CarolinaCrED tailors solutions to your organization’s needs to address the learning you want and the support you need.
Educators in every role seek continuous improvement but are often limited by cost, inconvenience, and a one-size-fits-all approach to learning. CarolinaCrED delivers a range of customized supports for capacity-building that accelerate opportunities for professional learners and leaders.
- CrED Core: Course & degree programs
- mCrED: Personalized professional learning
- Feature programs: CarolinaCAP & CarolinaTIP
Anchored at South Carolina’s flagship university, CarolinaCrED (formerly Office of Educational Outreach/OEO) has proudly served educators for two decades. Our CrED Core work originated to meet the demand of districts for the traditional building blocks of professional learning: flat-rate courses, customized degree programs, add on certifications, and endorsements. A new menu of mCrED options expands those offerings to keep pace with what districts need: strategies to personalize educator learning without losing alignment with state and district priorities.
CarolinaCrED offers the most comprehensive personalized professional learning experience in the state featuring micro-credentials that address the SCTS 4.0 indicators. A library of content area micro-credential stacks, developed by SC educators for SC educators, continues to expand in content areas (e.g., literacy, mathematics, science, special education) as well as special topics (e.g., bullying; diversity, equity, and inclusion). We also deliver two programs designed to address the state’s persistent educator recruitment and retention challenges: CarolinaCAP and CarolinaTIP.
The Team
Email: vanburen@sc.edu
Cindy Van Buren has been a SC educator since 1988. She has previously served as the Deputy Superintendent for the Division of School Effectiveness for the South Carolina Department of Education, the Chair of the Department of Education at Newberry College, the Director of Teacher Education at Winthrop University, and as a high school administrator and teacher at Rock Hill High School. Since joining the staff in the College of Education at USC in 2015, she has dedicated her work to building and maintaining partnerships that improve the lives of teachers, students, schools and districts in SC.

Email: cookm@mailbox.sc.edu
Marie Cook possesses over 30 years of experience in the field of education. Prior to working at the University of South Carolina, she served as Student Services Coordinator with the Satellite Educational Resources Consortium (SERC). In this role, Marie provided technical and customer service assistance to schools, administrators, teachers and students of partnership members who received instruction through satellite learning. Marie also served as a classroom teacher for over 10 years. She taught business courses at Midlands Technical College and Mansfield Junior College. She served as advisor to students enrolled in FBLA student organization. During her tenure at USC, Marie has been honored with the STAR Award in the College of Education in 2016 and the Outstanding Job Performance Recognition in the College of Education in 2013. Marie enjoys helping educators reach their goals by providing personalized learning opportunities.

Email: sherylh@mailbox.sc.edu
Sheryl Horton serves as the Program Coordinator for Professional Partnerships and has worked for the University of South Carolina for 20 years. Prior to serving in this role, she served as the Student Services Coordinator for the Office of Educational Outreach. Sheryl is gifted at providing customer service assistance to schools, administrators, teachers, and students throughout the state of South Carolina. During her tenure in the College of Education, Sheryl has been honored with the 2013 Hidden Gem Award. She demonstrates a service mentality daily and thrives on helping educators enjoy the benefits of deep partnerships.

Email: triag@mailbox.sc.edu
Tria Grant has been South Carolina Educator since 2003 and is a former elementary and middle school teacher and interventionist. Tria worked as a Teacher-in-Residence and Program Director for the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement (CERRA), where she focused on pre-collegiate services and Induction and Mentoring support. She led educator effectiveness initiatives and support as an education associate at the South Carolina Department of Education and district Evaluation Coordinator. She serves on the Executive Board and is the Director of Education for Hygiene for Humanity. Tria holds a B.S. in Elementary Education and an M.Ed in Educational Leadership from Winthrop University, and an M.Ed in Instructional Design from Western Governors University. She oversees all aspects of CarolinaCAP in her role as Program Director.

