LLRC Speaker: Amanda Alexander (DCPS Chancellor)

Light lunch will be provided. Please RSVP to Jessica Wiking at jwiking@umd.edu.

Amanda Alexander, Interim Chancellor for DC Public Schools

Improving language and literacy outcomes for K-2 Students in DCPS: An overview of the current multi-pronged approach

This year DCPS has embarked upon an ambitious new strategic plan, focused on six bold new goals. One of these goals states that by the 2021-2022 school year, 100% of DCPS K-2 students will be reading on or above grade level. We know that to achieve this goal, the work begins with the district’s youngest learners – The 6,000 three and four year old students who attend DCPS PK programs. DCPS has taken a multi-pronged approach to promoting language and literacy learning for our youngest learners including: Guidance for Schools, Core Instructional Practices/Professional Development for Teachers, and Vertical Alignment. Dr. Amanda Alexander, Interim Chancellor of DCPS, will provide an overview of this strategic plan and also discuss the plan for strategic implementation in a large urban district.

Amanda Alexander is the Interim Chancellor for the District of Columbia Public Schools. Dr. Alexander began her career with DCPS in 1998 as a kindergarten teacher. She later joined New Leaders for New Schools and served as an assistant principal in New York City’s highly acclaimed District 2. She returned to DCPS to serve as a principal at two elementary schools. Her successes led then Chancellor Michelle Rhee to charge Dr. Alexander with the redesign of the structure for principal supervision and the management of a cluster of elementary schools as an instructional superintendent. In 2013, she was asked by Chancellor Kaya Henderson to serve as the Deputy Chief of Schools. Over the course of her time as a central office administrator, Dr. Alexander has also led literacy initiatives and a district-wide taskforce to identify and implement evidenced-based practices to improve student performance. Her efforts in this area have been recognized by the Reading Recovery Council of North America as she is the organization’s 2018 recipient of the Excellence in Literacy Leadership Award. Dr. Alexander has a B.A. in English and a M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from Howard University, a M.S.Ed. in educational leadership from Baruch College, and a Ph.D. in education from American University.