Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Affiliations
Certification
Professional Affiliations and Leadership
Timeline
Generic
Latasha Barker

Latasha Barker

Leander

Summary

A highly accomplished and visionary educational leader with over 25 years of diverse experience in Texas public education, from classroom teacher to assistant superintendent. Proven expertise in strategic leadership, instructional improvement, fiscal stewardship, and stakeholder engagement. Demonstrated success in driving academic improvements, fostering community engagement, securing resources through corporate relations, donor development, and expanded partnerships, and ensuring sound financial management. Experienced working in rural, suburban, and urban districts, as well as Title I and affluent communities. Served on state and national boards, including TXASCD, ASCD, TEA Educator, and as ESC 7 Curriculum Council Chairperson. Also, provided expertise in teacher preparation as Education Specialist for Teacher Preparation and Certification at ESC Region XII. Committed to creating collaborative and equitable environments that empower students, staff, and the community to achieve excellence.

Overview

30
30
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification

Work History

Assistant Superintendent for Organizational Services

Lake Travis ISD
01.2023 - Current
  • Provide leadership and direction across multiple departments to support strategic growth, operational excellence, and student well-being.
  • Directed the development of a comprehensive strategic planning process rooted in community feedback and data analysis, aligning district priorities with instructional and operational goals. Developed and implemented comprehensive surveys and a dynamic data dashboard for students, parents, and staff, translating feedback into actionable strategies aligned with the principle of "From Feedback to Results."
  • Developed and implemented comprehensive surveys and a dynamic data dashboard for students, parents, and staff, translating feedback into actionable strategies aligned with the principle of "From Feedback to Results." As part of the senior leadership team, achieved the successful passage of a $143 million bond.
  • Served as a Bond Advisory Committee member, collaborating with community and business experts to review increasing construction costs and identify efficiency measures.
  • As part of the senior leadership team, I implemented budget advisory cuts, utilizing data analytics to balance financial sustainability with the preservation of essential services.
  • Chaired the Diversity Awareness Committee, spearheading initiatives that foster an inclusive environment where every individual feels valued, reinforcing the district’s core value, "We are one community."
  • Chaired the Diversity Awareness Committee, spearheading initiatives that foster an inclusive environment where every individual feels valued, reinforcing the district’s core value, "We are one community."
  • Led cultural transformation efforts that promote collaboration, mutual respect, and belonging among students and staff.
  • Ensured building inclusive systems where all students feel supported academically, socially, and emotionally.
  • Built and sustained strategic collaborations with local, county, and state agencies to address youth violence and fentanyl prevention by providing resources and community awareness campaigns.
  • Served on the board of the Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce (2023-2026), supporting economic development, and fostering community ties that benefit the district.
  • Strengthened ties with campus PTOs, acting as a liaison to build effective, results-oriented partnerships that align district initiatives with campus-level efforts for student success.
  • Revitalized the district’s Education Foundation by restructuring systems to enhance sustainability, increase fundraising capacity, and secure long-term support for student programs and district initiatives.
  • Spearheaded corporate relations and donor development strategies to expand partnerships and secure additional resources for district-wide programs.
  • Championed district priorities through active participation in legislative advocacy, ensuring alignment with state and local support systems to sustain and advance district initiatives.
  • Oversaw district-wide policy revisions, including student and employee handbooks, bullying prevention policies, and student transfer procedures, ensuring alignment with best practices and legal requirements.

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction

Diboll ISD
01.2020 - 01.2023
  • Led the district to its first-ever A-Rating from the Texas Education Agency in 2022, a historic milestone reflecting significant academic improvements across all campuses.
  • Oversaw district-wide initiatives that support strategic growth, operational excellence, and student well-being, ensuring decisions remain student-focused while supporting long-term sustainability.
  • Directed the alignment of PreK-12 instructional and curricular services, resulting in two consecutive years of increased STAAR scores across multiple grades, subjects, and student subgroups.
  • Developed and implemented the district's Literacy Initiative, leading to substantial gains in student reading proficiency and overall literacy rates.
  • Oversaw the design and analysis of district-wide assessments to leverage data for instructional improvement.
  • Led revisions and expansion of the District of Innovation (DOI) Plan, increasing flexibility in staffing, calendars, and policies to improve staff recruitment, and student outcomes.
  • Secured over $10 million in grants as the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction in Diboll ISD.
  • Spearheaded the district's Teacher Incentive Allotment system, ensuring that every teacher in the district was eligible for designation.
  • As a senior leadership team member, I implemented district budgeting, TASB staffing studies, and strategic hiring initiatives, ensuring fiscal responsibility and strategic staffing decisions.
  • Managed federal and state programs and all grant awards, ensuring effective implementation of Title-funded programs, ESSER initiatives, multiple TCLAS state grants, CTE JET grant and other federal competitive grants.
  • Oversaw the School Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), building partnerships between health professionals, educators, and the community to develop comprehensive health strategies that enhance both academic success and emotional safety.
  • Implemented TASB staffing study recommendations, optimizing staffing levels and resource deployment to improve operational efficiency and support for students and staff.

