Clarkson University Assistant Professor of Education Karen Gregory has received the Outstanding New Teacher Award for 2021.
Established by the University Committee on Improvement in Teaching in 1991, the award recognizes an outstanding teacher within his or her first four years at the university. Criteria for selection include excellence in the classroom, capacity to motivate and challenge students and creativity in teaching methods and curriculum development.
The award nomination of Gregory noted that “prior to its launch, the degree was painstakingly researched by Karen. The success of the program is a direct result of Karen’s manner of teaching and obvious devotion to this discipline and her students.”
It went on to say that, “Dr. Gregory personifies the notion of “outstanding teacher” and embodies all of the characteristics you seek in such a teacher,” and that “she embraces her interactions with her students, she also values the growth that takes place by sharing what she does with others as a researcher and collaborator.”
Gregory is the Director of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) programs and Assistant Professor in the Education Department in Clarkson’s Capital Region Campus. She currently teaches in the MAT-ESOL and Certification of Advanced Study (CAS) TESOL programs, and also developed and teaches Clarkson's new undergraduate introductory Spanish course. Dr. Gregory has prior experience as an ELL Specialist in the Albany City School District, where she taught English as a New Language to newcomer refugee and immigrant high school students, and co-taught science and social studies. She also worked for many years as a high school Spanish teacher and was a lead researcher in the Just for the Kids~NYKids research group in the School of Education at the University at Albany, SUNY.
Dr. Gregory’s research is focused on content-based/ integrated instruction for English learners, models of professional development, and whole school improvement. Dr. Gregory contributed to the TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Learning, and has published in several journals, including NYS TESOL Journal, The Journal of School Leadership, and the Journal for Leadership and Instruction, as well as several book chapters on TESOL pedagogy and school improvement.
Gregory received her bachelor of arts degree in English from Union College, her master of arts in teaching in Secondary English and Spanish MAT from Union Graduate College, and her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from SUNY Albany.
