Sulema Carreón-Sánchez

Sulema Carreón-Sánchez, Ph.D., is an IDRA senior education associate focusing on teacher professional development, particularly in serving emergent bilingual students. In addition, she provides training and technical assistance in assessment strategies, bilingual and sheltered instruction techniques among many others.

She earned a doctorate in leadership studies from OurLady of the University, a master’s degree in education with a concentration in bicultural-bilingual studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and a bachelor’s degree in education with a concentration in bilingual/ESL and kindergarten. She is certified in elementary and middle school bilingual education, ESL and kindergarten. Additional certifications include mid-management and supervisory certificates (PK-12).

Dr. Carreon-Sanchez’s leadership experience in school administration and curriculum is varied and extensive. Her commitment to educational equity and excellence in education for all children is unwavering and steadfast. As an energetic and compassionate leader, she is equipped to support others toward a shared vision for a need to make public schools strong through relevant curricula and strong leadership, which prepares all children for college readiness. She possesses the ability and passion to create a context where students can be successful, through meaningful engagement with parents and educational communities in the teaching and learning process.

Dr. Carreón-Sánchez has worked in the education field for more than 35 years. Her professional experience includes 10 years as a senior-level manager in administrative and management in planning and implementation of improvement strategic plans. These plans are conducive to student learning and staff professional growth and ensure alignment of curriculum and assessment while promoting the use of formal and informal assessments to measure student performance.

Dr. Carreón-Sánchez a site coordinator for the IDRA Valued Youth Partnership, IDRA’s innovative dropout prevention program that has made a visible difference in the lives of more than 787,000 children, families and educators. She provides training on the use of IDRA’s bilingual Semillitas de Aprendizaje™ early childhood supplemental curriculum and is leading in developing related teacher training designs.

She has 15 years of public-school experience in supervisory instruction leadership roles, including assistant superintendent, senior education associate, director of school relations, director of bilingual/ESL programs, and education specialist. Furthermore, her teaching experience comprises five years in the elementary grades.

Dr. Carreón-Sánchez led a study for Age of Learning that independently evaluated the impact and effectiveness of ABCmouse.com on pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms in three school districts.

She has also worked for two major publishing companies as director of school relations for Pearson Scott Foresman and a bilingual consultant for McGraw-Hill Publishing. Dr. Carreón-Sánchez provided sales presentations and in-service training to school districts in the areas of reading, mathematics, science, technology applications and social studies.

She directed bilingual/ESL for a fast-growing major urban school district, Northside Independent School District in San Antonio and established a parent welcoming and assessment center, which has become a state model at various districts. Before this, she served as assistant superintendent of special programs in the Somerset ISD while in charge of the bilingual/ESL program, she established a model bilingual program, successful in raising achievement scores and meeting state standards. She planned, developed and implemented one of the first student computer labs in the state, and she promoted, organized and developed a non-graded class for over-aged students, which lead to students scoring on grade level. She developed and implemented the district’s first state compensatory programs and first migrant program. Dr. Carreón-Sánchez developed various staff, parent and student guides for drug-free, compensatory education and bilingual education. As a result, of strategic planning and implementation of renew programs the district met the state accountability standard.

Dr. Carreón-Sánchez also worked for the Texas Education Agency as an education specialist. As a team leader, she monitored school districts for compliance with state and federal regulations; reviewed and prepared report findings; provided training at intra- and inter-departmental level; led on-site technical assistance; assisted in developing textbook and learning systems proclamations; designed and coordinated pupil-accounting system for the state and conducted data analyses for state and federal utilization, while providing program and fiscal management technical assistance.

While at the Edgewood ISD, she worked as a Title VII consultant providing assistance to Title VII campuses teachers. During her years in the classroom, Dr. Carreón-Sánchez taught numerous classes, including bilingual education, ESL and early childhood.