High Schools That Work (HSTW), an initiative of the Southern Regional Education Board, is the nation's first large scale effort to combine challenging academic courses and modern career technical studies to raise the achievement of high school students. It began in 1987 with 28 sites in 13 states. There are now more than 1100 sites in 32 states. The mission of HSTW is to create a culture of high expectations and continuous improvement in high schools with career technical programs.