EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Chair (2023-2024)
Dr. Liza LaRue is a consultant for Region 7. She received her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction Supervision from Texas A&M Commerce. Liza has served most of her teaching career in early childhood classrooms. Liza was the ILA State Coordinator from 2019-2022 and has been a member of TALE’s advocacy committee for 7 years The advocacy committee has received the ILA Advocacy Award for the last 7 years for their advocacy work. She is passionate about best literacy practice in early childhood classrooms and will continue to advocate for Texas students.
Chair-Elect (2023-2024)
Sara Ranzau, EdD is currently an instructional coach in Boerne ISD. She is also an adjunct professor at Schreiner University in Kerrville, TX. She is also the director for the TALE Advocacy Development Committee. She received her Ed.D. in education with a focus in literacy from Sam Houston State University in 2016 and recently completed a certificate course on Trauma Informed Instruction through North Central College in Illinois. Dr. Ranzau has taught at schools in a variety of cities and situations throughout Texas since she began her career in 2003. Her undergraduate degree is in theatre education, so she believes she often brings a new take on a lesson or activity into her classrooms. She enjoys working with teachers and looks forward to continuing to serve the membership of TALE in her role on the board.
Vice President (2019-Present)
Dr. Jacqueline Ingram is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning at
Sam Houston State University. She earned an Ed.D in Literacy from Sam Houston State
University, and an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction and a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies
from Texas A&M University. Prior to teaching in higher education, Jackie taught in Texas public
education for 15 years. She has been involved with TALE since 2015 and currently serves as
Vice President and Chair of Membership Development. Jackie also serves as Chair of the
Teacher Education and Professional Development division of ALER (Association of Literacy
Educators and Researchers), and is a faculty co-sponsor for SHSU’s chapter of the Texas
Association of Future Educators (TAFE). Her research interests include content and disciplinary
literacy, adolescent literacy, and pre-service teacher education.
Sam Houston State University. She earned an Ed.D in Literacy from Sam Houston State
University, and an M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction and a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies
from Texas A&M University. Prior to teaching in higher education, Jackie taught in Texas public
education for 15 years. She has been involved with TALE since 2015 and currently serves as
Vice President and Chair of Membership Development. Jackie also serves as Chair of the
Teacher Education and Professional Development division of ALER (Association of Literacy
Educators and Researchers), and is a faculty co-sponsor for SHSU’s chapter of the Texas
Association of Future Educators (TAFE). Her research interests include content and disciplinary
literacy, adolescent literacy, and pre-service teacher education.
Executive Secretary (2023-2025)
Michelle Parker, Clinical Assistant Professor at Sam Houston State University, 4+1 Coordinator
Treasurer (2021-2023)
Amy Burke, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Literacy and Learning at Texas Woman's University. She holds a PhD from The University of Texas at Austin in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Language and Literacy Studies. Her research and teaching interests include the social-cultural-historic-political contexts of language and literacy teaching/learning; children’s and young adult literature; multimodal composing; critical literacy; and the role of talk in literacy learning. She presents her work regularly at the annual conferences of the Literacy Research Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the American Educational Research Association. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Language Arts, Literacy Research and Instruction, and English in Texas. She is a co-editor of NCTE's English Journal. Prior to working in academia, she taught Kindergarten, first, and third grade in Dallas ISD.
Past Chair (2021-2022)
Pearl Garden, Ed.D. is a Literacy Coach at Region 10 Education Service Center working with TEA (HB3) Reading Academies. Her 23 years of service includes elementary classroom instruction, teacher education, and Adjunct Professorships at Paul Quinn College and Texas A&M – Commerce. Dr. Garden has published an article in The Journal of Teacher Action Research and is the author of a blog entitled Literacy Pearls where she shares best practices and “pearls” of literacy knowledge. Dr. Garden's research involves developing the vocabulary instruction practices of early grade teachers. She has a passion for the new and novice educator, and it is her goal to help educators tackle the achievement gap with her research findings.
