Dr. Joseph J. Wise
Chief Education Officer
In February 2008, Dr. Joseph J. Wise, former superintendent of the nation’s 20th largest public-school system, became Chief Education Officer for EdisonLearning. In this role, Dr. Wise is responsible for the direction and management of the company’s overall education programs and will serve as the head of the Content, Teaching and Leadership Centers of Excellence.
Dr. Joseph Wise served as Superintendent of the Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, Florida from 2005 to 2007. Prior to that, he was superintendent of the largest school district in Delaware, the Christina School District in Wilmington.
In Jacksonville, Dr. Wise led achievement gains across the board, enjoying particular success designing systems to improve learning among children of color. His doctoral dissertation was an analysis of how best to recruit and retain African-American teachers in urban public school systems.
In addition to improving learning rates among elementary students and children of color, Dr. Wise successfully tackled the vexing, sometimes neglected challenge of improving high-school achievement rates. He led the adoption of Florida’s most rigorous high school graduation requirements while also increasing the high-school graduation rate. His initiatives produced an impressive 34% jump, in just one year, in the number of students scoring well on AP tests – including a 52% jump among African-American children.
Dr. Wise’s many successes stemmed in large measure from his ability to work closely with fellow-public educators. He successfully negotiated the district’s first-ever multi-year contract with its teachers, in part, by using innovative business best practices. Typically, he converted the district to a self-pay insurance system to help finance increased compensation for teachers and principals.
Dr. Wise’s knowledge of business best practices comes from first-hand experience. From 1998 to 2002, he was Chairman and CEO of eSchool Solutions, Inc., an education technology company in Orlando, Florida. He has also served in key management and organizational development roles in one of the best-known brands in the entertainment business, Walt Disney World Co.