Chief Academic Officer

Learning List
01.2014 - 01.2020
  • Led the standards-based alignment of over 3,500 PreK-12 instructional materials to state and national frameworks, demonstrating expertise in curriculum development and alignment.
  • Supervised a nationwide team of over 230 subject matter experts, ensuring high-quality, research-based curriculum alignment.
  • Served as a project management consultant for more than a dozen Texas school districts, guiding instructional material selection and implementation for Proclamations 2019 and 2020.
  • Provided professional development to districts across the country on standards alignment, response to intervention (RTI), and data-driven decision-making, improving instructional effectiveness.

Curriculum Director

Lindale ISD
01.2007 - 01.2014
  • Collaborated with district leadership to guide the district to become the highest-performing 4A district in ESC Region 7, spearheading data-driven curriculum and instructional strategies that increased Bilingual/ESL student assessment scores by over 20%.
  • Secured a strategic partnership with George W. The Bush Institute and The Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk at UT Austin are bringing Middle School Matters Institute strategies to Lindale Junior High, leading to five consecutive years of exemplary ratings.
  • Recognized by the Texas Education Agency as a Best Practices district for Differentiated Instruction, affirming the district's commitment to innovative practices and outstanding academic performance.

Director of Elementary Academic Services

LTISD
01.2005 - 01.2007
  • Managed federal and state funds and programs, including Title I, Title II, Title III, Title VI, Title V, Accelerated Reading and Math Intervention, and state compensatory Bilingual/ESL, ensuring effective allocation and compliance.
  • As a senior leadership team member, I implemented district budgeting, TASB staffing studies, and strategic hiring initiatives, ensuring fiscal responsibility and strategic staffing decisions.
  • Managed all district and campus curriculum-based assessments, and met with grade levels from each campus to celebrate strengths and accomplishments, and collaborate on the development of targeted assisted plans for students.
  • Spearheaded the implementation of the core curriculum, scheduling of instructional time and activities, developing appropriate intervention plans, implementation of district initiatives and programs, providing high-quality professional development, and ensuring uniform and consistent grading practices to maximize learning and student success for all elementary campuses.

Academic Supervisor and Campus Administrator

Austin Independent School District
Austin
07.2000 - 06.2005
  • Collaborated with the Elementary Associate Superintendent on all aspects of academics at the Pre-K-6 grade level, including continuous communication with various departments such as curriculum, accountability, system-wide testing, special education, gifted and talented, professional development, and grants, to ensure a continuous focus on student growth and learning.
  • Led thirty-seven of the seventy-four elementary campuses with the implementation of the core curriculum, scheduling of instructional time and activities, developing appropriate intervention plans, assigning and scheduling appropriate district curriculum specialist activities and responsibilities, and ensuring uniform and consistent grading practices to maximize learning and student success.
  • Developed the district’s action plans to improve student achievement in science and math for elementary campuses.
  • Served on the district’s Middle School Task Force to prepare middle school teachers for the 8th Grade Social Studies, Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exams. Of the fourteen campuses that were at risk of becoming low-performing based on interim assessments, thirteen campuses performed at or above state expectations.
  • Led the campus improvement of the state academic rating from Low Performing to Acceptable by developing and monitoring a math action plan to raise the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills mathematics scores.

Education Specialist for Teacher Preparation and Certification

01.2000 - 12.2000
  • Supervised and mentored over one hundred teacher preparation interns.
  • Developed, implemented, and taught sixty hours of pedagogy training to teacher interns.
  • Collaborated with surrounding school districts with the placement and mentorship of program teacher interns.

