Kelly-Ann Cooney

Kelly-Ann Cooney (she/her) is a dynamic culturally responsive educator who leads with equity at the forefront to improve systems. She uses data and research-based best practices to build teacher capacity while working with administration to transform systems. To accomplish this, she cultivates a culture of high expectations and high support for all. As an educator overseas and mostly in urban settings, she has been able to combine her passion for teaching and social justice with her with dedication to students and teachers.

Her experience spans over two decades of problem solving to improve outcomes for historically underserved students, with a focus on Multilingual Learners. After teaching in overseas and in the Boston Public Schools, Kelly joined administration teams as English Learner Director to advocate for change and give voice to multilingual students, families and teachers. Kelly is a member of MATSOL (Massachusetts Association of Teachers or English to Speakers of Other Languages) where she is on the planning committee for the special interest group for curriculum development. She was a member of the steering committee for the Massachusetts ESL Model Curriculum Units, which was led by MATSOL and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MA DESE). Kelly was an instructor Sheltered English Immersion Endorsement course, which was part of the MA DESE RETELL initiative. Kelly has been an adjunct professor at several Boston area universities and is currently teaching at Lasell University. Kelly received her undergraduate degree in French and Journalism at the University of Rhode Island, a Masters from the University of Oregon in Romance Languages, and a Masters in Curriculum & Instruction at Boston College. She holds several teaching and administrative licenses. Most recently she founded EdQUITY, LLC, a consulting agency to assist districts in providing supports to enhance outcomes for multilingual learners. Kelly has been immersed in understanding how to position teachers as action researchers in implementing research-based strategies into pedagogy.