Benchmark Education Company Welcomes New Members to its Educational Advisory Board

NEW ROCHELLE, NY, April 8, 2025— Leading educational publisher Benchmark Education Company (BEC) is pleased to announce—and welcome—two new members of its Educational Advisory Board. Barbara Jenkins, Ed.D., of Florida, and Angelica Allen-McMillan, Ed.D., of New Jersey, have joined the board comprised of school administrator veterans from major cities nationwide. BEC formed the group of education experts in 2023 to help set the company’s publishing plans and ensure its customers’ needs are always met.

Dr. Jenkins is a former Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) superintendent in Orlando, the eighth-largest school district in the United States and the fourth-largest in Florida. She retired in 2022 after 30 years in public education. Under Dr. Jenkins’s leadership, OCPS won the prestigious 2014 Broad Prize for Urban Education for academic achievements. In 2015, she led the district in successfully obtaining District Accreditation from AdvancED for its best practices in education. Dr. Jenkins was named the 2017 Superintendent of the Year by the Florida Association of District School Superintendents and was honored as one of four finalists for National Superintendent of the Year by The School Superintendents Association.

Dr. Allen-McMillan served as Acting Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Education from 2020 until her retirement in 2024. She previously served as Interim Executive County Superintendent for Morris County from 2018 to 2020. During her more than 25 years of service as a New Jersey educator, Dr. Allen-McMillan held leadership roles as Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education in Newark Public Schools and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction in Irvington School District. She also served on the Montclair Board of Education and was recognized in U.S. News & World Report for her contributions to education. Throughout her career, Dr. Allen-McMillan has received numerous accolades for her leadership in advancing educational equity and student success.

“We’re very pleased and honored to have these two highly accomplished education leaders join our advisory board,” BEC Co-President Will Reycraft said. "With their professional backgrounds and achievements, Doctors Jenkins and Allen-McMillan will bring invaluable new insights and ideas that will help us serve our customers even more effectively and fullfill our mission to help every student find inspiration, growth, and success through literacy, language, and knowledge development.”

ABOUT BENCHMARK EDUCATION COMPANY

Benchmark Education Company (BEC) is a leading publisher of core, supplemental, and intervention literacy and language resources in English and Spanish, with valid and reliable digital assessments that inform instruction. BEC is also a provider of exceptional professional development to educators.

BEC is recognized as a responsive publisher that offers equally rigorous and engaging digital, print, and hybrid learning materials grounded in the Science of Reading research. BEC monitors research outcomes carefully to create effective foundational resources that include strong decoding materials with systematic and explicit instruction and high-quality resources focused on language development and comprehension. BEC’s content-rich and authentic texts offer instruction in close reading and analysis, multiple perspectives, and authentic literature while building world knowledge and reflecting the individuality of every student in each diverse classroom.

Family owned and operated for more than 25 years, BEC is committed to partnering with educators to provide the best for all students through resources of exceptional quality, world-class professional learning, and effective and dedicated customer support.