Dr. Mary Canole retired from the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE) in June of 2008 after serving as the Director of the Office of Progressive Support and Intervention. This office was formed to support and monitor schools and districts categorized as “In Need of Improvement” by both NCLB and Rhode Island Law for School Accountability. Previously, Mary served as the Superintendent of Newport Public Schools in Rhode Island for four years and was successful in moving the Newport district out of the “In Need of Improvement” status. Before becoming Superintendent, Mary spent four years as the Director of Instruction and Grants for Newport Schools and seven years as the Director/Principal of the Newport Area Career and Technical Center. Mary taught at both the middle school and high school levels in other urban and suburban schools in Rhode Island. She received a Milken Educator Award in 1997. In all, Mary spent thirty-two years in public education. Mary Canole received her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Johnson & Wales University in 1999. Her dissertation was titled “District Strategic Planning – Is there evidence of Strategic Thinking and Acting?” In addition, she holds a Masters of Education Administration from Rhode Island College, a Masters of Science from University of Rhode Island, and a Bachelor of Science from Syracuse University. Mary is a 1997 Milken award recipient. Since leaving RIDE, Mary continued some of her former SEA leadership initiatives related to the newly adopted Rhode Island Leadership Standards. She led a Rhode Island superintendents’ network called the Advanced Leadership Development Seminar (ALDS) for six years and served as a consultant to the Council of Chief State School Officers until 2016. She was a member of their Education Workforce team and coordinated the Wallace Foundation Leadership Communication Grant for the Council. This Wallace Foundation work included work with six large urban districts specific to the Principal Pipeline Initiative – Leader and Teacher Evaluation and Professional Learning. In addition, Mary was a member of the Steering Committee for the ISLLC Refresh Projects and facilitated the development of the Model Principal Supervisor Standards in 2015. Mary served as a school leadership consultant and project group facilitator for the New York City Leadership Academy from 2014-2018. She led and facilitated the Leader Evaluation project group for The Wallace Foundation Principal Pipeline Initiative. From 2017-2020 Mary served as a school leadership consultant and project developer/facilitator for the Rhode Island School Principals Association (RIASP) New Principal Mentoring/Coaching Program. Mary may be contacted at mary.canole@cox.net or by phone at (401) 864-9501.
1975 Syracuse University, B.A.
