SFUSD Superintendent Named a Commissioner of NCTAF

WASHINGTON - Sept. 8, 2014 - PRLog -- Richard A. Carranza, the superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), has been named a commissioner of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF).

Carranza has been with SFUSD for six years, first as the deputy superintendent, before becoming superintendent in 2012. As superintendent, he has a district-wide focus on teacher capacity building to ensure equitable outcomes for all students. In his advisory role with NCTAF, Carranza will share lessons learned from a district-wide perspective to help guide and shape the Commission’s overall work.

“Richard Carranza will contribute greatly to the Commission’s work to promote innovative practices in teaching and learning,” said Linda Darling-Hammond, NCTAF Commissioner and Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Teaching and Teacher Education at Stanford University. “I have personally worked with Richard in California and I have seen how his district is working to ensure that students routinely encounter well-prepared teachers who work in concert around a thoughtful, high-quality curriculum, and how he is developing teacher leadership as an engine of ongoing improvement.”

The SFUSD has a diverse population of 56,000 students, and 26.5% speak English as a second language. Carranza has been very vocal and determined to close the student achievement gap in his district and has set a priority to direct more attention to disadvantaged students. Through Carranza’s innovative efforts and leadership, the SFUSD has become a key player with the California Office to Reform Education, which is a seven-district collaborative that combines resources and shares learning to implement practices and programs that improve opportunities for students district-wide.

“The work that Richard is doing in San Francisco and across California with teachers and students is remarkable.  We really appreciate his transparency on effective teaching and assessment strategies, improving professional support systems for educators, and ways to share data to improve instruction,” said Melinda George, president of the Commission. “We are honored that he has joined the Commission as a thought leader and that he will provide insight as we grapple with some of the tough issues facing today’s teachers.”

Carranza earned a B.A. in Secondary Education from the University of Arizona and a M.Ed., with distinction, in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. He has also completed doctoral coursework through Northern Arizona University and is currently pursuing an Ed.D degree through Nova Southeastern University in Educational Leadership.

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The National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future (NCTAF) was founded in 1994 as a bipartisan effort to engage education policymakers and practitioners to address the entrenched national challenge of recruiting, developing, and retaining good teachers in order to ensure that all students have access to quality teaching in schools organized for success. For 20 years, NCTAF has worked to drive and inform the national dialogue about the importance of good teaching, especially in hard-to-staff schools. NCTAF’s research and recommendations inform innovations and improvements in teaching quality nationwide, focus attention on the importance of equitable distribution and retention of teachers, and promote promising practices for the development of teachers’ skills and career pathways.