She earned a Ph.D. in Comparative and International Development Education at the University of Minnesota in 2006, a M.Ed. in Secondary English Education from Wake Forest University in 1996, and a B.A. in English from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1995. Before her doctoral study, she taught secondary school English domestically and abroad. The focus of her doctoral study was international development education, specifically the education of children in difficult circumstances, such as street children, ethnic minority children, refugee and immigrant children, and other groups often not served effectively in formal school settings around the world.