Regular, Honors, and Advanced Placement Economics Teacher

Killeen ISD
Killeen
01.1997 - 01.1999
  • Taught all levels of the Economics curriculum using real-world, differentiated instruction, and authentic assessments.
  • Sponsored close-up, Washington, and chaperoned students in Washington, D.C.
  • Mentored at-risk students by serving as the campus tutor for reading and social studies.
  • Served on various campus and district committees, including the EHS Leadership Academy, Site-Based Decision Making, and the campus and district Attendance Appeals Committees.

World History Teacher

El Paso ISD
El Paso
01.1996 - 01.1997
  • Mentored at-risk students by serving as the campus tutor for reading and social studies.
  • Served on various campus committees, including the Staff Development Action Team, Campus Improvement Team, and Celebration and Recognition Action Team.

Economics and Government Teacher

Northside ISD
San Antonio
01.1995 - 01.1996
  • Mentored at-risk students by serving as the campus tutor for social studies.
  • Sponsored the National Stock Market Game.

Education

Master of Arts - Educational Administration

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
Belton, TX
12-1999

Bachelor of Science - Political Science And History

University of Texas At Tyler
Tyler, TX
08-1994

Skills

  • Strategic planning and organizational effectiveness
  • Data analysis and performance improvements
  • Curriculum development and instructional leadership
  • Budget management
  • Project management and quality assurance
  • Community engagement and partnerships
  • Grant writing
  • Change management
  • Stakeholder communication and collaboration
  • Collaboration skills and conflict resolution
  • Diversity initiatives
  • Policy development, implementation, and compliance
  • School safety and crisis management
  • Legislative advocacy
  • Staff recruitment, retention, and management

Affiliations

A respected and sought-after voice in education, I have presented to and led educators across the nation on these topics, demonstrating extensive knowledge and leadership in:

  • Curriculum Alignment and Implementation
  • Instructional Leadership & Best Practices
  • Teacher Incentive Allotment Planning
  • Differentiated Instruction Strategies
  • Response to Intervention (RTI) Implementation
  • Literacy and Reading Initiatives
  • Legislative Updates and Educational Advocacy
  • Strategic Adoption of Instructional Materials
  • Data-Driven Instructional Improvement

Certification

Superintendent Certificate Texas

Principal Certificate Texas

Teacher Certificate 6-12 Government, 6-12 History, 6-12 Social Studies Composite, Texas

P-TESS Appraiser Texas

T-TESS Appraiser Texas

Professional Affiliations and Leadership

Education Service Center Region VII, Curriculum Council

Active member: 2007-2014, 2020-2023

Curriculum Advisory Committee member, 2014

Chairperson, 2008-2010

Texas Association of School Administrators

Active member: 2007-2014, 2021-2025

Texas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

Active member: 2008-2024

Local Arrangements Committee member, 2021-2023

Executive Board, Affiliate Liaison, 2024

Executive Board, Secretary, 2017-2020

State and National Legislative Advocacy Committee member, 2017-2020

Board of Directors, 2010-2020, 2024

Piney Woods Affiliate President, 2009-2014, 2021-2022

Piney Woods Affiliate Contact, 2023

Texas Education Agency

Effective District Framework Committee member, 2022

Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce

Board of Directors, 2023-2026

Timeline

Assistant Superintendent for Organizational Services

Lake Travis ISD
01.2023 - Current

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction

Diboll ISD
01.2020 - 01.2023

Chief Academic Officer

Learning List
01.2014 - 01.2020

Curriculum Director

Lindale ISD
01.2007 - 01.2014

Director of Elementary Academic Services

LTISD
01.2005 - 01.2007

Academic Supervisor and Campus Administrator

Austin Independent School District
07.2000 - 06.2005

Education Specialist for Teacher Preparation and Certification

01.2000 - 12.2000

Regular, Honors, and Advanced Placement Economics Teacher

Killeen ISD
01.1997 - 01.1999

World History Teacher

El Paso ISD
01.1996 - 01.1997

Economics and Government Teacher

Northside ISD
01.1995 - 01.1996

Master of Arts - Educational Administration

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor

Bachelor of Science - Political Science And History

University of Texas At Tyler

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Latasha Barker