Steve Canavero

Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction

Steve Canavero, Ph.D., was appointed by Governor Lombardo as Nevada’s Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction. Most recently, Canavero served as a director and deputy director for the Comprehensive Center program at WestEd, providing technical assistance and support to state education agencies across the country.

Prior to that, Canavero was Nevada’s Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2015 to 2019, where he was responsible for overseeing the state’s K–12 education system. He previously served as Deputy Superintendent for Student Achievement at the Nevada Department of Education.

Under his leadership, Nevada designed and implemented an ambitious Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan to address longstanding achievement and opportunity gaps by embracing an evidence-based approach and empowering family voice in shaping their children’s education.

Before leading the Department of Education, Canavero was the founding director of Nevada’s newly created State Public Charter School Authority in 2011. His work there helped make Nevada’s charter school policy one of the highest-rated in the nation, while also increasing both the number and quality of charter schools across the state.

Canavero served three terms on the board of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, was elected by fellow state school chiefs to the board of the Council of Chief State School Officers in 2017 and is an Aspen-Pahara Fellow.