Biography
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On July 1, 2004, The School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida appointed Dr. Rudy Crew as Superintendent of the nation’s fourth-largest school district. Dr. Crew is a lifelong educator whose career has spanned from the classroom to the chancellorship of the nation's largest school district, New York City Public Schools, where he served from 1995-1999.

As an education leader, Dr. Crew has demonstrated the courage it takes to make the difficult choices to implement the changes needed for realizing the vision of educational excellence for all students. He began his career as a teacher in Worcester, Massachusetts. Though he has climbed the administrative ranks, Dr. Crew has always remained a teacher at heart and in practice, often stepping back into the classroom to teach at the elementary through university level.

Since Dr. Crew took the helm of Miami-Dade County Public Schools in 2004, he has worked closely with a gamut of stakeholders to craft a strategic plan that has set a clear and compelling vision and direction for the District. Under his leadership, the District is progressing dramatically on several fronts.

Dr. Crew is transforming Miami-Dade through such innovations as The Parent Academy, the School Improvement Zone, and Secondary School Reform initiative. On the horizon is the Education Council of International Cities (ECIC), which will focus on identifying international benchmarks for a world-class education, considering not only the academic outlook but the economic implications as well. Among the highlights are rising student achievement levels, higher academic and conduct standards, and dramatically reduced overcrowding, including a 91 percent decrease in the student-station deficit. This success has been acknowledged by the Broad Foundation which has recognized the District as a 2006 and 2007 Broad Prize for Urban Education finalist, and the system is now viewed as a model for other districts across the nation.
                                                                                                                                               
Prior to his appointment in Miami-Dade, Dr. Crew served as director of district reform initiatives at the Stupski Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation created in 1996 to support the improvement of public education. In that role, Dr. Crew led a team that supported selected school districts in comprehensive systems improvement.

Before joining the Stupski Foundation, Dr. Crew served as executive director of the Institute for K-12 Leadership, a partnership of the University of Washington in Seattle and WestEd, based in San Francisco. Under his direction, the Institute served educators and their colleagues as a community of support in which ideas and initiatives were exchanged, evaluated, and aggregated for use in their work to close the achievement gap that separates this nation’s minority and underserved students from their higher achieving counterparts.

As chancellor of New York City Public Schools, Dr. Crew led a number of reforms, including adoption of curriculum standards for all schools, elimination of tenure for principals, and introduction of school-based budgeting. He was instrumental in closing failing schools and replacing failing educators. Dr. Crew established the Math and Science Institute, an after-school and Saturday program to help poor black and Latino students boost their academic performance. He created a Superintendents’ and Principals’ Institute to cultivate and nurture school leadership. Dr. Crew’s guiding principle in his work as an educator has always been to provide the means by which all students can achieve high standards.

Dr. Crew is a nationally-acclaimed educator and author. His recent publication, Only Connect: The Way to Save Our Schools, is guiding a public discussion. Dr. Crew has received many honors, including the 2008 AASA National Superintendent of the Year; the Florida Association of Partners in Education Superintendent’s Award (2007); the Spirit of Excellence Award from the Minority Development & Empowerment, Inc. (2007); the Vann Miller Award for Outstanding Educational Administrator presented by the Illinois Association of School Administrators (2003); the Living the Dream Award presented by New York Governor George Pataki (1997); and the Arthur Ashe Leadership Award (1996). Dr. Crew is a member of the American Association of School Administrators, and he serves on several boards and task forces including the Carnegie Foundation’s Commission on Mathematics and Science Education, Al Shanker Institute, USC Rossier School of Education Board of Councilors, the National Superintendents Roundtable, Public Education Network, the National Research Council’s Committee on Scientific Principles of Education Research, and the Education Task Force.  Dr. Crew is an associate in education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he has been part of the Urban Superintendent Program since 1992.

Dr. Crew’s commitment to community involvement is evidenced through his participation with the United Way, the Miami Coalition for Safe and Drug Free Community, Take Stock in Children, and The Homeless Trust. His commitment to the arts is strong and longstanding. In New York, he served on the Boards of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the New York Philharmonic. In Miami-Dade, Dr. Crew is collaborating with community leaders to expand students’ exposure to cultural institutions and events.

Dr. Crew’s ability to connect with youth has made him a popular figure among students in the classrooms he visits. A believer in participatory teaching, he enjoys interacting with students and sharing in their challenges and successes. Dr. Crew has long believed in passing on to others the opportunities that have been afforded him throughout his childhood and his adult life. He credits his father with encouraging him to excel. Dr. Crew was the first male in his family to go to college.

A native of Poughkeepsie, New York, Dr. Crew holds a doctor of education degree in educational administration and a master of education degree in urban education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in management from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.


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