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Words like “accountability” and “standards” might not be the first things that come to mind when thinking about innovation. But for Angela Hinson Quick, they can make a powerful combination.

As deputy chief academic officer for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Quick oversees the development and implementation of the state’s sweeping initiative to redefine curriculum, student assessments and the accountability model for schools. Launched in 2008, the Accountability and Curriculum Reform Effort, or ACRE in shorthand, represents the nation’s first ambitious effort to simultaneously address learning standards under the state’s Standard Course of Study, student assessments and school accountability.

“In moving toward implementation of Common Core State Standards in math and language arts, we’re applying 21st century skills and global standards to bring innovation into our process,” Quick says.

The ACRE initiative is working to create new student tests for grades 3-8 and high school courses that use more open-ended questions, more technology and more real-world applications of what students learn. It’s also providing a new model for measuring school success that gives parents and educators more relevant information about how well schools are preparing students for college, work and adulthood.

Collaboration among the different teams working on ACRE is critical to infusing innovation into the reform. “At the same time we’re writing the new standards, we’re also developing prototypes for new assessments,” Quick says. “Bringing the curriculum and assessment people together in work teams ensures that we’re teaching and testing the right thing.”

That collaborative approach extends to the partnership between DPI and NC New Schools. “We use a lot of NC New Schools educators in our think tanks because of the deep coaching models that they’ve participated in,” Quick says. “We look to NC New Schools schools to pilot new programs because the faculty have highly specialized professional development and they understand what it’s like to be on the cutting edge. They’re more adaptive to change.”

Dana Diesel Wallace, vice president of school development for NC New Schools, works with Quick in partnering with DPI. “Angela is a point person for pushing forward an ambitious agenda for changing the way we understand what students know and are able to do, and how schools are impacting student achievement,” Diesel Wallace says. “It has long been said that what gets measured is what gets done, and Angela knows that changing the measures can change what matters.”

Quick and DPI work with national partners to be sure North Carolina is competitive with other states. They also look at other countries and other industries to research best practices and new ideas to incorporate into the state’s plans.

The recipient of multiple awards for Teacher of the Year and Principal of the Year, Quick has been a high school biology teacher, a director/principal at two math/science magnet high schools, and a high school principal. She has served on numerous science, math, and engineering education advisory boards, including the selection committee of the Career Award for Science and Mathematics Teachers, given by The Burroughs Wellcome Fund. In addition, she participated in the US-China Partnership and Exchange in 2006. One of the state’s first North Carolina Teaching Fellows, Quick holds a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University, a master’s degree from the University of South Carolina and a doctoral degree from Cambridge College in Boston.

Editor’s note, 2014: Angela Hinson Quick is now the senior vice president for talent development with NC New Schools.