Former state Education Secretary Long to work with CSBA on student achievement issues

Dave Long and Associates, the education consulting firm established by former California Secretary of Education Dave Long, has entered into an agreement with CSBA to work on student achievement initiatives, announced CSBA Executive Director Scott P. Plotkin.

“I am delighted that Secretary Long has joined the CSBA team tackling student achievement issues,” said Plotkin. “His decades of experience in public education, both in California and elsewhere, will be an enormous asset as we bolster our ongoing efforts to help governance teams close the achievement gaps in California schools.”

In his capacity as a consultant to CSBA, Long will work on a variety of initiatives and projects, including collaboration with CSBA staff on a comprehensive plan for the association to engage and support its members as they strive to close achievement gaps at their schools and in their school districts and county offices of education. Long will also work with CSBA to assess the Program Improvement environment under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and opportunities for CSBA to give further support to local governance teams in this regard. Other areas of collaboration will include curriculum review and development for CSBA’s Masters in Governance program and providing governance consulting services to districts and county offices.

“I could not be more excited about this opportunity to work with CSBA,” said Long. “My work in education—at the school, district, county office and state levels—has always been rooted in the themes on which CSBA’s vision and mission are based. I look forward to helping the association reach that day when the words in that vision—a state where the futures of all children are driven by their aspirations, not bounded by their circumstances—become a reality.”

Long has more than 40 years of experience in education, including 21 years teaching in the classroom. Prior to his appointment as secretary of Education in March 2007, Long served as the superintendent of schools for Riverside County, a position to which he was elected in 1998. As county superintendent, Long had oversight over 23 school districts serving more than 400,000 students. He previously was the superintendent for the Lake Elsinore Unified School District from 1992 to 1999, and he held the same position in the Banning Unified School District from 1989 to 1992. Long began his career in education in the state of Iowa, where he served in a variety of positions: assistant superintendent, principal, associate principal, athletic director, coach and teacher.

Long has served on the Board of Directors and as president of the California County Superintendents Educational Association, and as chair of the Federal Education Safe and Drug Free Schools and Community Advisory Committee. In addition, Long has been deeply involved in his community, serving as a commissioner for the First 5 Commission of Riverside and chair of the United Way Educational Countywide.

Long earned a doctorate degree in educational administration from Iowa State University, a master’s degree in physical education from Missouri State College and a Bachelor of Arts degree in physical education from the University of Northern Iowa.