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St. Cloud State University

St. Cloud State University

Faculty / Staff

Kay T. Worner, Ph.D

Associate Professor, Education Leadership
Office B124 Education Building
(320) 308-2219
ktworner@stcloudstate.edu

Education

  • Ph.D. Educational Administration-Iowa State University
  • Specialist Degree-Iowa State University
  • MSE in Special Education-Drake University
  • BSE in Education, Secondary Social Science-Drake University

Professional Credentials/Licensure

  • Secondary Principal License
  • Elementary Principal License
  • Superintendent License

Program Areas

  • Doctoral, Specialist, Licensure, and Master’s Courses in Educational Administration & Leadership

Research/Interest Areas

  • Author of the book, Success in the Superintendency: Tips and Advice, 2010
  • Numerous articles related to the superintendency

Biography

Kay Worner was born in St. Charles, Illinois, but spent 34 years in Des Moines, Iowa, before moving to Minnesota. She attended Grand View Lutheran Community College then lived in Germany for two years before graduating from Drake University with a BSE in Education, Secondary Social Science in 1972. She received her MSE in Special Education from Drake University in 1975. She taught special education in junior high and high school for seven years in the Des Moines area. She earned her secondary and elementary school principal license, superintendent license, and her Specialist Degree from Iowa State University in the early 1980’s.  She received her Ph.D. in Educational Administration in 1986, also from Iowa State.  In additional to her teaching experiences in Iowa, Kay served as a special education coordinator and a Director of Curriculum and Staff Development.

Kay and her family moved to Minnesota in 1986 when she became an elementary principal in the White Bear Lake School District. In 1993, Kay became Assistant Superintendent for PreK-12 Instruction in the White Bear Lake Schools. In 1997 she accepted the superintendent position in a central Minnesota suburban school district, Sartell-St. Stephen. Dr. Worner received the Minnesota Association of School Administrators Kay E. Jacobs Outstanding Leadership Award in 1996 and the Minnesota Superintendent of the Year Award in 2004. During her principal and superintendent career, she was an adjunct faculty member in Teacher Education at the University of St. Thomas for four years and an adjunct faculty member at St. Cloud State University in Educational Administration for eight years. She left the superintendency in 2005 to become Assistant Professor in Educational Administration and Leadership at St. Cloud State University where she still works today.

Kay and her husband, Roger, have six children and sixteen grandchildren. They love Northern Minnesota lake country, fishing, reading, and time spent with their family.

Courses Taught

EDAD 507                  Community Education Field Experience

EDAD 601                  Intro. To Educational Leadership

EDAD 605                  K-12 Principal

EDAD 608                  Superintendency

EDAD 610                  Administrative Leadership

EDAD 611                  Portfolio Review

EDAD 620                  School Law

EDAD 630                  Introduction to Personnel

EDAD 640                  Intro. to School Finance

EDAD 642/645           Auxiliary Functions

EDAD 650                  Introduction to Community Relations

EDAD 652                  School and Community Relations

EDAD 657                  Educational Policy

EDAD 678                  Field Experience: Superintendent

EDAD 804                  Visioning & the Change Process