Chief Academic Officers
Read more about chief academic officers (CAOs), who manage districts' approaches to instruction and curriculum
Student Achievement
Leader To Learn From
An Unorthodox Plan to Pay Students to Write Curriculum Is Raising Achievement
For Kate Maxlow, the director of curriculum in Hampton City, Va., engaging students and improving academic achievement go hand in hand.
Curriculum
Q&A
Why One District Hired Its Students to Review Curricula
Virginia's Hampton City school district pays a cadre of student interns to give feedback on curriculum.
Equity & Diversity
Leader To Learn From
As Students, They Felt Disconnected. As Leaders, They Champion Equity
The superintendent and chief academic officer in Hartford, Conn., are creating a system that centers the needs of students and families.
Curriculum
Leader To Learn From
Taking an Unapologetic Approach to Curriculum Overhaul
An academic leader at a charter school has overhauled curriculum—and proved that instructional rigor and anti-racism can co-exist.
Personalized Learning
Opinion
Helping CAOs Make the Shift to Personalized Learning
Explore the difference between managed instruction and next generation learning, and learn ten elements of comprehensive solutions to the challenge of helping chief academic officers reframe their work.
English-Language Learners
Leader To Learn From
A 'Perpetual Fighter' Looking Out for All Kids
Deputy Superintendent Susana Cordova’s unwavering commitment to equity for all students has led to major improvements for English-learners in Denver’s public schools. She is recognized as a 2018 Leader To Learn From.
Classroom Technology
District Technology, Academic Leaders Learning to Work Together
Effective purchasing, policymaking, and external communications are all dependent on good CAO-CTO relationships, said panelists at CoSN's annual conference.
IT Infrastructure & Management
CAOs and CTOs Ramp Up on Collaboration
In many K-12 systems, the jobs of chief academic officers and chief technology officers are increasingly intertwined as technology has become essential to teaching and learning.
Special Report
New Roles for a New Era
Articles in this special report explore the evolving roles of chief academic officers and chief technology officers in five school systems in California, Georgia, Iowa, Oregon, and New York.
Special Report
The Chief Academic Officer's Evolving Role
This special report examines the challenges CAOs are facing in school districts across the country and how they are working to improve academics in the age of common standards and digital teaching and learning. It features findings from an exclusive survey of district leaders.
School & District Management
From Our Research Center
Survey Data: Chief Academic Officers Wear Many Hats
In addition to overseeing curriculum and instruction, district officials indicated that they also have other leadership duties.
School & District Management
From Our Research Center
Survey Data: The Chief Academic Officer's Chain of Command
Most district officials who serve as chief academic officers answer directly to their school systems’ superintendents, a survey shows.
School & District Management
Vickie Murillo: Rebuilding Academics in a Struggling District
The CAO and accountability officer for the Kansas City, Mo., schools talks about setting goals and monitoring progress for a district that lost its accreditation in 2012.
School & District Management
Michelle N. Pierre-Farid: Working to Turn Students Into Scholars
The CAO of the Cleveland public schools is trying to set higher academic expectations for a district with a high school graduation rate of 64 percent.