Del Archuleta Education BIG Chair Molzen-Corbin & Associates | Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce
Dr. Carey Wright, the Maryland superintendent of schools and former Mississippi superintendent, was the keynote speaker at the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce's Education Matters Luncheon on May 7. The event, held at Embassy Suites, drew around 330 attendees.
Dr. Wright is recognized for her role in the "Mississippi Miracle," a significant turnaround in K-12 education within the state. She shared insights from her experience with New Mexico's education, political, and business leaders.
Introduced by Dr. Gabriella Durán Blakey, APS superintendent, Dr. Wright spoke about her efforts to improve educational outcomes in Mississippi. She emphasized that change takes time: “People often refer to my work as the ‘Mississippi Miracle,’ but I like to refer to it as the ‘Mississippi Marathon.’ It’s not something that happens overnight,” she said.
Dr. Wright recounted how Mississippi improved its National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) scores over a decade. In 2011, Mississippi ranked low in reading and math but had climbed significantly by 2024.
She attributed this success to several factors including legislative support and strategic planning: “What (my team) did was work with the legislature very closely,” she said. Her team focused on laws and policies necessary for improving teaching and learning.
A key component was investing in early childhood programs: “By the time I left in 2022, we were bringing in more than $6 million into early quality childhood programs around the state,” she noted.
Dr. Wright also highlighted initiatives such as literacy-based Promotion Act and hiring high-quality literacy coaches: “The first thing that we did was we hired high-quality literacy coaches,” she explained.
She addressed challenges related to poverty by focusing on maximizing control over school hours: “You’ve got control over the school day... you’ve got to make that day the best day ever.”
Wright concluded by discussing ongoing reforms in Maryland related to reading science and pre-K through grade three policy implementation.
Del Esparza, GACC chairman, thanked Dr. Wright for sharing her experiences and insights into successful educational reform strategies.
The next Chamber luncheon will feature Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller on June 17.