Email: skeene@mailbox.sc.edu
Nicole Skeen is a South Carolina educator and coach with a passion for growing teachers through teacher-focused mentoring and support in the clinical application of pedagogical theory and research. Skeen served as a middle school teacher, district instructional coach, district induction coordinator, professional development leader and adjunct instructor at USC before joining the College of Education faculty full-time in June 2017 as the college’s first University Induction Coordinator. She now leads the development and implementation of the university’s Carolina Teacher Induction Program (CarolinaTIP) as its director. CarolinaTIP is a university-based induction program designed to facilitate the continued professional growth of new teachers by providing three additional years of support beyond their degree.

Email: adbadams@mailbox.sc.edu
Angela is a classroom veteran who has taught science, social studies, and literacy to middle schoolers in the Upstate, Lowcountry, and Midlands of South Carolina. Angela is certified in Elementary Education and Middle Level Science as well as being National Board Certified in the area of Early Adolescence: Science. In addition to being a certified SAFE-T Evaluator and a certified NIET 4.0 Mentor, Angela has presented professional development sessions to groups of teachers at the school, district, and state levels.

Email: SCARBROE@mailbox.sc.edu
Elizabeth is a former instructional coach with 17 years of experience in education. She is passionate about building a collaborative culture in schools, equipping teacher leaders, and fostering professional learning and growth. A graduate of the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, Elizabeth is also National Board Certified in Early Adolescence: English Language Arts and has a master’s degree in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. Throughout her career, Elizabeth has supported teachers through learning communities to create opportunities for collaboration and innovation. Through CarolinaCrED, she is excited to continue building teacher capacity and leadership among South Carolina educators.

Email: marti794@mailbox.sc.edu
Stephanie Martin is a seasoned public relations professional with experience in the nonprofit, government, utilities, and higher education industries. Her communication skills have been honed through positions with United Way, the state’s electric cooperative association, and Clemson University youth development programs. She has collaborated to win multiple ADDY awards and a Best of Show from the American Advertising Federation, in addition to several accolades from United Way of America and the Southern Public Relations Federation. Stephanie has also taught in the USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications as an adjunct instructor since 2016. She is working with the CarolinaCrED, CarolinaCAP, and CarolinaTIP programs to tell the many stories of educator successes.

Email: jdedmon@email.sc.edu
Dr. Janet Dedmon has been an educator in the Columbia, SC, area for more than 18 years, serving as a high school Latin teacher, middle school media specialist, and finally, as an instructional technology coach, where she is responsible for technology professional development for teachers districtwide. She is excited to join the CarolinaCAP and CarolinaCrED teams this year as the platform specialist and work to expand access to micro-credentials for personalized professional learning.

How can we help you?
We tailor solutions to your organization’s goals to address the learning you want and the support your team needs.
Partners
CTQ catalyzes efforts to Inform, Inspire, and Innovate.
The most powerful resource for transforming education is the one closest to students: educators who teach and lead within schools every day. We believe the collective capacity of teachers and administrators is a powerful lever for change and improvement. Learn More
Email: abyrd@teachingquality.org
P. Ann Byrd leads a national nonprofit focused on advancing the collective power of teachers and administrators working together to transform the profession. Before joining CTQ in 2006, WIth 38 years in education, Ann spent 13 years teaching high schoolers (English Language Arts and Teacher Cadet) before joining CERRA’s staff for 10 years, the last six as Executive Director. She earned National Board Certification in ELA/AYA (2000/2010) and also served six years as a member of the NBPTS Board of Directors. Ann holds a B.A. in English–Secondary Education and an Ed.D. in curriculum and instruction from the University of South Carolina.

Email: adaughtrey@teachingquality.org
Alesha Daughtrey serves as Exeuctive Director & Partner at CTQ, where her work focuses educator-led change across P20 systems. Since joining the organization in 2009, she has supported more than 50 partnering teams to develop professional learning and support models, design leadership and career pathways for educators, and strategically integrate competency-based learning as a component of both. Alesha holds a Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Duke University and a B.A. in English and secondary education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
