Kerri L. Briggs is assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education. She was nominated by President Bush on March 6, 2007, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 22, 2007. As assistant secretary, Briggs plays a pivotal role in policy and management issues affecting elementary and secondary education. Dr. Briggs had served as acting assistant secretary for planning, evaluation and policy development from Sept. 1, 2006, through January 2007. Before that, she had served for one year as senior policy adviser in the Office of the Deputy Secretary, where she worked on K-12 policy and regulations pertaining to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. In 2001, she joined the Department as a senior policy adviser in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, working for four years on the review and approval of state accountability plans for NCLB. She also helped write the original regulations and nonregulatory guidance for implementation of the law's accountability, assessment, flexibility and teacher quality provisions. Dr. Briggs has authored many articles on reading, charter schools, and school-based management. She has a Ph.D. in education policy and organizational studies from the University of Southern California.