She received her B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Houston and taught in elementary bilingual classrooms throughout her teaching career. After completion of the M.S. in Educational Leadership from Sam Houston State University, she served as an elementary school principal. In 2010, she completed her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Hispanic Bilingual Education from Texas A&M University. Her teaching and administrative experiences shape a research agenda that focuses on creating classroom conditions supportive of student access to the standards through the development of academic language.