REL Appalachia achieves its mission through the following five core activities:

Assessment of regional education needs involves a thorough, on-going analysis of research, technical assistance and information needs of state and local education policymakers and education practitioners.

Applied research involves conducting studies designed to address educational challenges faced by educational policy makers and practitioners in the region. Support is provided for two types of research.

• Fast response projects that take no longer than twelve months from initiation to reporting of findings. These studies are designed to provide timely response to state and local education decision-makers; and
• Long-term studies that evaluate the efficacy of educational interventions through the use of randomized controlled research methods.

Training and technical assistance includes supporting internships to state and local educational agencies designed to help state and local educators in the region to plan and implement programs under the No Child Left Behind Act and to meet other state education goals.

Coordination with other RELs includes communication about research plans and information sharing across the national REL network.

Dissemination of scientifically valid research findings into reports and publications to inform schools, districts, institutions of higher education, educators, parents, policymakers, and others.