Katy Anthes, Colorado’s interim education commissioner, has been appointed to serve in the role on a permanent basis.
Anthes had been serving in the interim post since May, when the former commissioner Richard Crandall resigned after four months on the job.
Anthes previously worked as the state education department’s chief of staff.
Michael Hanson, superintendent of the Fresno Unified school district in California, announced he is leaving the system in August. Hanson, who began his tenure in 2005 and helped pull the district back from the brink of bankruptcy and a state takeover, is known for his work strengthening academics in Fresno and in partnership with other districts. The district is now embroiled in a federal investigation of its construction contracts.
Ruth Curran Neild, who has served as delegated director of the federal Institute of Education Sciences since 2015, will leave to become director of the Philadelphia Education Research Consortium on Jan. 17.
Her departure comes as the demand for research, and particularly evidence of effective education interventions, has started to gear up in the wake of new evidence requirements in the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Aaliya Samuel has been named as director of the National Governors Association’s Center for Best Practices Education Division.
Samuel has previously served as a principal, assistant principal, and teacher at elementary schools in Arizona and Florida. She had been serving as interim education director at NGA and prior to that was a program director within the division.
