high-poverty schools.

• High School Reform: Dr. Howard-Brown has more than 20 years of experience working as an educator and assisting high schools in their reform efforts. She has served as a teacher, a coach, and an instructional leader in assisting staff in understanding and using local, state, and national data along with state and federal legislation to assess, monitor, and improve student achievement. Through her work, she has provided direct on-site technical assistance to administration and teachers in the areas of curriculum development, climate and culture, collaborative planning, and utilizing best instructional practices for increasing student learning. 
• Turning Around Low-Performing Schools: Over the past 12 years, Dr. Howard-Brown has worked in collaboration with the South Carolina Department of Education in providing direct support to low-performing schools and was instrumental in the development of the Palmetto Priority Schools/Turnaround initiative for the state. The initiative created a partnership zone for state-identified low-performing schools working to meet state and federal accountability standards. These schools received support through state-identified teams and private- and public-sector partnerships.
• College and Career Readiness: Dr. Howard-Brown has worked as a school counselor and is currently an adjunct professor in the area of counselor education. She prepares future counselors in developing the necessary skills to assist their students in becoming college and career ready. She works to train graduate students in transforming counseling programs that assist all students, are data-driven, and are held accountable for student success.

Experience
Dr. Howard-Brown joined SEDL in November 2010. From 2006 to 2010, she was a coordinator and then interim director at the South Carolina Department of Education. Previously, she served for 4 years as an on-site curriculum specialist working for the state department with low-performing schools. In addition, she has more than 5 years of experience as a graduate-level adjunct professor in counselor education and has served as a high school and middle school administrator, school counselor, and mathematics teacher in South Carolina.

Education
Dr. Howard-Brown holds a BS in mathematics and an MEd in counselor education, from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. In addition, she received an MEd and EdS in educational leadership and an EdD in curriculum and instruction from the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina. She also has earned endorsements in South Carolina as a math teacher, a school counselor, an elementary and secondary principal, and a superintendent.

SEDL Publications

• Boosting North Carolina School Turnaround Efforts (2016)
• College- and Career-Readiness Standards and Assessment Resource List (Summer 2016) (2016)
• College- and Career-Readiness Standards and Assessment Resource List (Winter 2015–16) (2016)
• SECC Information Request: Best Practices for Alternative Charter School Programs and Charter School Programs (2016)
• SECC Information Request: Technologies and Best Practices for Teaching K–12 Students With Visual Impairments (2016)
• College- and Career-Readiness Standards and Assessment Resource List (2015)
• SECC Information Request: Descriptions of State-Developed Alternative Intervention Models for School Improvement Grants in Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, and Texas (2015)
• SECC Information Request: Policies, Programs, and Practices States Use to Differentiate Levels of Intervention and Support for High-Need Schools (2015)
• SECC Information Request: Approaches for Improving High School Graduation Rates of Students with Disabilities in CA, FL, NC, and TX (2014)
• SECC Information Request: Approaches for Improving High School Graduation Rates of Students with Disabilities in DE, KY, MD, and TN (2014)
• SECC Information Request: Grading Practices for Student Report Cards (2014)
• SECC Information Request: Focus School Strategies, Practices, and Achievement (2014)
• SECC Information Request: State Use of Professional Learning Communities (2014)
• SECC Information Request: Support and Strategies for Enriching Achievement of Native American Students (2014)
• SECC Information Request: Support for School Improvement Grant School Districts and Schools (2014)
• SECC Information Request: Sustaining Statewide School Improvement Initiatives (2014)
• SECC Information Request: Best Practices in Increasing Learning Time in School Improvement Grant High Schools (2013)
• SECC Information Request: Closing Consistently Low-Performing Charter Schools (2013)
• SECC Information Request: Common Core State Standards Implementation in Race to the Top States (2013)
• SECC Information Request: Definition of High-Needs Districts Used in Math Science Partnership Request for Proposals (2013)
• SECC Information Request: State Input/Process Standards for Accrediting School Districts (2013)
• SECC Information Request: State Seal of Biliteracy for Proficient High School Graduates (2013)
• SECC Information Request: State Technology Funding to Local Educational Agencies and Schools (2013)
• SECC Information Request: State Uniform Grading Practices (2013)
• SECC Information Request: State Use of Autism Coordinators (2013)
• SECC Information Request: State-Run Virtual Education Programs (2013)
• Supporting Sustainability Efforts in School Turnaround (2013)
• Engaging Diverse Learners Through the Provision of STEM Education Opportunities: Southeast Comprehensive Center Briefing Paper, May 2012 (2012)
• SECC Information Request: Behavioral and School Climate Initiatives to Support High School Students (2012)
• Rapid Response: Flex Quarter Schedules and Extended School Years (2011)
• Southeast Comprehensive Center eBulletin, Volume 5, Number 2: Increasing High School Graduation Rates and Improving College Enrollment for High-Need Students (2011)

Selected External Publications

• Howard, B. (2007). Exploring improvement in poverty-stricken rural schools: The case study of Bethune-Bowman high school (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Dissertation Abstracts International (UMI No. 3296661).

Selected Presentations

• Howard, B. (2011, July). Secondary RtI. Workshop presentation for the South Carolina Department of Education's School Improvement Grant Schools.
• Howard, B. (2011, June). Enabling all students to become college and career ready. Workshop presentation for Francis Marion University Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty.
• Howard, B. (2000–2010). Series of statewide presentations on providing support to low-performing schools, curriculum, instruction and assessment, and rural schools research.