Kymyona Burk, Ed.D.

Kymyona Burk is a Senior Policy Fellow at the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd). In this role, she supports states pursuing a comprehensive approach to K-3 reading policy by assisting state leaders in building new or improving existing K-3 reading policies, with a heavy focus on supporting successful policy implementation. Her article "The Perfect Storm: Mississippi's Momentum for Improving Reading Achievement,'' published in The Reading League Journal (May 2020), is a compelling story of how a state with "a well-known history of low student achievement" turned reading scores around. Dr. Burk served in Mississippi as the Executive Director for the Jackson Public School District's Office of Teaching and Learning and led all aspects of the district's instructional programming. Prior to this, she was the State Literacy Director at the Mississippi Department of Education where she led the implementation of Mississippi's Literacy-Based Promotion Act. Dr. Burk began her career as an elementary reading teacher and has also taught middle and high school English. At Jackson State University, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Master of Arts in Teaching English, Master of Science in Education Administration and Supervision and a Doctorate of Education in Early Childhood Education.