67. How to Attract and Retain Black Women in the Teaching Profession with Dr. Valerie Hill-Jackson

The Research Her

As we continue our conversation after Teacher Appreciation week and celebrate Mental Health Aware Month this May we discuss recruiting and retention in the teaching profession with Dr. Valerie Hill-Jackson who dives into the topic of teacher's mental health and how to create better spaces for teachers.

Dr. Valerie Hill-Jackson received her Interdisciplinary Doctorate in Educational Leadership degree, summa cum laude, in 2003 from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She joined the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture at Texas A&M University in September 2004 and teaches courses, as a clinical professor, in the teacher education and multicultural/urban program areas. In 2018, Dr. Hill-Jackson was appointed by the Office of the Dean as the Director of Educator Preparation and School Partnerships. And in June 2019, Hill-Jackson was appointed as the Assistant Dean of Educator Preparation and School Partnerships.

Dr. Hill-Jackson is a nationally and university-recognized educator having garnered: 2007 Maybelline / People Magazine Women Who Empower Through Education Award; the 2008 Texas A&M University (TAMU) Association of Former Students Award for Distinguished Teaching; 2008 Transfer Camp Namesake (TAMU); 2010 Student-Led Award for Teaching Excellence (SLATE) at TAMU; 2010 Outstanding Panhellenic Professor; 2011 National Society of Collegiate Scholars Inspire Integrity Top 10 Finalist award; Honorary Guest Coach for the Texas A & M University Women’s Basketball Team, 2011 NCAA Champs, at the McNeese U. Home Game 2011; 2013 Upton Sinclair award; 2015 Aggies Commit to Transforming Lives Administrative Fellow; and the 2016 Educational Institution Image Award by the Edwards Ministerial Association.

Dr. Hill-Jackson developed three new graduate courses including one that is integral to the Educational Leadership in Curriculum and Instruction program. Dr. Hill-Jackson’s teaching philosophy is best explained with her simple quote, “students first through action research.” Dr. Hill-Jackson’s books include: Transforming Teacher Education: What Went Wrong with Teacher Training and How We Can Fix It (Stylus, 2010); Better Principals, Better Schools: What Star Principals Know, Believe, and Do (IAP, 2016); Better Teachers, Better Schools: What Star Teachers Know, Believe, and Do (IAP, 2017); Teacher Confidential: Personal Stories of Stress, Self-Care, and Resilience (iUniverse, 2018) and; What Makes a Star Teacher: 7 Dispositions That Support Student Learning (ASCD, 2019).

Dr. Hill-Jackson’s research interests include: critical teacher education, transformative/servant leadership, service-learning/community education, ethnography, gifted education, culture + curriculum, and STEM education for underserved learners. Early in her career, Dr. Hill-Jackson received the prestigious American Educational Research Association / Spencer fellowship for her qualitative dissertation and was conferred with the LEAD Poisoning Star Award for her research in community education. In 2013, Hill-Jackson won a Traditional Core Fulbright Award and was hosted by the Center for Critical and Cultural Theory at the School of English Communication and Philosophy at Cardiff University in Cardiff, Wales. Hill-Jackson received a 2018-2019 Melbern G. Glasscock NTT Faculty Research Fellowship.