Karen Kidwell is the Director of the Division of Program Standards in the Office of Next Generation Learners at the Kentucky Department of Education.  The Division of Program Standards houses 3 branches: School Readiness, Academic Core, and Coordinated School Health.  Karen is also Project Manager for Kentucky’s system of Leadership Networks, a comprehensive professional learning system designed to build district capacity around the implementation of academic standards (specifically, the new Common Core Standards in ELA and Mathematics—and soon, the Next Generation Science Standards) within the context of highly effective teaching, learning, and assessment practices. 

Karen earned her BS in Elementary Education and Mathematics from the University of Louisville (1986) and her MA in Education from Georgetown College (1993).  Between 2006 and 2008 she completed The Executive Leadership Program for Educators at Harvard University as a member of the Kentucky Department of Education team.