Beth Howard-Brown

Beth Howard-Brown is a principal technical assistance consultant at AIR. She is currently supporting the early warning and intervention and monitoring system project and the AIR social and emotional learning solutions group. Dr. Howard-Brown has over 25 years of experience leading and managing local, state and federal initiatives. She served as director of the Southeast Comprehensive at AIR, managing client relationships with key leadership and staff of state education agencies throughout the Southeast. She has over 15 years of experience in the provision of technical assistance and capacity building expertise throughout the Southeast. She works directly in the provision of technical assistance in the areas of college and career readiness, rural education, school improvement, school choice and educator effectiveness.

Dr. Howard-Brown has significant experience developing and implementing school turnaround initiatives. She served as interim director and coordinator of the South Carolina Department of Education’s state turnaround initiative, the Palmetto Priority Schools. In this effort, she served as the office ombudsman, intra-agency coordinator, and program coordinator of initiatives with multiple state and national organizations. She was also directly responsible for the review of schools’ continuous improvement plans, needs assessments, professional development and state level resource allocations. Prior to leading the Palmetto Priority School initiative, Dr. Howard-Brown served as an education associate with the South Carolina Department of Education training principals, and other identified personnel in increasing student achievement.

Dr. Howard-Brown also oversaw AIR’s partnership with the REL Southeast at Florida State University which focused on school choice in the state of Georgia. In this work, she served as the research alliance and partnership manager and worked directly with the provision of training, coaching, and technical support to charter schools in the state. She has led the development and implementation of regional institutes in collaboration with other comprehensive centers, and the U.S. Department of Education, and has facilitated sessions for state education agencies, regional comprehensive centers and the U.S. Department of Education.

Dr. Howard-Brown’s experience also includes conducting research in the rural education space, which was the focus of her dissertation. She works as an adjunct professor at South Carolina State University in the Counselor Education department teaching counseling courses in psychological appraisal, group counseling, and supervision. Dr. Howard-Brown is a certified teacher, and a member of the International Coaching Federation, with 27 years of experience working as an educator and administrator. She has served as a teacher, a coach, school counselor and an instructional leader in assisting stakeholders in understanding and using local, state, and national data along with state and federal legislation to assess, monitor, and improve student achievement. Through her work, she has provided direct on-site technical assistance to district- and school-level administration and teachers in the areas of curriculum development, climate and culture, collaborative planning, and utilizing best instructional practices for increasing student learning.