Reed to end tenure as superintendent of public instruction

Longest-serving, first female chief state school officer ‘ready to embrace new challenges’

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, May 2, 2008
Media Contacts:
Jason Bearce, 317.232.6618, jbearce@doe.in.gov
Lynelle A. Miller, 317.232.6614, lamiller@doe.in.gov

Moving forward

Reed is weighing offers from the business and higher education communities, but affirmed that she fully intends to serve out her term through the end of this year. She expects to take full advantage of her remaining time as state superintendent to bring several pending initiatives to fruition.

Reed’s focus during the months ahead will include:

• Introducing new core academic standards to help teachers prioritize instruction around the most essential learning concepts.
• Guiding the upcoming statewide rollout of new computer-based teaching tools in an effort to address student needs sooner.
• Advocating sustained state support of full-day kindergarten for all Indiana children.
• Continuing her year-long Learn Green, Live Green initiative that supports local school communities in discovering practical, cost-effective ways to model environmentally-responsible behavior both inside and outside of the classroom.

Looking back

Reed has shaped a number of major educational reform initiatives during her four terms as chief executive officer of the Indiana Department of Education and chairperson of the Indiana State Board of Education. Hallmarks of Reed’s service as Indiana’s 36th superintendent of public instruction feature:

• Building consensus – Co-founded Indiana’s Education Roundtable in 1998 along with then-Governor Frank O’Bannon in an effort to unite leaders from education, government, business and communities to set and to maintain a vision for educational change and student success in Indiana. The Roundtable is widely recognized as a national model for bipartisan collaboration and educational change.
   
  
• Raising expectations – Worked diligently to set the right expectations for what Hoosier students should know and be able to do. Indiana’s K-12 academic standards are now consistently ranked among the very best in the nation for outlining clear and rigorous student learning goals at each grade level. Similarly, Indiana’s Core 40 curriculum – first established in 1994 and now a high school graduation requirement – has been endorsed by the business and higher education communities as an essential set of academic courses for ensuring students are prepared for college and workforce success.
   
• Measuring progress – Led the nation in developing a robust system for gauging educational progress through ongoing student assessments (ISTEP+) and school accountability measures. Indiana’s school accountability system under Public Law 221 became state law nearly three years before similar measures were adopted at the federal level under the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. Likewise, Indiana was among the first 10 states to earn federal approval for creating a valid assessment system that measures student progress against state standards.
   
• Empowering change – Provided unprecedented access and transparency to school performance information in an effort to support educators, parents, policymakers and the public in making data-driven decisions that increase student achievement. In addition to annual school report cards published in local newspapers, the Indiana Department of Education Web site provides on-demand data year-round, including customizable comparisons of local schools based on a variety of characteristics.
   
• Strengthening connections (locally and globally) – Remained closely attuned to the educational challenges, concerns and accomplishments of local communities through regular visits to schools in all 92 counties during each of her terms. At the same time, Reed has worked to strengthen global ties in Indiana schools in order to better equip Hoosier students to interact and compete with their international peers. Under her leadership, Indiana has formed historic educational exchange partnerships with other nations and expanded opportunities for the state’s students and teachers to study languages, cultures and instructional strategies from around the world.

Prior to becoming state superintendent, Reed served as a local school superintendent, assistant superintendent, principal, assistant principal and teacher at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Reed earned her B.A. from Hanover College, her M.A. from Ball State University, and her Ed.D. from Ball State. She has completed post-master’s and postdoctoral work at Indiana University, Purdue University, Indiana State University, University of Southern Indiana, Butler University, Earlham College, University of Alaska, Florida Atlantic University, University of Scranton, University of Virginia at Charlottesville, the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and Oxford University in England.

Photos and additional details related to Reed’s professional accomplishments, honors and recognitions are available online at www.doe.in.gov/reed.

Attachment:

• Accomplishments
• 16 Years of Service
• Photo