Dr. Karyn Allee

Karyn Allee earned a PhD in Elementary Education from the University of Central Florida (BAE ’93 & MEd ’94 in Elementary Education/ECE from the University of Florida; EdS ’09 in Educational Leadership from Stetson University). Dr. Allee’s professional experiences include teaching primary grades at high-need schools, working in a large urban district as a coach and PD facilitator, and working for three education companies to facilitate customized PD, support large-scale district implementations and school improvement efforts, to evaluate programs, and to develop early childhood curriculum. Dr. Allee’s responsibilities as an Assistant Professor of Elementary Education at Mercer University include working primarily with elementary MAT initial teacher certification candidates and PhD students in the Curriculum & Instruction track. Currently, her primary research focuses on how poverty affects cognitive development, executive function/self-regulation as predictors of school readiness and achievement, and instructional strategies (including play and physical activity) to reduce academic achievement gaps. She also focuses on teaching and researching preservice teacher candidates' use of social justice education standards and strategies in their practice, particularly through literacy and integrated thematic units. Dr. Allee has been published in multiple journals including the Early Childhood Education Journal, The Reading Teacher, and the Journal of Research in Childhood Education. She is also a member of multiple professional organizations such as the American Educational Research Association, the  National Association for the Education of Young Children, and the National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators.