Kristina Passarella is a 2024-2025 Teach Plus Illinois Early Childhood Educator Policy Fellow and an early childhood teacher at the Niles Township District for Special Education in Morton Grove, Illinois. She focuses on teaching children with mild to moderate disabilities, while fostering self-efficacy skills and helping each child find their voice via a variety of communication modalities. Kristina presented to early childhood educators and stakeholders across the state about supporting diverse learners and adapting curriculum in blended and instructional classrooms at the Sharing a Vision Conference (2020) and Early Childhood Symposium (2022). She earned her BS in education, is certified as a learning and behavior specialist (Illinois Type 10), and has an endorsement in early childhood (Type 4) from Illinois State University, as well as a MEd in special education from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona, and a PhD in leadership in early childhood education from Concordia University in Chicago.
