ABOUT

Dr. Christine Marie Stearns, Ed.D., has been working in elementary education since 1989. 

 

After graduating from Long Island University in Brookville, NY with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, she spent the first 2 years of her career working in the Department of Defense Dependent Schools in Hanau, Germany.  There she worked with children of military personnel and their families. She then moved back to the United States and spent a few years working as a Title 1 tutor and substitute teacher while she started her family.  In 1996, she got a full time teaching job in New Boston, NH and has been there ever since. 

 

In 2002, she graduated from Plymouth State University in Plymouth, NH with a Masters Degree (M.Ed.) in Curriculum and Instruction.  She then took on more leadership positions within her school district including conducting professional development, researching and developing curriculum, and mentoring in-service and new teachers. 

 

In 2009, Christine became an adjunct professor at New England College and was accepted into their doctoral program in 2011.  She conducted a study that looked at the effects of a collaborative professional development intervention in Balanced Numeracy on teachers’ approaches to and feelings of efficacy about teaching mathematics.  She also looked at how Balanced Numeracy affected students’ attitudes about and achievement in mathematics. She received her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership in May of 2014.  

 

Christine believes that teaching is a blend of art and science.  In the science realm, she uses research to support and inform her daily practices.  She draws upon what worked for her in the past to help students to be successful in meeting curriculum goals and state standards.   As an artist, Christine is consistently refining her teaching style with ideas that not only come from her reading, her colleagues and administration, but also from her students.  This means that although there are certain signs of success a student “should” demonstrate, Christine values successes that are not scripted, measured or even expected.  This approach to teaching and learning allows here students to get to know and appreciated themselves as evolving learners. 

 

Christine is a mom of two grown children and lives in New Boston with her husband of more than 25 years. 

 

She enjoys reading, learning, traveling and being outdoors.