Indiana Mathematics Teacher Dale Nowlin
Appointed to National Assessment Governing Board

Math Instructor and Department Chair is One of Seven Members Named by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan

WASHINGTON (September 6, 2011) – Dale Nowlin, a Columbus North High School mathematics teacher, 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.

Nowlin has taught at Columbus North High since 1997 and also serves as the mathematics department chair for North High School and Northside Middle School of the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation. He will serve in the category of "12th-grade teacher" 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 Dale join the Governing Board," said Governing Board Chairman David Driscoll. "His experience as an educator and administrator for more than three 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."

Nowlin is a 35-year teaching veteran who has taught in his home state since 1979 and for Bartholomew Consolidated since 1985. He also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University – Bloomington. Nowlin has won numerous awards and grants over the years, including the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching as both a national and state awardee, and the Lilly Endowment Teacher Creativity Grant. He is a graduate of Alma College in Michigan and has an advanced degree from Michigan State University.

Nowlin 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.

Nowlin 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 Nowlin, 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 extend to 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
• Terry Holliday, Lexington, Ky., chief state school officer: Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Education
• 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

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