In Focus: Focus On Literacy Ensures Future Success
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Superintendent Ann Blakeney Clark explains her long-term commitment to having every child read at grade level by third grade.
Ann Blakeney Clark made reading on grade level by third grade the North Star of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and the community rallied around it.
A Superintendent’s Long-Term Commitment to Student Literacy
At a time when big urban districts often hire the trendiest name that’s available on a nationwide search, Ann Blakeney Clark’s background offers something different. Ann has spent nearly her entire 33-year career in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Charlotte, NC.
Ann’s journey started as an elementary school teacher of kids with special needs and behavioral disorders. Clark continued working in elementary, junior high, and high schools, all within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg system. Over a fifteen-year span, Ann held numerous upper administrative positions before finally ascending to the role of superintendent.
Ann talked with edCircuit at the AASA‘ superintendents’ conference in New Orleans. She spoke at length about her commitment to literacy as her North Star principle. Ann believes if every child can read at grade level or above by the third grade, it will set them up for success in all subjects moving forward.
It was a compelling conversation with a thought leader who shows dedication and commitment to her district and community.
A superintendent students know
Clark cannot name the superintendent from her own 14 years as a student. “As I think about my journey as a superintendent, I’ve had the advantage of being in the same district for 35 years. I think I am more visible and I have a connection with students beyond just having my name on their diplomas when they leave the district.” She helped bring a student advisor onto the school board “to send a signal to our students that their voice really matters in a very symbolic, but also real way.”
All eyes on students
As superintendent, Clark has kept the focus she was known for, “being really grounded in the focus on students, with a strong belief in the role of the principal.” After 15 years in the district office and time as a principal, “I continue to believe in the principal as the key lever for transformation of a district.”
She has seen 12 superintendents in her career in the district, some of whom were not student-focused, “perhaps because they were trying to extend their contract or they realized they didn’t have the votes. I think I’ve chosen a different pathway in terms of saying, ‘Here’s what I believe is best for kids’ and inviting our board to support that because it is in the best interest of kids.”
Literacy as the North Star
“What I’ve found is that clarity of a focus can make all the difference in the world,” Clark said. “I think we can’t be fearful of putting a stake in the ground and saying, ‘This is what we’ve got to be focused on.’ For me, that was literacy.” Making literacy the North Star raised questions “about ‘What about math? What about science? What about the arts?'” Her answer: students reading on grade level or higher by the end of third grade “is a part of the success in any content area and any discipline. We owe it to our kids to be able to begin to read to learn in the fourth grade, not still be learning to read.”
“That was a risk,” she said. But “our entire community has rallied around literacy,” including the Read Charlotte non-profit. “If you come into Charlotte today and you ask our community what’s important, eight or nine times out of ten, our community members are going to say ‘literacy.'” In her words, “It was a risk but I think it’s been a productive one in terms of really aligning all of our resources in the community around what I believe is most important.”
Inside candidate or national search
School boards always ask, “Is there an internal candidate? Do we need to do a national search?” Charlotte has been well served by superintendents from outside, Clark said, “So I certainly wouldn’t lean one way or the other. But what I would say is I think our most successful superintendents have been those who have been incredibly student-centered.” Those predecessors “were great role models for me as I stepped into this role to really authentically keep the focus on students. They really gave me the courage to continue to do that.”
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