College Administration
Dean

James Meza, Jr.

Dean and Professor, Educational Leadership, Counseling, & Foundations

March 19, 2008
NPR interviews Dean Meza and charter school personnel. Click here for the story.

Dr. James Meza, Jr., Dean and Professor of Educational Leadership at the College of Education and Human Development at the University of New Orleans, provides leadership for all faculty and academic programs and oversees administrative services for more than 3,000 students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs. Jim Meza’s background includes state and national experience in policy development and education reform. He has served as the Executive Director of the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), the chief policy-making body for PK-12 education in Louisiana.  He also has served as the Interim State Superintendent of Education for the State of Louisiana and was the first educational leader to be appointed to such a position following a constitutional amendment. For several years before becoming dean of the college, Dr. Meza served as the Chair of the UNO Department of Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Foundations.

At the national level, he was the founding Chair of the National Policy Board for the Accelerated Schools Project at the University of Connecticut.  During the last 10 years, he has conducted research nationally on comprehensive school reform in urban settings. This experience became the major theme of more than 40 refereed journal articles and book chapters. In addition, he was able to secure more than $30 million to further his research focusing school reform for children of poverty and charter schools.

Dr. Meza spearheaded UNO’s takeover of Pierre A. Capdau, a failing school in Orleans Parish and redefined the role of universities by assuming responsibility for the academic outcomes of kindergarten through twelfth grades students in public schools. Currently the college is managing and providing technical assistance for four charter schools. As a result of the early successes of the school takeover initiative the U.S. Congress has awarded Dr. Meza $4 million to advance his work. The UNO College of Education and Human Development received a $900,000 competitive grant award from the Louisiana Board of Regents to support its PK-12 partnership with its charter schools. In addition, Dr. Meza received $1 million from Capital One to develop a Charter School Center that will support the development of a PK-16 charter school network.  Dr. Meza is the recipient of the Education Innovator of the Year 2005 Award, presented by New Orleans City Business.

Dr. Meza is the founder of UNO Teach Greater New Orleans  (TGNO), a non-traditional "fast track" to teacher certification, in order to address the critical shortage of teachers in the metro area’s school districts. The program recruits high quality mid-career professionals who have a passion and ability to work with high poverty children in schools. Since the inception of the program three years ago, TGNO has placed in Orleans and Jefferson Parish urban schools more than 200 teachers highly qualified in the critical areas of math, science, special education, and middle schools.  TGNO has made a significant contribution to UNO's " A+ Teacher Education Program" rating by the Louisiana Board of Regents. In August of 2008, under Dean Meza's leadership, the College of Education and Human Development was awarded continued accreditation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Louisiana Board of Regents.

Education

B.S., Loyola University of New Orleans; Business Administration, 1970

M.Ed., Nicholls State University; Educational Administration, 1975

Ed.D., University of New Orleans; Educational Administration, 1981

External Links

A Headstart for Kids (Gambit)

New Orleans Turnaround Team (Biz News)

WDSU Meza Capdau LEAP

Capdau Takeover Lauded

Capdau News Summary