The Riley Institute’s Center for Education Policy and Leadership supports and recognizes highly effective and innovative approaches to public education that drive better and more equitable outcomes for all the people of South Carolina and beyond. Browse these tabs to discover
- leadership development opportunities for civics educators and an afterschool and summer learning professionals;
- how to engage with us as research and evaluation partners to build capacity and strengthen your programming;
- our policy-relevant research on public education;
- and ways to recognize and honor programs and people that are supporting and advancing public education in our state.
Two Riley Institute leadership development opportunities—the White-Riley-Peterson (WRP) Policy Fellowship and South Carolina Afterschool Leaders Empowered (SCALE) Fellowship—teach afterschool professionals across the state and nation how to advance programming through public policy and capacity building.
Public school educators teaching social studies and civics may be interested in Teachers of Government, a competitive summer program that takes place in Washington, D.C., and focuses on how to make these subjects more compelling and relevant in our state’s middle and high schools.
The Riley Institute’s Research and Strategic Learning Group promotes evidence-informed practices and policies and supports entities that serve children and families across South Carolina. We provide a range of services, with special research focus on public Montessori education; personalized, competency-based learning; innovative models in public education; and supporting public school teachers and students.
Learn more about consulting services
We offer a range of publications on critical issues facing South Carolina public education today. Our blog offers an overview of some of the most pressing contemporary challenges in public education and possible evidence-based solutions, while our A People’s Movement book chronicles the historic passage of Dick Riley’s landmark Education Improvement Act.
We also offer peer-reviewed research based on multi-year studies in several specialized areas including project-based learning, personalized competency-based learning, and public Montessori programs.
The Riley Institute offers statewide and regional awards recognizing the best programs and people in the public education space. Our annual Dick and Tunky Riley WhatWorksSC Award honors an outstanding evidence-based program that is positively impacting public education in South Carolina. Our Upstate Diversity Leadership Awards recognize schools and students working to support diversity and equity in their local communities.
Op-Ed: Professionalizing afterschool programs worth the investment
Amy Keely, director of our SCALE Fellowship, writes an opinion piece for The Post and Courier. In it, she points to the need for more investment in afterschool and expanded learning programs and describes how SCALE and events like PowerUp! support the professionalization of expanded learning initiatives. “Investment in afterschool programming, including at a high level as a collective profession, can translate to partnerships, collaboration and program development that benefit afterschool staff, school districts and, above all, children and families,” Keely writes.
Our Latest Blogs
-
Evidence Matters | Discovering Estonia: Lessons from a Nation Deeply Committed to Education -
Evidence Matters | Two Paths, a Shared Future: What the U.S. and Estonia Can Learn From Each Other – Part II
-
Evidence Matters | Two Paths, a Shared Future: What the U.S. and Estonia Can Learn From Each Other – Part I
-
Evidence Matters: Rediscovering Childhood Through Estonia’s Whole-Child Approach to Education
-
Evidence Matters: Exploring the Baltic Tiger
-
Evidence Matters: Is the Summer Slide a Slippery Slope?
Our Public Education Team
Kelly Gregory
Brooke Culclasure
Amy Keely
Sara Beanblossom
Cathy Stevens
David Fleming
