Kristen Record, Connecticut State Teacher of the Year 2011

Advocacy

I believe that teachers need at have an active voice both in elevating the teaching profession and in the decision-making that affects teaching and learning.  In addition to serving on the CT Legislative Task Force for Secondary School Reform, I have engaged elected leaders and stakeholders in discussions about teacher evaluation models and the creation of a Board of Professional Practices for Teachers.  I have brought the teachers’ perspective to state-wide discussions about CT’s achievement gap, twice appeared on NBC’s Education Nation discussing teacher pay and evaluation, advocating for the needs of students through the Governor’s Prevention Partnership Program’s anti-bullying rallies

My advocacy work continues in several local and statewide initiatives aimed at motivating and encouraging teachers to use their voice and their vote to support responsible education policy and practice.  I am a member of the Board of Directors for the CT Teacher of the Year Council, and strongly believe in publically celebrating outstanding teachers as a means of highlighting the success stories in our profession.

 

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Kristen Record, the 2011 CT TOY, has been a Physics teacher at Bunnell High School in Stratford, CT since 2000.  She was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teacher, the nation’s highest honor for K-12 STEM teachers, in 2009.

Kristen is also the recipient of a U.S. Department of Energy “Academies Creating Teacher Scientists” Fellowship, though which she has completed several years of mentored research in fuel cell design and hydrogen production.

Kristen has a B.S. in Physics from Fairfield University; an Ed.M. in Teaching and Learning from the Harvard Graduate School of Education; and a Certificate of Advanced Study in Science Instruction and Study from Southern CT State University.