He also held positions in the Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama White House administrations.
[1] Early in his career, Smith co-authored books on computer content analysis and on inequality in the United States and articles on the importance of Head Start and school integration.
[8] His work on systemic reform during this period was influential on the then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and his future presidential education policies.
Between 1977 and 1979, Smith was then an assistant commissioner for policy studies in the Office of Education[7][10] under Ernest Boyer in the Jimmy Carter administration.
[1] Between 2001 and 2009,[7] Smith served as the head of education programs for The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation where he and his team developed and funded Open Education Resources and where he was a proponent of Rice University's Connexions and the Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative,[13] advocating the development of free online tools for American students.