James Darin Pope, the deputy superintendent for Tuscaloosa City Schools and an adjunct faculty member for the University of Alabama, is a passionate instructional leader with a focus on foundational reading skills and literacy across the content areas. During his 26 years as an educator, he has served as a teacher, reading coach, literacy specialist, assistant principal, instructional specialist, elementary principal, reading coordinator, turnaround middle school principal, director of elementary education, director of student literacy, and adjunct instructor for preservice teachers.
Pope has led his schools to receive numerous leadership and curriculum achievements including the Exemplary Reading Program Award from the International Literacy Association and the Torchbearer distinction from the Alabama State Department of Education—an honor bestowed to high-performing schools with impoverished demographics.
Pope’s passion for literacy and justice for all has been recognized throughout Alabama and nationally. In 2017, he was appointed chair of the Alabama State Department of Education Strategic Planning Committee on Teaching Reading. He has also served on the Praxis National Advisory Committee for reading and was recently appointed to the Alabama Literacy Task Force.