Attracting more than 100 participants from Bullock, Dallas, Greene, Lowndes, Macon, Perry, Pickens, Selma City, and Wilcox county school systems, the Black Belt Superintendents' Coalition, Best Practices Conference provided professional development through concurrent sessions and forums while sharing the best practices used in their school districts. The conference was hosted and coordinated by the Truman Pierce Institute, Auburn University on March 1, 2007 at the RSA Plaza in Montgomery, Alabama. The conference was funded through an Auburn University Outreach Scholarship grant awarded to Dr. Cindy Reed, Director, Truman Pierce Institute.  The participants included superintendents, central office administrators, principals and assistant principals, and classroom teachers.

An outcome of Governor Riley's Black Belt Action Commission, the Black Belt Superintendents' Coalition was established to enhance student achievement, attendance, provide strategies to improve and enhance the quality of life in the Black Belt, support the efforts of the Black Belt Superintendents, provide professional development aimed at closing the achievement gap, and establish a critical friends network to assist in self-assessment and continuous improvement. The coalition is developing quality educational opportunities and sharing resources in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration. Dr. Reed, along with others, was instrumental in assisting the group's efforts to organize. Regular meetings have been held by coalition members since 2004, and Dr. Reed hosted and facilitated a two-day strategic planning session for coalition members in Summer 2005 to help identify areas of collaboration and develop action steps to reach the group's goals.  The Black Belt Superintendents' Coalition has become a voice for advocacy in the community, throughout the state, and to a lesser degree, to the state legislature.  There are fifteen school systems represented in the Coalition.  Recently, the Coalition established non-profit status and the group has plans to reach its goals of enhancing student achievement by becoming more skillful in using data-driven decision making to close the achievement gap in this region.

Dr. Fannie Major-McKenzie, Superintendent, Dallas County Schools, and President of the Black Belt Superintendents' Coalition, Dr. Cindy Reed, Director, Truman Pierce Institute and Associate Professor in educational leadership, and Karen Tatum, Administrative Assistant, Macon County Schools planned the conference and welcomed participants. After the welcome and introductions, participants attended concurrent sessions. Topics of  the concurrent sessions included "Critical Friends", "Utilizing Reading and Math Intervention Strategies",  "Alabama High School Graduation Exam Power Scheduling, Differentiating Instruction: Tiering", " Becoming a Change Agent", and "Effective Reading Strategies to Impact Literacy in Grades 7-12." Speakers represented many of the school systems. Dr. Reed taught a session on Becoming Critical Friends.

Dr. Frances Kochan, Dean, College of Education, was the keynote speaker.  Her address, entitled "Leadership in Our Changing World", highlighted the history of educational leadership, the effects of changing policy, and how schools have changed.  She emphasized the need for educators to become more focused and passionate about the field. She encouraged the participants to recruit teachers to the field and be enthusiastic about the effort.

This was the first Best Practices Conference for the Black Belt Superintendents' Coalition. The Truman Pierce Institute and coalition leaders are planning to host another Best Practices Conference during summer 2007.