Education Renewal Zone

The Education Renewal Zone (ERZ), created by legislation in 2003, is a broad-based P-20 initiative assigned the task of concentrating and coordinating available resources to improve school performance and student achievement. The ERZ, serving as a bridge between P-12 schools and Higher Education, strives to positively impact both present and future educators. Currently, there are six ERZ Offices in Arkansas located at four-year universities with teacher education programs (Arkansas State University, Henderson State University, Southern Arkansas University, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, and University of Arkansas at Monticello). However, these six ERZs provide statewide support for all public schools, education cooperatives, and higher education institutions in Arkansas.

The Arkansas State University Office of ERZ has been able to serve its K-12 partner schools by providing an opportunity for collaboration among institutions of higher education, education service cooperatives, public schools, local businesses, parents, and community members. All parties are focused on school improvement and systemic educational reform.

• Bridge the gap between two-year college partners, educator preparation programs (EPP), education service cooperatives and school districts by focusing on high-quality collaborative educator preparation.
• Provide High-Quality Professional Development (HQPD) opportunities for pre-service and in-service educators to engage with High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM).
• Collaborate with districts, cooperatives, and higher education institutions to provide high-quality professional growth opportunities for pre-service and in-service teachers and EPP faculty.
• Provide districts, schools and EPPs with exposure to and training on evidence-based practices backed by student-focused research and demonstrate improvement in student growth and achievement.
• Build the capacity of ERZ team members and Arkansas Department of Education.