Ms. Caroline Novak

Board Member
A+ Education Partnership

Caroline is president and co-founder of A+ Education Partnership, dedicated to offering an excellent education to all Alabama children no matter where they live. Founded in 1991, A+ is a statewide non-profit that partners with education, business and community groups to advance policies and practices to ensure that every child graduates from high school prepared for success in college, work and citizenship.

Initially A+ focused on advocacy for equitable funding, organizing schools to serve students and employing research-based strategies. In 1998 A+ began efforts to not just talk about what needs to be done but to demonstrate that Alabama students and teachers can succeed with the right mix of high standards, supports for educators and students, and accountability for school performance. Caroline partnered with the state to develop and then expand the Alabama Reading Initiative, an effort that led to dramatic improvements in 4th grade National Assessment of Education Progress reading scores especially for black and Special Education students.

A+ established two direct service programs. The Alabama Best Practices Center facilitates learning for networks of teachers and school leaders across the state resulting in improved teaching and learning. In 2008, A+ College Ready was established which has led the nation in the rate of improvement in participation and success in Advanced Placement math, science and English courses.

A+ focuses on policies to improve teaching and learning and most recently worked with the Business and Education Alliance and the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama to develop recommendations for recruiting, rewarding and retaining highly effective educators. Caroline helped establish a coalition of 4 organizations, the Alabama School Readiness Alliance, to promote expansion of high quality pre-k. She also chairs a statewide coalition of 54 organizations supporting college and career readiness for all students, Alabama GRIT -Graduate Ready. Impact Tomorrow. She currently serves on the State Department of Education Assessment Task Force.

Caroline serves on the Southern Regional Education Board and is active in networks such as Policy Innovators in Education and the Columbia Group which recently released the report Accelerating the Pace: The Future of Education in the American South.

She serves on the boards of the Business Council of Alabama and Sterling Bank and is a former Chairman of Leadership Alabama and Leadership Montgomery. Her honors include recognition from Policy Innovators in Education, Samford University’s Medallion award, and Mercedes Benz AL. A native of Montgomery, Caroline is a product of public schools and graduated from Sidney Lanier in 1965 and earned a B.A. in economics from Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia in 1969.