Albert Mamary

Education

Albert Mamary received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Mansfield State Teacher's College, before earning his Master's degree in mathematics from the University of Minnesota. After a period of study at Stanford University, he went on to earn his Doctor of Education degree from Columbia University.

A time of new developments

His career as an educator began during an era in American Education that saw rapid growth and change in the theory and practice of teaching. Benjamin Bloom's taxonomy and theory of mastery learning, Madeline Hunter's models of lesson and unit design, William Glasser's concepts of the quality school and choice theory, the outcome-based education movement, and standards-based education reform all emerged during this time.

Career overview

During a long and distinguished career in education his roles included math teacher, department chair, assistant superintendent, superintendent, educational consultant, and author. His activities included training educators in all 50 states as well as in other countries, including Italy, Spain, China, and Australia and co-authoring over two dozen successful textbooks in addition to writing books and articles on education. However, it was during his time at Johnson City that he made his most notable contribution to the field of education.

The Mamary Model

In his role as superintendent of the Johnson City School system, Albert Mamary drew on the best research based ideas, data, and methods in education to develop a highly effective school improvement model. In 1972, the year his model began to be implemented, Johnson City ranked “14th out of 14 schools in its county” and only 45-50 percent of its students in grades 1 through 8 scored at or above their grade level in math and reading. A mere five years later that number had risen to about 70 percent. By 1984, the number of students scoring at or above grade level in math and reading reached an impressive 80-90 percent. Further evidence for the effectiveness of Mamary's model was that in 1986 the number of Johnson City School students receiving Regent's Diplomas was 77 percent, as compared to the state average of 43 percent and the national average of 59 percent.

What set Mamary apart from other educators of the period was the scope of his innovations and the scale of his results. While implemented under his leadership, the effectiveness of his model was consistently supported by empirical data. Mamary's educational program remains the only one to not only be validated but revalidated by the U.S. Department of Education.

Creating the Ideal School

Mamary's approach to education was notable for its open mindedness and pragmatism. His focus on research based methods and measurable outcomes, his avoidance or jargon and partisanship, and his commitment to finding the most effective solutions to problems, made him a unifying figure in education. Above all, his approach was practical and flexible. While open to innovation, he distrusted "magic bullet" solutions and proprietary programs with their "one size fits all" approach to reform. In his book Creating the Ideal School: Where Teachers Want to Teach and Students Want to Learn, he presents his model for comprehensive school reform in a systematic and clear way. He emphasizes throughout the importance of alignment between policies, instructional processes, and outcomes, while providing a framework through which a school can objectively evaluate its effectiveness and develop practical strategies for achieving its goals. It provides tools that educators can use without having to take on elaborate templates, new terminology, or commit to radical positions.

His achievements serve as an example of what can be accomplished when a school is built around a sound and inclusive vision.