Department of Child Development, Literacy and Special Education

Dr. Kelly A. Clark is an associate professor of special education in the Child
Development, Literacy, and Special Education Department. She currently serves as
the Director of our Mathematics Clinics within the Reich College of Education and the
program director of our graduate certificate program in special education leadership. 
She is a first-generation college student and has 8 years of experience as a special
education teacher for children with mild, moderate, and severe intellectual disabilities,
multiple disabilities, autism, learning disabilities, and emotional and behavioral
disorders. These experiences created the foundation for her advocacy and support for
special education teacher preparation and inclusive special education. She is certified
in middle grades mathematics, and both general and adapted curriculum for special
education. Additionally, she holds curriculum and instruction and principal licenses in
North Carolina. Her Ph.D. in special education focused on improving transition
planning, programing, and services for students with disabilities as they transition to
life after high school with a special emphasis on preparing them for employment. Prior
to working at Appalachian State, she worked at the K. Lisa Yang & Hock E. Tan Center
on Employment and Disability at Cornell University where she taught Disability Law in
the ILR School Disability Studies program and led the Transition and Education grant
programs. Within that work she worked closely with the New York State Department of
Education to providing training and support across all five regions of New York State
and all five boroughs of New York City.
She is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Teacher Education
Division (TED), Division on Career Development and Transition (DCDT) and Division for
Autism and Development Disabilities (DADD). She serves as the Co-CAN Coordinator for
NC CEC and the president of NC TASH (an international disability advocacy
organization). She also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Case Learning for
Exceptional Learners (JCLEL).
She has been recognized for her work, receiving the college’s Outstanding
Scholarship/Creative Achievement Award in 2024,  Outstanding Advocacy for Student
Success Award  in 2025, and the Community of Practice Award with her colleagues for
their work on the Department of Labor Grant in 2026. She and her colleagues were
awarded a Department of Labor grant through the Workforce Opportunities in Rural
Communities initiative. As Co-PI on the project, she is helping lead efforts to expand
pathways into the special education workforce and improve working conditions for
special education teachers. Dr. Clark earned her B.S. at the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro where she was a student-athlete; M.S.A. at the University of North
Carolina at Charlotte, and Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  
She enjoys reading, music, hiking, raising chickens, and enjoying the outdoors with her
partner and children.

Kelly Clark’s Curriculum Vitae