Dr. Karen Henery

Director for ESOL / Multilingual Services
Little Rock School District, AR

Dr. Henery started her career in education in Ontario, Canada working in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic school district. She taught ELs in grades 6 – 8 who came from very diverse language backgrounds. She works extensively with classroom teachers and building administrators, specific to delivery of high-quality instruction for English Learners. She also works at the district-level through the Curriculum and Instruction Department and district leadership on programming and services for ELs and their families.

Additionally, under her leadership, a unique extended-year program specifically designed for ELs was successfully implemented more than 10 years ago. This program is offered to elementary and middle school students and focuses on language acquisition and language development. Additional initiatives include the implementation of Rosetta Stone, Lexia Core 5 to all elementary schools, select middle and high schools (2020-2021 school year) with a high EL population and ELLevation Education a software EL management and instructional support system.

Dr. Henery holds a doctorate in Educational Administration, M.Ed., B.A. and B. Ed. Additional certification includes - the ESL Endorsement, District Administrator, High School Principal and certification in Life Science & General Science (7-12). She is a certified Praxis III Assessor, and SIOP facilitator. Dr. Henery has provided professional development workshops for K-12 educators nationally, at the state level, and at the district level. She has served as an adjunct professor through Arkansas Tech University teaching an ESOL graduate level class.

Among the national presentations include sessions at the 10th ALAS Annual Education Summit, two international webinars “English Language Learners, the Bilingual Advantage” and “English Learners in the United States: Today and Tomorrow”, national SIOP workshops for teachers as well as administrators, the first Rosetta Stone User Conference in December 2017 and a presenter for the Southwest Regional Administrators Conference July 2018.