Alison Cohen

Senior Educational Consultant
acohen@teachingmatters.org
she/her/hers

Alison Cohen, Teaching Matters Senior Educational Consultant, is an experienced coach whose areas of expertise include literacy across the content areas; social-emotional learning for young people, educators, and school leaders; assessment design and implementation; and curriculum planning from a motivational psychology lens. She is a K-12 product of an urban public school system herself (DC Public Schools) and her experiences as a student made her passionate about working towards an equitable educational system that meets all students’ needs regardless of background. Alison has a track record of successfully coaching Algebra, Living Environment, Global History, U.S. History, and English teachers, whose courses culminate in Regents exams, in significantly improving their students’ literacy skills and performance. Additionally, she has coached school and teacher leaders on how to lead high-performing teams, with an emphasis on concrete strategies for building trust, communicating effectively and facilitating productive meetings.

Prior to joining Teaching Matters, Alison spent more than a decade playing a variety of different roles in NYC DOE middle and high schools in the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. She has worked as an instructional coach, as a teacher (English, Literacy, ESOL/ENL, Special Ed) and school mindfulness program director, and as a teacher advice columnist. Alison also teaches mindfulness and mindful communication at City College. She received her BA in Sociology from Harvard University, her Master’s in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from Fordham University, and certification as a school mindfulness instructor from the organization Mindful Schools. Alison is currently a Human Development and Learning doctoral student.