The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Background

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development was created from the merger during March 1943 of the Society for Curriculum Study and the National Education Association (NEA)’s Department of Supervisors and Directors of Instruction. Later in February 1985, the Association was registered as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Alexandria, Virginia. ^{1 2}

Shortly after its founding, the Association held its first annual conference in 1946 in St. Louis, Missouri and in the next two decades adopted several defining resolutions. For instance, the association, in “response to ‘educational McCarthyism,’” adopted a resolution “condemning censorship in schools”; following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education, issued another “calling for all public schools to be ‘open and free to the children of all people’”; and in 1959 endorsed one recognizing “the value of equity,” cultural diversity, and multicultural education. ¹

In 1972, the Association became formally independent from the NEA and endorsed the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. Later in 1981, the Association adopted a resolution opposing private-school vouchers. ³

Advocacy

Through its publications and conferences, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development advocates for policies and education strategies informed by identity politics and aligned with critical race theory. ^{4 5} For instance, in April 2019 the Association published a post on its blog by critical race theory activist Dena Simmons, “Why We Can’t Afford Whitewashed Social-Emotional Learning,” which argues that the relationship between a student’s own identities, such as his or her race, gender, and so on, should be considered and accommodated by educators and that racism against ethnic minorities and discrimination against certain gender identities are prevalent problems throughout the education system. ⁶

People

Sandy Husk

Sandy Husk is the interim central executive officer and executive director of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Previously, Husk was a member of the Association’s board of directors, a chief executive officer of the left-of-center education nonprofit Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) Center; a superintendent of the Salem-Keizer Public Schools in Oregon; a superintendent of the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System in Clarksville, Tennessee; a superintendent of the Mapleton Public Schools in Colorado; and the executive director of learning services in Westminster, Colorado. ⁷

Penny Reinart

Penny Reinart is the chief impact officer of ASCD. Previously, Reinart worked as a K-8 educator, and in a leadership capacity at various private-sector education companies, including Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Achieve 3000, Kaplan K12, and Renaissance Learning. ⁸