Invested in your growth. Committed to your success.

Through innovative teaching and personalized mentorship, I help aspiring leaders grow with confidence, think critically, and prepare to lead meaningful change in schools and communities.

Hello! My name is Dr. Jennifer Watters. I am an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership and Curriculum & Instruction at The University of Texas at Tyler, and a proud UT Tyler alum—go Patriots! It is both an honor and a joy to return “home” and serve in the educator preparation program that first shaped my journey as an educator.

After graduating, I spent the next 16 years in East Texas schools as a high school teacher, instructional coach, elementary principal, and central office administrator. I then joined the faculty at The University of Texas at Arlington in 2020 before returning to UT Tyler in 2022, where I now prepare future school leaders and instructional coaches.

I earned my doctorate in Educational Leadership from Stephen F. Austin State University in 2013 and also served as an adjunct professor in the SFASU principal preparation program for five years while working as a public school leader.

A Few Quick Facts About Me:

As a former turnaround principal, I am passionate about school improvement and equipping future school leaders with the tools to navigate the complexities of leading schools.
I advocate for students served in Special Education across East Texas, supporting educators and families. I am also completing my Educational Diagnostician licensure to expand my support of our local schools through evaluation services.
Once a coach, always a coach—I love partnering with practicing school leaders to support their goals for campuses, teachers, and students.
I enjoy running . . . or at least I like to say I do.
We have two sweet Persian cats we lovingly call “the fluffs.” They "help supervise" my online, asynchronous classes when I work from home.

What I Research:

My research focuses on school leadership learning, with a particular interest in addressing school leader attrition. Did you know that school leaders leave the profession at higher rates than teachers? One contributing factor is a lack of meaningful professional learning.

Through my work, I explore how strengthening leadership development can improve retention and, ultimately, school outcomes.

What I Teach:

Over the past six years, I have taught a variety of graduate courses at the masters and doctoral levels. Also, I previously served as a program coordinator for the M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (UTA) and currently serve as the program coordinator for the M.Ed. in Curriculum & Instruction at UT Tyler.

I currently teach:
Principal Preparation, M.Ed.
EDLR 5310: Leadership Theory and Practice
EDLR 5349: Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for School Improvement
Curriculum & Instruction, M.Ed.
EDCI 5329: Instructional Coaching Practicum
EDCI 5320: Teacher Learning & Professional Development
EDCI 5321: Instructional Coaching
EDCI 5322: Tools Used in Instructional Coaching

I previously taught:
Ed.D. School Improvement
EDRM 6353: Qualitative Research in Educational Settings
Principal Preparation Program, M.Ed.
EDAD 5384: Principalship
EDAD 5322: Educational Research and Evaluation
EDAD 5360: Leadership Theory
Ph.D. K-16 Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
EDAD 6325: K-16 Policy Analysis Research
EDAD 6342: Organizational and Leadership Theory Research
EDAD 6392: Writing the Literature Review

The "fluffs" helping out.

Doctoral students problem-solving together.

Capturing families celebrating graduation and future school leaders!

Throwback to my principal days: Pre-K Graduation!

Celebrating these future school leaders!