Gerald W. Bracey this month will become the new executive director of the Alliance for Curriculum Reform, replacing Gordon Cawelti. Mr. Bracey, an education researcher and writer, is perhaps best known for his annual report on the condition of public education, featured in the journal Phi Delta Kappan. The A.C.R., based in Arlington, Va., is an umbrella group of more than 30 major education associations nationwide. ... President Clinton has announced that he will nominate Thomas R. Bloom to become the inspector general of the U.S. Education Department. Mr. Bloom is the chief financial officer and an assistant secretary for administration at the U.S. Commerce Department.
Carole L. Kennedy, the principal of New Haven Elementary School in Columbia, Mo., has been chosen the 1995-96 president-elect of the National Association of Elementary School Principals. She will assume her duties as president next July, replacing the 1995-96 president, Dominic A. Palazzolo, the principal of Yake Elementary School in Woodhaven, Mich. ... Gov. William F. Weld of Massachusetts has named Michael Sentance as the state’s acting secretary of education. He replaces Piedad F. Robertson, who is leaving this month. Mr. Sentance is an undersecretary in the state education department.
The Department of Defense Education Activity has selected Maurice B. Howard as the chief of its education division. The D.O.D. Education Activity Dependents Schools includes two major school systems serving 134,000 children of military and civilian personnel. Mr. Howard served as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Baltimore public schools. ... U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley has received the James Bryant Conant Award for his work in his federal post, in which he has called for more parental involvement and higher standards for students, pushed for improvement of the Title I program, and served as the driving force behind the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. The award, considered one of the most prestigious tributes in education, was presented last month by the Education Commission of the States.