Carissa Pokorny-Golden

Carissa Pokorny-Golden serves as Bureau Director for School Leadership and Teacher Quality at the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), where she oversees educator certification and preparation.  Carissa works to support approved educator preparation programs and local education agencies in creating a robust educator workforce. She has played a part in several new policy initiatives at PDE including changes to intern certificate programs, new competencies in cultural awareness, structured literacy, and professional ethics, and data collection. Carissa came to PDE in 2022 with over 26 years of experience in secondary and postsecondary education, including as an associate dean of education, English professor and Secondary Education student teaching supervisor, and an English 7-12 teacher. She also served over 24 years in the United States Navy Reserve, retiring in 2017.  She holds a PhD in English from Temple University, a MA in English from Binghamton University, a MS in Education from Wilkes University, a BA in English, and a BS in Secondary Education English/Communications from the Pennsylvania State University. She is an alumna of the Results for America State Education Fellowship and the Education and Policy Leadership Center Fellowship (EPLC).  She is currently a senior fellow of the Advanced Education Policy Leadership Program (AEPLP).