Meeting of the Board of Regents | September 2003

SUMMARY:

Dr. James E. (Gene) Bottoms, Senior Vice President of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), has been invited to speak with the Board at the September 2003 meeting concerning standards-based reform. He will address urban leadership, middle-level education, and the role of career and technical education in education reform. Attached is a brief biography for Dr. Bottoms. Dr. Bottoms has served as Director of the SREB High Schools That Work initiative since 1987. New York is a member state of that initiative that has fourteen sites.

Dr. Bottoms is a nationally recognized expert in education reform and has served as a teacher, principal, and guidance counselor in Georgia public schools. He was the 1995 recipient of the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education. This award is presented annually to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge through education.

Attachment

James E. (Gene) Bottoms

Dr. Gene Bottoms has served as Director of the Southern Regional Education Board's High Schools That Work initiative since 1987. High Schools That Work is the largest effort in America to improve high schools for career-bound students. The program involves over 1,100 high schools in 26 states. Numerous other states and school districts throughout the nation are adopting the HSTW goals and key practices as a way to improve high school for all youth, especially career-bound youth. In July 1997, Dr. Bottoms was promoted to Senior Vice President of the Southern Regional Education Board, reflecting his role in and SREB�s interest in and commitment to the High Schools That Work initiative.

Prior to joining the Southern Regional Education Board, Dr. Bottoms served as Executive Director of the American Vocational Association, where he emphasized academics as an integral part of vocational education at the secondary and postsecondary levels. He served as Director of Educational Improvement for the Georgia Department of Education for 13 years, overseeing improvement efforts in both vocational and academic education.

In 1995, Secretary of Education Richard Riley appointed Dr. Bottoms to the National Educational Research Policy and Priorities Board, which is charged with forging a national consensus with respect to a long-term agenda for educational research, development and dissemination.

In September 1995, Dr. Bottoms received the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education. This award is presented annually to individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge through education.

In 2000, Dr. Bottoms was appointed to the National Commission on the Senior Year.

Dr. Bottoms has been a local school teacher, principal and guidance counselor. He is a native of Georgia and a product of its public school system.

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