She heads the theatre education teacher certification program and teaches both undergraduate and graduate theatre-for-youth courses. Previously, McAvoy was an elementary drama specialist in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina. She is active in the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (most recently serving as its director of research and scholarship), the American Society for Theatre Research, and the International Theatre for Young Audiences Research Network. She is the co-author of Drama and Education: Performance Methodologies for Teaching and Learning and co-editor of Youth and Performance: Perceptions of the Contemporary Child.