SEDL President Wes Hoover Selectedas NEKIA's Board Chair

Washington, DC—Wes Hoover, the president and CEO of the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL), has been selected to serve as chair of the board of directors of the National Education Knowledge Industry Association (NEKIA).

NEKIA's 22-member board selected Hoover for the one-year appointment. He succeeds Bernice Stafford, vice president of school strategies and evaluations for PLATO Learning, Inc., of Bloomington, Minn.

"I am pleased to lead NEKIA's board as the association and its members work to ensure education knowledge is utilized to the benefit of children and classroom teachers," Hoover said. "I am proud I can serve the association during this dynamic time." 

Hoover has served as SEDL's president and CEO since 1996. Previously he was a senior vice president for the lab and led the Eisenhower Southwest Consortium for the Improvement of Mathematics and Science Teaching as well as the Office of Institutional Assessment and Evaluation. SEDL is based in Austin, Texas.

Hoover has published numerous articles and papers on his research in early reading, bilingual reading, and language acquisition. He has held administrative and advisory positions with a variety of research and service organizations, including the American Educational Research Association, the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Science and Mathematics Education, and the National Center for Community Education. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Trinity University in San Antonio, and a Ph.D. in human experimental psychology (with a specialization in reading and psycholinguistics) from The University of Texas at Austin.

"As a nationally recognized leader in the field of education knowledge, Wes brings to NEKIA an in-depth understanding of our emerging industry and its positive impact on the nation's schools," said NEKIA President Jim Kohlmoos. "The association's staff looks forward to working closely with him." 

Founded in 1997, NEKIA is a non-partisan, non-profit trade association representing the emerging knowledge industry. NEKIA's mission is to advance the development and use of research-based knowledge for the improvement of all children. The association's members are committed to finding new and better ways to support and expand high-quality education research, development, dissemination, technical assistance, and evaluation at the federal, regional, state, tribal, and local levels.