About

I was born in a small town in Texas and grew up in a suburb of Dallas. I attended Bard College in New York, where I earned a B.A. in psychology in 1998. At The University of Texas at Austin, I completed an M.A. in academic educational psychology in 2002 and a PhD in educational psychology—specializing in learning, cognition, instruction, and motivation—in 2004. I'm a first-generation college graduate. 

In 2005, I earned a Texas teaching certificate in special education and began working as an inclusion teacher and special education case manager at a Title I middle school in the suburb of Dallas in which I was raised. During my years there, I also worked as the school's special education department chair and academic language therapist, as well as a classroom teacher for 6th- and 7th-grade mathematics.

In 2008, my spouse, Bradley, and I returned to Austin to accept positions at the university. I consider the subsequent nine years the most important to date in my growth as a professional. During these years, I honed my skills as an evaluator, grant writer, program leader, and communicator, culminating in my role as the manager of a research and evaluation team and then development of a national computer science curriculum and professional learning program recognized by the Obama administration and supported by $2.6 million in grants from the National Science Foundation.

In 2016, to address the special needs of our four children and family, we moved to the magnificent area of Vermont known as the Northeast Kingdom, where Bradley and I were fortunate enough to continue working in our positions at The University of Texas at Austin. By 2017, however, I found myself considering the idea of returning to K–12 education to work more closely with the teachers, students, and families in my community. Drawing on a longstanding passion for special education, I accepted a full-time position as an evaluation specialist for the supervisory union in which my children attend school.

I offer the professional services detailed here on a part-time basis.

I've provided some quick background items below. For detailed information on my professional experiences and expertise, please review my complete CV.