Debra Payne

Bachelor of Science, Business and Physical Education
Master of Education, Educational Administration

Debra Payne has 24 years of experience in the Texas Public School System. She was first a teacher and coach working in several school districts in Texas. While in Belton, Texas, she become the Director of Comprehensive Programs where she developed a program for Dyslexia, created a comprehensive system for at-risk students, and wrote and received a million dollar grant to support the implementation of a highly successful dual language/bilingual program. She has also worked with gifted education. Debra then became the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for Secondary Education and implemented an alternative education high school, where students received their education in a non-traditional setting. Debra spent several years designing an award-winning system in Belton School District where the district received the state status of “Recognized” from 1998-2002.

Debra is an accomplished grant writer, whose efforts have resulted in helping districts receive millions of dollars. She has also received several awards for her service to education including Central Texas Workforce Development Volunteer of the Year and Job Training Partnership Act Educator of the Year. Debra has spent the past few years working as an educational consultant assisting districts and campuses to become places of success for their students. She has assisted school districts in many states to achieve the rigors of NCLB, most of which are seeing their scores rise under NCLB and state guidelines for the first time. Her success in working to improve student achievement includes states such as California, Nevada, Arizona, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New York, Texas and Florida, to name a few. She has also worked with the Native American community on the Navajo and Apache reservations, where she assisted districts in understanding the rigors of NCLB and helped them to develop a process for systemic improvement.

Debra is a trainer for Curriculum Alignment, Power Walks, lesson planning, Curriculum and Instruction audits, 4Mat Learning Styles, Academic Vocabulary Instruction for Elementary and Secondary Students, and The Teaching Difference II--Putting an End to Reading, Spelling and Writing Struggles. Debra resides in Belton, Texas, with her husband, Mike. She has one daughter, Kayla.