The Southeast Comprehensive Center hosted its second regional forum designed to help state educational leaders address NCLB implementation challenges and plan for the future. This forum was intended for leaders from the Southeast region—Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina.

Participants attended to gain strategies, information, and resources designed for leaders who are working with schools. During this 2.5-day working session, each participant worked in-depth in one of four content strands:

• Leadership I: Enhancing Skills of State Level Staff
  The importance of trust; effective communication; politics, ethics, and leadership in state departments of education; and developing engaging presentations
• Leadership II: Strategic Leadership
  Leading when you are not in charge; data-driven decision making; current issues and emerging research; instructional leadership
  
• Issues in Teacher Quality
  Moving the focus from highly qualified to highly effective; equity in teacher placement; teacher quality in special education; and recruiting, developing, mentoring, and retaining quality teachers
• Middle/High School Reform
  Promising designs for middle/high school reform; adolescent needs in
  middle school; issues in workplace readiness; and understanding adolescent literacy