BIOGRAPHY

Jordan came to education through a non-traditional route, joining the 2007 Teach for America corps teaching kindergarten in Houston’s fifth ward at KIPP Dream Prep. In 2009, she was honored for her leadership and creative teaching methods with the Kinder Excellence in Teaching Award. After teaching kindergarten for several years, Jordan served as Dean of Lower School for her campus, and later as the Assistant Principal. Jordan was trained in storytelling and story acting, inspired by Vivian Paley’s renowned work with young children, at Rice University’s School Literacy & Culture (SLC) program in 2008, and later became a mentor teacher for residents in the project. She joined the SLC staff in 2013 as the Assistant Director of Outreach & Education. In 2017, Jordan became the Associate Director of the Early Literacy Leadership Academy (ELLA), a two-year teacher leader professional development certificate program, which she led for six years. In her time at SLC, Jordan forged new paths for hybrid learning models, designed ELLA’s existing teacher leader courses, and supported SLC’s other yearlong, weeklong, and daylong programs in various capacities.

Jordan is also a third-year doctoral student at Texas A&M, earning her Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction in the department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture. She is in the process of earning her Academy of Future Faculty certification and was honored to become a Teaching as Research Fellow this year. Jordan’s research interests lie in early childhood development and early literacy, learning how to best support early childhood teachers through high-impact professional development opportunities, and discovering effective means of translating early childhood research into practice for teachers of young children. Prior to her studies at Texas A&M, Jordan earned her BA from Washington State University and her MBA at Rice University. In her free time, Jordan loves to travel with her husband and two sons and is a voracious reader.

Jordan is thrilled to take on the role of Director at School Literacy & Culture and is looking forward to all the future holds for the department.