MSCS taps TDOE, Jackson schools vet Jared Myracle to be director of literacy
Amid a push to improve students’ reading scores, Memphis-Shelby County Schools has hired a director of literacy.
MSCS Superintendent Marie Feagins has selected Jared Myracle, Ed.D., for the role. He has almost two decades of experience in the education sector and has spent the bulk of his career in Tennessee. He'll now lead the effort to ensure students are reading and writing proficiently and understanding complicated texts.
“As a longtime leader in this work, Dr. Myracle is guided by a fundamental principle — which I share — that literacy is the foundation of all learning,” Feagins said in a press release. “He is dedicated to achieving ambitious results for kids.”
Jared Myracle's background
According to his LinkedIn page, Myracle began his career in 2007 as a teacher with Weakley County Schools in Northwest Tennessee. In 2008, he became a teacher in the Gibson County Special School District in Trenton, Tennessee; and in 2010, he was made an assistant principal in the district. In 2012, he was named supervisor of instruction, and in 2015, he joined the McNairy County School District in Selmer, Tennessee, where he became assistant director of schools.
He then became director of instructional support with the Nashville-based nonprofit Instruction Partners, before becoming chief academic officer of the Jackson Madison County School System in Jackson, Tennessee. He stepped into the role in 2017 and helped improve student scores. The number of kindergartners scoring above average on a standardized phonics screener doubled during his tenure.
In 2021, Myracle was named senior director of English Language Arts, Literacy, and Humanities with the Tennessee Department of Education, and in 2022, he was named senior director of programs with Impact Florida, a nonprofit focused on improving the quality of classroom instruction in Florida schools.
A Jackson Native, Myracle has Doctor of Education and Master of Education degrees from Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville.
The literacy push
He steps into the MSCS role at a time when the district has placed a major emphasis on helping more students read.
Recently, TDOE released third- and fourth-grade scores for the ELA section of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests; and scores for MSCS students in both grades increased.
According to the state, 26.6% of MSCS third graders scored proficiently or higher on the ELA section, while 28.5% of fourth graders did the same. In the 2022-23 academic year, 23.6% of third graders and 26.7% of fourth graders reached this mark. But the third-grade proficiency rate this year is shy of the 29% target the district had set. By 2030, the district wants the number to be 52%.
To help improve students’ reading abilities, MSCS is placing more than 100 literacy coaches in schools, and Feagins has pledged that all students will read and write every day.
John Klyce covers education and children's issues for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at John.klyce@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Jared Myracle named Memphis-Shelby County Schools director of literacy
