Dr. J. Elizabeth Casey enjoys working with new teachers. She admires the fresh perspective they bring to the classroom and their desire to have a meaningful impact right away.
She enjoys helping her students channel that enthusiasm into long-term success by emphasizing research-based instructional strategies and practices they can use to support young learners. “Trying to make sure that they hang on to that passion” is equally important, she noted, so that new teachers keep innovating and connecting with students.
Dr. Casey joined Lamar University in September of 2023, after four years at Texas A&M University-Central Texas, serving as a department chair during her last two years. She’s excited about the pathways that accelerated online programs at LU are creating for novice and experienced teachers alike, and how the flexibility of online learning enables busy educators to advance their knowledge.
In her current role as chair of the Department of Teacher Education, Dr. Casey has overseen final development for the university’s online Alternative Certification Program (ACP) and the new online Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT). Curriculum in the two pathways to teacher certification is aligned, giving ACP students interested in a graduate degree a streamlined path to achieving that goal by taking just three additional courses.
“At the end of it, they will not only be certified but they will also have a Master of Arts in Teaching,” she said. Current educators can benefit from other graduate programs in the department, such as the Master of Education in Literacy or the Master of Education in Administration. Earning a graduate degree can benefit teachers who work in districts offering a higher pay grade or annual stipend for a master’s.
Dr. Casey says that the online ACP and MAT programs offer students the flexibility and resources required to study while working full time, along with experienced faculty members committed to helping teachers grow in the profession.
“We support them through the tests required for certification with appropriate coursework,” she explained, “and then when they have passed their tests and become teachers in a classroom, we are there to support them with field supervisors and mentor teachers at their school to ensure that they receive everything they need to be successful in the classroom.”
A Life in Education
Upon earning her bachelor’s in education from The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Casey began her instructional career exactly as she pictured it. “I was going to be an elementary teacher and I knew that I wanted fifth graders,” she remembered. Within a few months of graduating in 1986, she achieved both goals, landing her first teaching job in San Antonio’s Northside Independent School District.
After three rewarding years in the classroom, however, life intervened. “I ended up marrying somebody in the military and moving around the world,” she said. It was a journey that spanned two decades and included raising a family. They eventually settled in South Carolina, and once her youngest started kindergarten, she enrolled at Clemson University, ready to resume her career.
She taught fourth grade after receiving her Master of Arts in English. Her focus soon shifted to college-level instruction and working with students who wanted to become educators. After graduating in 2006, she continued to the PhD in Curriculum and Instruction program at the university. Dr. Casey completed the degree in 2011, with a new purpose and vision.
“I got my doctorate, learned how to prepare effective teachers to go into the classroom and just fell in love with it,” she said. “I’ve been doing it ever since.”
Dr. Casey has taught and mentored K-12 instructors for more than a decade now, giving each a strong foundation in theory, pedagogy and best practices. She brings significant experience in special education to Lamar University as well, and a commitment to making sure that graduates have the right preparation to support students with exceptionalities.
Remembering her time in the elementary classroom, she recalled how working with students who had an individual education program (IEP) helped her grasp the important role teachers play in helping children with exceptionalities thrive in any learning environment.
“I began to understand how the supports that they received in special education helped them stay in school and become independent,” she said. Dr. Casey’s expertise with students who experience learning, emotional and behavioral challenges also informs the university’s coursework in education, benefiting teachers in every program.
Teaching, Mentoring and Learning
Dr. Casey enjoys teaching at Lamar University in addition to her administrative duties and work with faculty. In her Education Law course, she emphasizes core concepts for instructional personnel at every experience level, because the legal landscape in which K-12 schools operate is always changing.
“I want to ensure that educators understand education law,” she said, highlighting legislation such as the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). “The rights of students in the classroom, the rights of parents, their rights as teachers in the school, and the administration’s responsibility” all need to be accounted for, she advised, “to make sure the laws are upheld.”
Dr. Casey believes that mentoring is critical as well, and she’s proud of the emphasis the online ACP and MAT programs put on this element of teacher development.
“All the research shows that strong mentoring and strong induction programs for initial teachers—whether they are coming out of a bachelor’s program or out of an alternative certification program—they need those supports,” she said.
LU teacher education faculty also partners with a wide range of Texas school districts and administrators, so that online students can access experienced field supervisors in their local area. “We work closely with the schools and the principals to identify mentors to support our candidates,” she confirmed.
When speaking with prospective ACP and MAT students changing careers, in addition to discussing coursework and fieldwork, Dr. Casey counsels them to spend time reflecting on their reasons for joining the profession. As part of choosing the grade level and subject certifications they want to pursue, she suggests new teachers should consider what they will bring to the classroom, based on their unique background and interests.
“Where they think they will be the strongest and most effective teacher,” is key, she noted, as is finding a role that compels them to keep learning. It’s advice she has followed in her own career.
“I am a huge science-fiction fantasy person,” she shared, giving an example of how her interest in futuristic concepts enlivens her real-world exploration of STEM-based learning strategies. “I love technology, and anytime you can bring technology into the classroom, students learn new skills,” she said.
A Passion for Service and Research
Dr. Casey’s emphasis on interactive K-12 teaching and technology keeps LU programs on the leading edge of education. Her scholarly research in these areas ranges from robotics and virtual reality to communication, ethics, inclusion and cultural competency in the classroom.
Her studies have been featured in many peer-reviewed academic journals, most recently, Education and Information Technologies and the Journal of Service Learning in Higher Education.
In addition, Dr. Casey’s dissertation, Increasing ELLs’ Awareness and Use of Metacognitive Strategies: Pushing Toward an End to Silence in the Classroom through Reciprocal Teaching, was published and highlights her research.
One of her favorite ongoing projects involves using floor robots to teach young children coding skills. Students program their bot to draw geometric shapes, attempting to recreate a specific pattern. Math and collaboration skills are required to complete the exercise, and students work together to create code that instructs the bot to draw the correct image on the floor.
Dr. Casey loves the excitement she sees in kids who participate, and how an assignment such as this can help students interact. “Bring the technology in, but make it more social,” she advised, “so that they have to engage with others to solve problems.” She also believes that technology can help teachers bond with their class, fostering an “instant connection” that makes learning fun.
Dr. Casey encourages students in her courses to conduct research and contribute to the university’s broad knowledge base in education that helps teachers grow. “Our students are constantly bringing new ideas to us that we can then take and put it into the pedagogy,” she said. “I think that’s a win-win.”
Whether she’s mentoring new teachers, breaking new ground or working with faculty to develop online programs that support student success, Dr. Casey’s ultimate goal is the same: to equip Lamar University graduates with the skills and confidence they need to thrive in their careers and shape the future of education.
Learn more about the online Alternate Certification Program for teachers at Lamar University.
Learn more about the online Master of Arts in Teaching program at Lamar University.
