Kristina Carssow

Southwest Regional Director

kcarssow@niet.org

Kristina Carssow is the Southwest Regional Director. She has 18 years of experience as a campus teacher, TAP master coach, instructional coach, and assistant principal. Kristina has been a campus leader dedicated to creating, implementing, and evaluating instructional models that focus on teacher growth and student achievement. Kristina is a 2011 Milken Educator Award recipient and a 2016 Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes Fellow.

Before joining NIET, Kristina was a secondary social studies teacher, English language arts and social studies TAP master teacher, and middle school and high school assistant principal. Kristina has worked on teams to evaluate and revise district curriculum and develop specific instructional models and professional development structures at the middle school and high school campus level. Most recently, she worked to implement professional learning communities at the high school level with the focus on developing PLC leaders through ongoing professional development that she developed, implemented, and evaluated with a team of instructional coaches.

Kristina was active in the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals as a board member and state conference presenter, and was named Region 13 middle school principal of the year in 2019. She has a bachelor of science from Texas A&M University and master's degree in educational leadership from Concordia University.

Kristina Carssow

Why are you passionate about working at NIET?

My passion has always been to continuously grow myself as an instructional leader and develop instructional leaders on the campus. Campus teachers and leaders have the most direct impact on student learning and mastery. The primary way to ensure equitable and effective education for all students is to put a teacher in the classroom who is committed to their own growth as an educator. Through my work as a TAP master teacher, I was fortunate to see the groundbreaking work NIET was doing to develop teacher leaders through professional development, reflection, and collaboration. Working with NIET allows me to continue to work with and support and advocate for teachers at a state and national level.

What do you do in your free time?

I spend all of my free time with my family. You can find me at a dance practice or competition with my daughter or at the baseball fields with my son. My biggest joy in life is to watch my own children pursue their passions.

What was your favorite subject in school and why?

I enjoyed all of my social studies classes from British history to U.S. history to African history. I enjoy learning about the past and the influence on the present and future. The critical thinking skills I developed through these courses have allowed me to become a better problem-solver. When time allows, I love to read about specific individuals and time periods in history.