Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday Appointed to National Assessment Governing Board

Kentucky State Schools Chief is One of Seven Members 

Named by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan 

Terry Holliday, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education, has been appointed to serve a four-year term on the National Assessment Governing Board, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced today. Six other Board members—four of them also new appointees—were announced as well. Their terms begin October 1, 2011.

Holliday, who has been commissioner since 2009, will serve in the category of “chief state school officer” on the Governing Board, which sets policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as The Nation’s Report Card. NAEP is the country’s only nationally representative assessment of student achievement in various subjects, including mathematics, reading, writing and science.

“We are delighted to have Terry join the Governing Board,” said Governing Board Chairman David P. Driscoll. “His experience as an educator and administrator for almost four decades will be a major asset in efforts to oversee The Nation’s Report Card—the most valuable benchmark we have for monitoring student progress in the U.S.”

Holliday was selected as Kentucky’s fifth education commissioner in 2009. He previously served as superintendent of the 20,000-student Iredell-Statesville school district, which garnered him the 2009 North Carolina Superintendent of the Year Award and the 2008 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The Baldrige Award was created by an act of Congress in 1987 to recognize organizations with long-term improvement in quality and productivity. Holliday has held many positions in school systems since 1972, including director of accountability, school principal, and band director. Holliday has also served on numerous committees and boards on a local and national level, including the Governor’s Task Force for Transforming Education in Kentucky.

Holliday joins the Board as it is overseeing several major developments. They include a new computer-based Technology and Engineering Literacy assessment that will be administered in 2014, research studies to be released in 2012 on 12th-grade preparedness for higher education and job training, and a new ad hoc committee on engaging parents with the goal of increasing student performance and closing achievement gaps.

Congress established the 26-member Governing Board in 1988 to oversee NAEP, which makes objective information on student performance available to policymakers and the public at the national, state and local levels, and has served an important role in evaluating the condition and progress of American education since 1969. Among many other duties, the Governing Board determines subjects to be tested and the content and achievement levels for each test, and works to inform the public about NAEP results.

Holliday joins a group of governors, state legislators, local and state school officials, educators and researchers, business representatives and members of the general public who make up the Board. In addition to Holliday, others appointed by Secretary Duncan today are listed below along with their hometown, category of appointment, and official title. The term for each member is slated to end on September 30, 2015.

• Andrés Alonso, Baltimore, local school superintendent: Chief Executive Officer of the Baltimore City Public Schools 
• Lou Fabrizio, Raleigh, N.C., testing and measurement expert: Data, Research and Federal Policy Director for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction; Board member since 2007 
• Dale Nowlin, Columbus, Ind., 12th-grade teacher: Teacher at Columbus North High School 
• Susan Pimentel, Hanover, N.H., curriculum specialist: Educational Consultant; Board member since 2007 
• B. Fielding Rolston, Kingsport, Tenn., state school board member: Chairman of the Tennessee State Board of Education 
• Cary Sneider, Portland, Ore., curriculum specialist: Associate Research Professor at Portland State University