A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR RELEASE                             Contact:  David W. Thomas    June 6, 1994                                       (202) 401-1579

RILEY NAMES ADEL T. NADEAU AS NEW "PRINCIPAL IN RESIDENCE"

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley today named San Diego school principal Adel T. Nadeau as "principal in residence" at the U.S. Education Department.

In the position, Nadeau will provide a practitioner's viewpoint within the department and be a contact for principals around the country. She will report to Deputy Secretary of Education Madeleine Kunin.

"We make the department more 'user-friendly,'" Riley said, "when we complement our staff with outstanding practicing educators and administrators like Dr. Nadeau. I'm confident she'll provide valuable help as the department works with states, school districts, and schools to promote systemic reform to improve teaching and learning for all students."

"We're delighted to bring the experience of an innovative urban principal into the department," Kunin said. "We will learn from her and she will be an important link with principals around the country."

Nadeau has been a teacher and administrator in San Diego since 1969. She joined San Diego City Schools in 1975 and worked with Tom Payzant, who was superintendent in San Diego for 10 years before joining the Department of Education in 1993 as assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education.

Since 1987 Nadeau has been principal at Linda Vista Elementary School, a linguistically diverse urban school of 1,000 students. She has led successful initiatives in schoolwide restructuring, shared decision-making, and comprehensive reform to improve teaching and learning. During her seven years as principal, the school received major grants from RJR Nabisco and Apple Schools of Tomorrow.

Nadeau also has served as a professor in the Department of Language Policies in Education Graduate Programs at San Diego State University (SDSU).

From 1984 to 1987 she was principal of Longfellow Spanish Immersion Magnet School, where she designed and implemented an innovative bilingual education program. She was vice principal at Miller Elementary (1983-1984) and vice principal at Linda Vista (1982-1983).

Nadeau also served as a curriculum consultant for bilingual education in San Diego City Schools and as a bilingual teacher training specialist and consultant for SDSU, the California State Department of Education, and other school districts in California.

She was selected as California Administrator of the Year for elementary schools in 1991, and, under her leadership, Linda Vista was selected in 1993 as a California Distinguished School.

Nadeau holds a Ph.D. in language development from Claremont Graduate School, SDSU; master's degrees in educational administration and in social sciences from SDSU and U.S. International University, respectively; and a bachelor's degree in psychology from SDSU.