T. Kenneth James was appointed as commissioner of the Arkansas Department of Education[1] by Governor Mike Huckabee on March 1, 2004, effective May 3, 2004.
His work in California provided him with experience in schools with large minority student populations.
He is active in the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, and has served as legislative chair of the curriculum committee.
James has served as an officer or board member of several professional organizations, including Arkansas Curriculum and Instruction Administrators, Economics America and the Arkansas Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.
He also has intimate knowledge about school assessment in the state, having served on the ACTAAP Administrative Testing Committee.