Rebecca Kockler

Rebecca Kockler is the Executive Director of Reading Reimagined within AERDF and CEO andFounder of Illuminate Literacy, research and design projects focused on unlocking the greatreader in every child. Rebecca formed an unshakeable belief in the reading potential ofstudents of color and those who experience poverty--and found the inspiration to act on thisbelief—after decades working closely with students, families, and teachers at the school,district, and state level. Previously, Rebecca was the Assistant Superintendent of Academics atthe Louisiana Department of Education, where she created a comprehensive, nationallyrecognized academic support model that gave teachers, principals, and districts the tools andsupports necessary to align assessments, curriculum, and teacher evaluation for greater impact.She led a complete redesign of Louisiana’s teaching and learning system, building nationallyvalidated English language arts curricula and assessments, implementing a widely recognizedcurricular and assessment review process, founding an advanced principal fellowship program,and training a cohort of over 5,000 teacher leaders each year. As a result of these efforts,students in Louisiana were the fastest-improving nationally in Advanced Placement andachieved record-high rates in high school graduation, college enrollment, state scholarshipeligibility, postsecondary credentialing, and ACT scores.