Doris Hicks NEW ORLEANS- Doris Hicks, a New Orleans elementary school principal who gained nationwide recognition for rebuilding her school after Hurricane Katrina, was one of five leaders nationwide appointed to the National Assessment Governing Board to serve a four-year term, announced by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Hicks began her new term on October 1, 2009, in the category of “elementary principal” and will serve on the Board’s reporting and dissemination committee. She will help set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly known as The Nation’s Report Card. The assessment makes objective information on student performance available to policymakers and the public at the national, state, and local levels, and has served an important role in evaluating the condition and progress of American education since 1969.

“We’re delighted to welcome Doris to the Board. Her expertise and fresh insight will be valuable assets for our work,” said Cornelia S. Orr, the Board’s executive director.

Hicks is principal and CEO of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Charter School for Science and Technology in New Orleans. After her school was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hicks was instrumental in rebuilding King-the first public school to open in the city’s devastated Lower Ninth Ward.

Hicks has contributed to the New Orleans public school system in numerous roles over the years, serving as an elementary school principal, area superintendent, teacher, and reading consultant. She has also served as president of the Principal’s Association of New Orleans Public Schools, the Louisiana Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and the New Orleans Council of the International Reading Association.