Karyn Allee-Herndon earned a PhD from the University of Central Florida, and her professional experiences include teaching at high-need schools, worked in a large urban district as a coach and PD facilitator, and has worked 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-Herndon’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, Dr. Allee-Herndon’s 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. Dr. Allee-Herndon has been published in multiple journals including the International Journal of the Whole Child, 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.