State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has appointed Ryan Smith as the new chair of his statewide Closing the Achievement Gap Initiative. Smith’s work will align with the initiative’s goals of addressing ways to close the achievement gap and improving educational outcomes for public education students.

“Ryan is a leader in the efforts to close the achievement gap, and specifically in how we can use policy, advocacy and research to make change,” Thurmond said. “I can’t think of anyone better to lead these efforts for our state, which is one of the priorities of my office.”

Thurmond launched the Closing the Achievement Gap initiative with a forum in February focusing on schools throughout the state that have shown success in closing the gap for students of color. He followed that with a second forum in April to address recruitment and retention of teachers of color. Smith’s appointment is the next step in assuring the efforts continue with the highest priority and level of expertise, Thurmond said.

Smith is currently chief external officer of partnership for Los Angeles Schools, an organization whose goal is to improve achievement for students throughout the LAUSD. For information, visit cde.ca.gov.