Miah Daughtery, Anne Bowles, and Michael Lach Join Achieve

Washington, D.C. – December 15, 2016 – Achieve has recently added three new hires to its team, each of whom will increase Achieve’s ability to support states in the implementation of college- and career-ready policies and expectations for all students.

Miah Daughtery, Ed.D. joined Achieve in July 2016 as the Director of English Language Arts (ELA)/Literacy. Miah is responsible for leading the work of ensuring states maintain high college- and career-ready standards for ELA/Literacy and assessment systems that align to those standards. Miah provides guidance to states reviewing and revising their state standards and assessments.

Miah has more than ten years of experience at the classroom, district, and state levels. After graduating from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Miah began her journey as a reading and English teacher in the Detroit Public Schools. From Detroit she moved to the Clark County School District (CCSD) in Las Vegas, NV, where she continued to teach and build an expertise in adult learning, curriculum development, and professional development by serving as a district secondary literacy project facilitator, serving all of the district's middle and high school ELA teachers. After a suite of rich and robust experiences as a district leader, Miah transitioned to the Tennessee Department of Education, where she served as the K-12 Literacy Coordinator. In this capacity, Miah's primary responsibilities included developing systems to ensure content accuracy and alignment for the literacy portion of the state’s TNReady assessment. In 2016, Miah completed her doctoral studies at Vanderbilt's Peabody College, obtaining an Ed.D. in Educational Administration and Public Policy.

Anne Bowles began serving as Achieve’s Director, Special Projects and Initiatives in October 2016. Anne works on strategic and operational planning and implementation and leads special projects that are of critical strategic import to the organization.

Anne first joined Achieve in February 2012, first as a Senior Policy Associate on Achieve’s State Policy and Implementation Support team and then as Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives, where she led Achieve’s Coalition Support Network – a network of 12 state-based advocacy coalitions that support college– and career–ready standards and aligned assessments. Anne came to Achieve most recently from GreatSchools, where she served as Director, Local Engagement. Previously, Anne served as a Policy and Outreach Associate at the Institute for Higher Education Policy, where she managed the day-to-day activities of a coalition of 30 national organizations committed to increasing college access for underserved students, and as a Program Associate with the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), where she co-authored a compendium on the benefits of expanded learning opportunities for older youth. After graduating from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Anne began her career in education through Teach for America as a middle school social studies teacher in New York City.

Michael Lach joined Achieve in November 2016 in the role of Senior Fellow through an agreement with the University of Chicago. In this role, Michael will provide advice, guidance, and support on several initiatives related to Achieve’s efforts to ensure all children graduate from high school ready for college, careers, and citizenship.

Michael serves as the Director of STEM Education Policy and Strategic Initiatives at UChicago STEM Education, a center at the University of Chicago. Previously, he was appointed by Secretary Arne Duncan to lead science and mathematics education efforts at the U. S. Department of Education. Dr. Lach began his professional career teaching high school biology and general science at Alceé Fortier Senior High School in New Orleans in 1990 as a charter member of Teach For America. After 3 years in Louisiana, he joined the national office of Teach For America as Director of Program Design, developing a portfolio based alternative-certification system that was adopted by several states. Returning to the science classroom in 1994 in New York City Public Schools, and then back to Chicago in 1995, he was named one of Radio Shack's Top 100 Technology Teachers, earned National Board Certification, and was named Illinois Physics Teacher of the Year. He has served as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, advising Congressman Vernon Ehlers (R-MI) on science, technology and education issues. He was lead curriculum developer for the Investigations in Environmental Science curriculum developed at the Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools at Northwestern University and published by It’s About Time, Inc. As an administrator with the Chicago Public Schools, he led the district’s instructional improvement efforts in science and mathematics in a variety of roles between 2003 and 2009, ultimately becoming Officer of Teaching and Learning overseeing curriculum and instruction in 600+ schools. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Carleton College, master’s degrees from Columbia University and Northeastern Illinois University, and a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

MEDIA CONTACT: Chad Colby (202) 419-1570, ccolby@achieve.org

Kelly Van Beveren (202) 745-2306, kvanbeveren@achieve.org