Deborah S. Delisle, the assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, will leave her post at the U.S. Department of Education as of July 1 to take over as the executive director and CEO of ASCD, a 150,000-member international education organization that provides professional development, advocates policy shifts, and publishes books and other resources for educators and administrators.
Ms. Delisle, who was confirmed to her current post in 2012, is a former Ohio state schools chief who played an integral role in bringing a state chief’s voice to the Education Department. She is credited with creating an office of state support, an attempt to build new relationships with state education agencies in administering and monitoring federal grant programs.
In an email to department employees, Ms. Delisle said the process of choosing a nominee as her replacement is underway.
–Lauren Camera
Robert Hammond, the commissioner of education in Colorado, has announced that he will retire from his position July 1.
He became the state’s deputy commissioner in 2008 after working in administration in the Wichita, Kan., district and in Colorado’s Boulder Valley school system. He was appointed commissioner by the state school board in 2011.
Robert Avossa, the superintendent of the Fulton County, Ga., district, has been named the superintendent of the Palm Beach County school system in Florida, effective in June.
Mr. Avossa, who has led the Fulton County schools since June 2011, replaces E. Wayne Gent, who announced that he would not seek to renew his contract.