Sarah De La Garza, Ph.D.
Email: sardelag@ttu.edu
Phone: 806-834-1558
Dr. Sarah De La Garza is an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership in the Educational Psychology, Leadership, & Counseling Department at the College of Education at Texas Tech University. Before joining Texas Tech University, she worked in and with public and charter schools across Texas, as well as Catholic schools along the U.S.-Mexico border. Dr. De La Garza has held various roles, including secondary social studies teacher, K-12 Instructional Coach, Assistant Director of Bilingual/ESL Programs, and Director of College and Career Readiness. She also served as the Assistant Director of the 1882 Dual Language Community Lab Schools Partnership at The University of Texas at San Antonio.
Her research focuses on teacher and leadership preparation, bilingual education, dual language leadership, program evaluation, and the success of emergent bilingual and Latino students. Dr. De La Garza was a Barbara L. Jackson Scholar with the University Council of Educational Administration from 2020 to 2022. She has presented at the American Educational Research Association, the University Council of Educational Administration, the National Association of Bilingual Education, and various local and state conferences. Her dissertation, "A Snapshot of Texas Bilingual Preparation Programs," earned the 2022 Texas Association of Bilingual Education Dissertation of the Year Award.
Dr. De La Garza earned a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity with Departmental Honors from Stanford University in 2012. After teaching high school social studies, she pursued a Master of Education in School Leadership from Trinity University in 2015. She completed her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin in 2022. Dr. De La Garza joined Texas Tech University in 2024 to advance her research agenda and looks forward to teaching aspiring principals and superintendents with a focus on equity-driven leadership.

Education
- 2022 – Ph.D. – Educational Leadership and Policy, The University of Texas at Austin
- 2015 – M.Ed. – School Leadership, Trinity University
- 2012 – B.A. – Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University
Areas of Expertise
- Latino/emergent bilingual student success
- Teacher preparation
- Leadership preparation
- Bilingual education/dual language programs
- Program evaluation
Selected Publications
Kohli, R., Farrington, R., De La Garza, S., Flores, B., & Herrera, S. (2024, in press). What are we inducting teachers of color into? Disrupting race-evasiveness to create responsive professional development and mentoring policies and practices. Education Policy Analysis Archives.
Izquierdo, E., De La Garza, S., & DeMatthews, D. (2023). Leading equity-driven dual language bilingual education. In Freire, J. A., Alfaro, C. & de Jong, E. (Eds.), The Handbook of Dual Language Bilingual Education, (pp. 639-651). Routledge.
De La Garza, S., Lindo, D., Rico, J., & Callahan, R.M. (2022). Sharing our students: Shifting from language as a border to Language as a bridge (Y. Amparo, Trans.). In Hamann, E. T., Zúñiga, V., & Sánchez García, J. (Eds.), Lo que conviene que los maestros mexicanos conozcan sobre la educación básica en Estados Unidos [What Mexican Teachers Need to Know About ‘Educación Básica in the United States], (pp. 75-94). Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León Press.
Holme, J.J., Frankenberg, E., Sanchez, J., De La Garza, S., & Kennedy, M. (2020). Subsidized housing and school segregation: Examining the relationship between federally subsidized affordable housing and racial and economic isolation in schools. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, Vol. 28(169), 1-37. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.28.5290
College of Education
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Address
Texas Tech University, College of Education, 3002 18th Street Lubbock, TX 79409 -
Phone
(806) 742-2377 -
Email
educ.webmaster@ttu.edu