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Over the past 4 years, the Region 14 Comprehensive Center (R14CC) has provided capacity-building support to the state education agencies (SEAs) in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas via technical assistance (TA), a process through which R14CC designs and implements projects that build SEA capacity to carry out evidence-based policies and programs. In order to deliver solutions and empower SEAs by forging a sustainable digital landscape that serves them and their constituents long after their direct involvement, R14CC has implemented best practices from the fields of user-centered design, service design, user interface design, and user experience (UX) design as a TA tool. The following case study outlines how R14CC used the UX Design Roadmap to improve the inventory design of mental health resources across the state into an online, searchable, and interactive database.

Mental health has a substantial effect on student academic performance. As the need for mental health resources in Texas significantly outpaces availability and access, schools are often the best location for students to connect with necessary mental health services and community support. The Texas Education Agency and its partners, including the Region 14 Comprehensive Center, are building statewide school-based mental health supports to ensure students, families, schools, and districts can access the tools and resources necessary to effectively address mental and behavioral health needs. This report presents a collective approach to building safe and supportive schools for all Texas students.

The Region 14 Comprehensive Center (R14CC) is one of 20 technical assistance centers supported under the U.S. Department of Education's Comprehensive Centers program from 2019 to 2024. The center works to drive educational change in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas so that every student has the opportunity to thrive. Collaborative, customized, adaptable support is provided at no cost to state education agencies throughout the country. R14CC designs and implement projects in the states within the region that build state education agency capacity to carry out evidence-based policies and programs that focus on: (1) Improving the quality of instruction; (2) Increasing access to effective teachers and school leaders; and (3) Closing education achievement gaps. This resource was originally created in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) as a tool to assist school districts in their financial practices to meet the needs of the students they serve. Through a series of engagements with ADE leadership and school district officials throughout the state, R14CC assisted ADE leadership in the development of six fiscal health management principles and related expectations to support each principle. The principles and expectations were originally designed to align with Arkansas laws, rules, and policies. The material within this resource has been modified to provide more generalized guidance that can be adapted and built upon by other states and districts as the principles apply in a local context. However, these principles are intended to guide districts' fiscal administration, decision-making, and strategic planning to educate students and can provide a solid foundation for state- or local-level guidance as it relates to fiscal health operations and ensuring an efficient, successful outcome for the students served.

This topical brief describes the teacher shortage challenge and summarizes how states supported by the Region 5 and Region 14 Comprehensive Centers are addressing the challenge. It also describes the federal government response to the teacher shortage challenge and provides examples of Registered Teacher Apprenticeship Programs being implemented in states in Regions 5 and 14.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, state education leaders have been developing numerous innovative approaches to supporting high school students who are pursuing career pathways and preparing them for successful outcomes beyond secondary education. This topical brief summarizes state needs and strategies related to supporting and promoting career pathways in two Comprehensive Centers (CC): Region 5 (Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia) and Region 14 (Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas).

Region 14 Comprehensive Center and the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) are collaboratively implementing projects to address high leverage problems such as student access to effective educators, supporting schools serving specific student populations, and building school district capacity to design school models aligned to parent choice. This profile provides a summary of these selected projects and an overview of 2021-2022 state education statistics for Arkansas including: (1) Percentage of Students with National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Proficiency; (2) State Education at a Glance; (3) Percentage of Students by Race; (4) Other Student Characteristics; and (5) Pupil/Teacher Ratio.

Region 14 Comprehensive Center and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) are collaboratively implementing projects to address high leverage problems such as instructional leadership professional development, school-based mental health supports, and evidence-based reading instruction. This profile provides a summary of these selected projects and an overview of 2021-2022 state education statistics for Texas including: (1) Percentage of Students with National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Proficiency; (2) State Education at a Glance; (3) Percentage of Students by Race; (4) Other Student Characteristics; and (5) Pupil/Teacher Ratio.