Carey M. Wright, Ed.D., was appointed State Superintendent of Schools by the Maryland State Board of Education in April 2024. A native Marylander, she previously served as State Superintendent of Education in Mississippi. She is credited with elevating Mississippi to become a national leader in literacy instruction and outcomes during her nine-year term from 2013 to 2022.
As the longest-serving Mississippi state superintendent, Dr. Wright led the implementation of successful education reforms that resulted in significant annual gains in English Language Arts and Mathematics proficiency. These initiatives increased literacy skills in pre-K through grade 3, pushed student achievement on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to improve at a faster rate than nearly all other states, and achieved a higher graduation rate than the national average. During her tenure, Mississippi’s ranking for NAEP fourth-grade reading rose from 50th to 21st in the nation. Additionally, economically disadvantaged fourth-graders achieved higher NAEP reading and math scores than their peers, across racial and ethnic lines, both regionally and nationally.
Prior to her leadership in Mississippi, Dr. Wright was chief academic officer for District of Columbia Public Schools as well as deputy chief for the Office of Teaching and Learning. Dr. Wright also served as associate superintendent for the Office of Special Education and Student Services for Montgomery County Public Schools. A product of Prince George’s County Public Schools, she began her teaching career there and held teaching and administrative roles in the Howard County Public School System.
