For Release: Nov. 13, 2019

Contact: Stephaan Harris | (202) 357-7504 | stephaan.harris@ed.gov

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has appointed a local school superintendent, a business leader, a state board of education member, two chief state school officers, and two national education research and policy experts to four-year terms on the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees the only continuing, nationally representative evaluation of U.S. students’ knowledge.

The Governing Board is a nonpartisan body that works independently from the U.S. Department of Education to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as The Nation’s Report Card. NAEP provides objective information on student performance in various subjects and allows comparisons of student achievement among states, large urban districts, and various student groups. The 26-member Governing Board is responsible for deciding which subjects NAEP assesses, determining the assessments’ content, setting achievement levels that describe student performance, and pursuing new ways to make NAEP results meaningful to the public. 

“It is a privilege to welcome this diverse and esteemed group of leaders to the National Assessment Governing Board this year. Their collective expertise will be a tremendous asset to the Board as it continues the important work of measuring student achievement in the United States,” Secretary DeVos said. “The troubling results in this year’s Nation’s Report Card show our nation has a long way to go in closing the achievement gap and ensuring all students have access to an education that unlocks their full potential.”

The Governing Board appointees announced today include six new Board members and one reappointed member—Miami-Dade County School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. The appointees’ terms officially began on Oct. 1, 2019 and will end on Sept. 30, 2023. Secretary DeVos will appoint three more members to the Governing Board for the 2019-2023 term: a curriculum specialist, general public representative, and a twelfth-grade teacher.

The Governing Board members appointed and the roles they represent on the Board are:

• Alberto Carvalho, Local School Superintendent: Carvalho joined the Governing Board in 2015. He leads the nation’s fourth-largest school system as superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS). During his tenure, M-DCPS has become one of the nation’s highest-performing urban school systems, receiving systemwide accreditation from AdvancEd in 2014.
• Frank Edelblut, Chief State School Officer: Edelblut is the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Education. In his role, he serves on a number of boards, including as a trustee for the University System of New Hampshire, as an ex-officio trustee for the Community College System of New Hampshire, and as a member of the New Hampshire Higher Education Commission. Edelblut previously was a Republican member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
• Eric Hanushek, Testing & Measurement Expert: Hanushek is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University in Stanford, Calif. Hanushek is a recognized leader in the economic analysis of education issues and has written numerous widely cited studies on the effects of class- size reduction, school accountability, teacher effectiveness, and other topics.
• Reginald McGregor, Business Representative: McGregor is the manager of engineering employee development and STEM outreach in the Research & Technology Strategy Group at Rolls-Royce Corporation in Indianapolis. He is also the president of the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township Board of Education. 
• Martin West, State School Board Member: West is a member of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and editor-in-chief of Education Next. He is also deputy director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard’s Kennedy School.
• Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst, Curriculum Specialist: Whitehurst is the former director of the Brown Center on Education Policy and former senior fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, where he conducted influential research on the impacts of curriculum materials on student achievement. As the founding director of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education, Whitehurst is widely acknowledged to have had a transforming effect on the rigor and relevance of education research.
• Carey Wright, Chief State School Officer: Wright is the state superintendent of education for Mississippi. Under her leadership, Mississippi has initiated education reforms that have resulted in unprecedented academic success and rising student achievement. Quality Counts recognized Mississippi in 2018 as one of the five most improved states in the nation.

“We are thrilled to welcome these new members to the National Assessment Governing Board, where they will join an exceptional group of leaders with a strong tradition of serving the nation and their communities and a strong commitment to improving the nation’s understanding of student progress,” said Lesley Muldoon, executive director of the National Assessment Governing Board.

Download the PDF version of the release here.

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The National Assessment Governing Board is an independent, nonpartisan board whose members include governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators, business representatives and members of the general public. Congress created the 26-member Governing Board in 1988 to set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress. For more information about the Governing Board, visit www.nagb.gov