Regional Education Laboratory Appalachia Co-hosts July 25 Event on Postsecondary Readiness in Rural Communities


Last Updated: May 29, 2016
 

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REL AP (Regional Education Laboratory Appalachia) is co-hosting a July 25 event with REL Mid-Atlantic and REL Northwest on preparing students in rural schools for college and careers. The perspectives of three groups will be integrated into sessions throughout the day: researchers, practitioners, and students.  

Specific topics at the Nashville, TN event include dual enrollment, measuring postsecondary readiness, career and technical education, and challenges rural students face in post-secondary transitions. Researchers will share recent studies on these topics, practitioners from the field will add personal perspectives and promising practices, and student representatives will share their stories and facilitate discussions. A lunchtime policy discussion will feature panelists from higher education, business, career and technical education, and K-12 education, as well as students. 

Keynote speaker, Dr. Aaron Thompson, executive vice president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, will discuss how his background in a rural Appalachian community shaped his life and career trajectory. The day will conclude with a student panel presenting and facilitating a discussion about the need to incorporate student voices into research, policy, and practice on postsecondary readiness. With speakers and panelists from several states representing a variety of constituencies, this event is designed to foster all-encompassing, nuanced discussions informed by many perspectives.

 Administered by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) program works in partnership with school districts, state departments of education, and others to use data and research to improve academic outcomes for students. Fundamentally, the mission of the RELs is to provide support for a more evidence-reliant education system.REL is an network of ten regional laboratories and is administered by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES).  The ten regional labs are: Appalachia, Central, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast & Islands, Northwest, Pacific, Southeast, Southwest and West.

To learn more and register for this event, please visit:
July 25, 2016 Postsecondary Readiness in Rural Communities, Nashville, TN

For more information about the Regional Education Laboratories Program, please go to:
REL Program