Veteran basketball referee Ed Hightower has spent many years officiating the actions of others. That description fits his new job pretty well, too.
Mr. Hightower is the new superintendent of schools in Edwardsville, Ill.
The 44-year-old administrator is currently the assistant superintendent of instructional services in the Alton, Ill., district, where he has also worked as an assistant principal and principal.
He also refereed in seven straight National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournaments, ending in 1994, and officiated at the Goodwill Games that year in Russia. In 1992 he received the Naismith Award as the nation’s top collegiate referee.
Mr. Hightower’s two-year contract with the Edwardsville district in southwestern Illinois begins in July. That, he says, will force him to cut back on the number of games he referees so that he can devote enough time to the district’s 6,000 students.
Mr. Hightower will be replacing Robert Stuart, who is retiring.
The Council for American Private Education has named Joseph W. McTighe its new executive director. He will replace Joyce G. McCray, who has been the director since 1989. Ms. McCray is stepping down to launch a consulting service for private education. Mr. McTighe is currently the executive secretary for the New York State Council of Catholic School Superintendents. He will assume his new position in July. CAPE is a Washington-based coalition of 14 national organizations serving private elementary and secondary schools.
The National Science Teachers Association has elected Norm Lederman as its director of teacher education. Mr. Lederman, an associate professor of science and math education at Oregon State University in Corvallis, said that during his two-year term he hopes to use the position to improve the preparation of science teachers nationwide. The NSTA is a 60,000-member organization based in Arlington, Va. ... Alida Mesrop has been appointed the president of Audrey Cohen College in New York City. Ms. Mesrop is the second president of the college, replacing its founding president, Audrey Cohen, who died March 10.
--Adrienne D. Coles
acoles@epe.org
