Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon announced appointments to the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB). Secretary McMahon reappointed Tennessee Representative Mark White to serve as Chair of the Board. Secretary McMahon also appointed several new members, including Arkansas Secretary of Education Jacob Oliva, Mississippi high school principal Jacob Dykes, Colorado math teacher Mark Miller, Missouri reading expert Dr. Melia Franklin, Arizona charter school network president Michael Way, and New Jersey 4th grade teacher Lauren Archer.
NAGB oversees the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) – otherwise known as “The Nation’s Report Card.” The Board sets NAEP achievement levels and determines which grades and subjects to assess and what content to include in assessments.
“I am proud to appoint these education professionals, from state elected officials to local principals and educators, who will leverage their considerable experience and expertise helping to lead the Nation’s Report Card,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. “As Secretary of Education, my job is to empower state and local leaders who know what is best for students-and to free them from Washington’s heavy hand. Future NAEP assessments are essential to help guide critical improvements in K-12 education outcomes and to usher in an education renaissance.”
About the NAGB Chair:
Tennessee State Rep. Mark White is state representative for District 83, which covers part of Shelby County near Memphis. He has served in the General Assembly since 2010 and chairs the House Education Administration Committee. Rep. White started his career as a science teacher and later served as the principal of a K-8 school before becoming a small-business owner. He co-founded the Global Children’s Educational Foundation, which provides financial assistance and educational opportunities to impoverished children in Panama. White has received numerous awards and recognition for his legislative work, including the Tennessee Community Organizations’ Legislator of the Year award in 2016 and the Tennessee CASA Association’s Legislator of the Year award in 2012.
About the NAGB Appointees:
Jacob Oliva was appointed to serve as Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Education in 2023. He had a long career at the Florida Department of Education, where he served as executive vice-chancellor of the Public Schools Division in 2017 and became chancellor in 2019, serving more than 2.8 million students in approximately 3,600 Florida public schools. In 2021, he was promoted to senior chancellor, and his responsibilities expanded to include early learning, school choice programs, school safety, and school accountability. Secretary Oliva is a graduate of Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida. He began his educational career as an elementary teacher for students with special needs. He later served as an elementary and high school principal, as an assistant superintendent and as superintendent of Flagler County Schools.
Mark Miller teaches eighth-grade math and is the chair of the Math Department at Cheyenne Mountain Junior High in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He previously served one term on NAGB, from 2018-2022. He earned his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Sioux Falls and his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Azusa Pacific University. He has served on the U.S. Department of Education’s Regional Education Laboratory for the Central Region (2024-25), and on the Regional Advisory Committee (Fall 2023). Mr. Miller currently serves on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and previously served as a member of the Colorado Measures of Academic Success Range Finding Committee and Math Data Review Committee. He and his wife are the parents of four children.
Michael Way is the Division President at Charter One, an education organization that provides administrative and management services to charter, private, and district schools. This includes management assistance with operations, curriculum, accounting, marketing, human resources, information technology, and compliance. He is also the founder and partner at Denali Law, PLLC specializing in education law, estate & business planning, property law, environmental conservation, and tax-exempt bond financing. Mr. Way founded Way Construction Development in 2015. He earned a bachelor’s degree in construction management from Arizona State University and an MBA and a law degree from the University of Wyoming. Mr. Way was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2024. He serves as Vice Chair of the House Commerce Committee. He and his wife have four children – two boys and two girls.
Dr. Melia Franklin is the Senior Associate at EdMetric, LLC, a Missouri-based educational assessment firm. Dr. Franklin previously worked at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, where she served as Director of English Language Arts and World Languages, as Assistant Director of Assessment, and an Area Supervisor of Instruction. From 2021-23, she was the superintendent of Sturgeon Missouri R-V Schools where she managed a $10 million budget. From 2016-21, she was the Executive Director of Secondary Learning at Ozark School District, where she oversaw curriculum development for grades 6-12. Dr. Franklin taught English for 13 years at Marceline R-V School District in grades 6-12. Dr. Franklin earned her bachelor’s degree in German and English from Drake University and her master’s degree in curriculum from the University of Missouri. She received her doctorate in education from the University of Nebraska.
Jacob Dykes is the principal of Ocean Springs High School in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, his alma mater. He previously served seven years as Assistant Principal at Ocean Springs and three years as principal of Pecan Park K-3 Elementary School. Before becoming a school administrator, Principal Dykes taught biology and agriculture and was an assistant football coach. He received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in biology and a master’s degree in secondary education from William Cary University. He earned his educational doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi. Under Principal Dykes’s leadership, Ocean Springs High School was named a Mississippi Blue Ribbon School and the best high school in Mississippi by U.S. News & World Report.
Lauren Archer is an experienced elementary civics educator and social studies and literacy specialist in Westfield Public Schools in New Jersey. She has extensive experience in curriculum design and assessment development, having served as the lead author of five district curriculum revisions with lessons, assessments, and instructional resources shared with educators at Kean University and Monmouth University. She was a member of the New Jersey Department of Education Amistad Commission Less Plan Committee. She received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Villanova University and her master’s degree in teaching from Monmouth University.