Carole Kennedy served as a teacher and principal for thirty-eight years in the public schools of Missouri before her retirement in 2001.

In 1999, she was appointed by Secretary of Education Richard Riley to the position of Principal in Residence at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC. Following completion of that two-year term, she joined the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in Arlington, VA, as principal consultant.

In the 1996-97 school year, she served as president of the 28,000 member National Association of Elementary School Principals. Kennedy was a member of the National Test Panel, the National Assessment Governing Board, the first America Goes Back to School Steering Committee, Missouri Commission on Performance, the NASSP Foundation Board, as well as many other national and state committees. She has been involved in numerous community service activities including those that address race and school violence.

Kennedy currently serves on the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds Leaders Count Advisory Board, the University Council for Educational Administration's National Commission for the Advancement of Educational Leadership, the Appalachian Math and Science Partnership Advisory Board, the National School Public Relations Association Board, and the Institute for Educational Leadership E-Lead Advisory Board.

Kennedy was Missouri's National Distinguished Principal in 1988, and two years later was recognized by EXECUTIVE EDUCATOR magazine as one of the 100 Outstanding Educational Administrators in America. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Missouri Association of Elementary School Principals have recognized her for outstanding leadership and for her contributions to children's education. In the fall of 2000, she was recognized as the Truman State University Honor Alumna.

Kennedy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia; a Master's degree from Truman State University; and an Education Specialist degree from the University of Missouri, Kansas City.