University of Oklahoma receives federal grants to support education in region

In many cases, Boni said, that coordination could mean organizing meetings with education officials from multiple states to talk about changes or initiatives each state is adopting.

In other cases, she said, the centers would make sure state education officials have access to the best research regarding education priorities, like making sure students are ready for citizenship, college and careers, improving school leadership and ramping up early childhood education.

Boni said she hopes to see the centers play a major role in states' efforts to overhaul teaching and learning.

“We really want to roll up our sleeves and do the deep, transformational work,” she said. “We have already hit the ground running.”