About me
As a teacher and as an educational administrator, Dr. Tara Kristoff’s focus is always on doing what is best for children and making education accessible to all families. She collaborates with all stakeholders to create and to revise preschool – 12 curricula in all academic disciplines. For example, Dr. Kristoff enacts equitable curricula focused on addressing the needs of all learners. She also creates gifted programming, curriculum review cycles, after school student programs, and programs to build parental engagement as well as community involvement.
Currently, Dr. Tara Kristoff started in August of 2024 as the Director for Equity and Justice at Northern Illinois University. Prior to August, she served five years as the Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning at Rock Falls Elementary School District 13 in Rock Falls, Illinois.
As Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, the district revamped every curricular subject to be aligned with the Illinois learning standards and to be digital focused in nature. Dr. Kristoff also created multiple sustainable systems from preschool – 8th grade that improved student learning and educator effectiveness. For instance, she created a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) for academics and behavior that uses various data points from progress monitoring assessments as well as state assessments to equitably meet the needs of all students in the district. Dr. Kristoff also developed an acceleration system that provides opportunities for students to be educated at the level they are ready to learn at.
By focusing the district to meet the individual needs of students, Rock Falls Elementary School District 13 outscored all neighboring school districts on the 2022 and 2023 Illinois Assessment of Readiness. Northern Public Radio (NPR) in January of 2023 highlighted Rock Falls Elementary School District 13 as a district “that bucked the Covid learning loss” and outperformed most northern Illinois school districts in English language arts and math.
Prior to being the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Dr. Kristoff was the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) Area Foundational Coordinator for Science at the Intermediate Center of South Cook (ISC4). As an ISBE Area Foundational Coordinator for Science, Dr. Kristoff provided training in the pedagogy shifts in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to over 50 school districts in the collar counties. She also showed school districts how to create NGSS units of study and assessments from kindergarten – 12th grade.
One of Dr. Kristoff’s passions is creating science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) opportunities for students. For instance, at Rock Falls Elementary School District 13, she created the STEAM program for grades 6 – 8. The goal of the program is to provide STEAM training and career exploration to students in rural Illinois where most families live below the federal poverty line. Since 2019, the district has created a pipeline of students that enter high school with the STEAM skills necessary to continue in a high school career pathway program. When Dr. Kristoff was the Director of Curriculum at Cook County School District 104, she used research and theory to create kindergarten – 8th STEAM labs and curricula that taught students the real-world applications of STEAM. The STEAM work was especially important at this school district because 97% of the students were first generation, English Learners, and 100% qualified for free/reduced lunch. Dr. Kristoff’s work at Cook County School District 104 was highlighted in the January 2017 National Science Teacher Association’s Report as one of the top 10 STEM programs in the United States.
Dr. Kristoff shares her knowledge of how to successfully integrate science and English language arts (ELA) throughout the United States at professional development conferences. The focus of her presentation is to show teachers and administrators that an integrated approach to science and ELA helps students possess a deeper understanding of how the natural world works through the use of trade books. Furthermore, students learn how to efficiently apply literacy skills to non-fiction texts.
Dr. Kristoff possesses a Doctorate in Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; ; a Juris Doctorate from The Ohio State University - College of Law; a Master of Arts in Teaching from Dominican University; and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her dissertation on the Interpretation and Implementation of the Accelerated Placement Act by Illinois School District Leaders was published by the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign in 2021.