Biography of Dr. Zollie Stevenson, Jr. Director, Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs

Effective on February 3, 2008, Dr. Zollie Stevenson, Jr. was appointed director of Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs (SASA), formerly Compensatory Education Programs, in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education. The SASA programs office is responsible for the administration of over $14 billion annually in formula and discretionary grants to promote improved achievement in schools that serve low-income children.

In addition to the Title I, Part A program, as director of SASA, Zollie is responsible for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth Program, the Even Start Family Literacy Programs, the Early Reading First Program, the Early Childhood Educator Professional Development Program, Enhanced Assessment Grants, and Programs for Children and Youth Who are Neglected and Delinquent, or At-Risk.

Before his current appointment, Zollie served as Acting Director of SASA. Zollie also served as deputy director of SASA and has also served as SASA’s group leader for standards, assessment and accountability. Before joining SASA, he was the director of research, assessment and evaluation in the Baltimore City (MD) Public Schools. Prior to Baltimore, he served as the research director for the District of Columbia (DCPS) and Charlotte/Mecklenburg public school systems as well as an evaluation research officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He began his career as a regional coordinator for research, testing and accreditation for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

In addition to serving as research director in DCPS, Zollie served as chief of staff for the Center for Systemic Educational Change, which focused on student efficacy, curriculum and instruction, school reform initiatives and professional development and training. For three years he was the District of Columbia’s (DC’s) co-state team leader for Title I with the U.S. Department of Education and held an additional role as deputy director for operations for the National Science Foundation Urban Systemic Initiative grant awarded to DC. His final role in DC was as executive director for educational support services which included managing the school district’s research and planning, school attendance, homeless education, athletics, homebound education program, home schooling liaison, HIV/AIDS education, and comprehensive school health services.

He has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, East Carolina University, the George Washington University, the University of Maryland and Bowie State University where he has taught applied research methods, tests and measurements, development of theoretical frameworks and supervised the writing of doctoral dissertations.

He has published several articles in refereed journals, has authored over 50 evaluation studies and has been active in educational and research focused professional organizations. Zollie earned the BA degree from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, a MS Ed. degree from North Carolina A&T State University (Greensboro), and the Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.