Dr. Sarah Yates

Bio

Sarah Yates graduated from Southeastern in 1993 and began her teaching career in an inner-city school in Tampa. She served as the school’s intermediate math specialist conducting math workshops for faculty and was named B.C. Graham’s Teacher of the Year in 1996. After transferring to a rural Title I elementary school, Dr. Yates obtained a reputation for her innovative teaching methods in reading and social studies. Dr. Yates was awarded three grants providing thousands of dollars to develop and support a reading and writing curriculum. She was named Robinson’s Teacher of the Year in 1999.

While homeschooling her four children, Dr. Yates served as an adjunct instructor at a local community college for 14 years. She began teaching full time in Southeastern University’s College of Education in 2016 and has taught a variety of courses including Applied Linguistics, Methods of Teaching Mathematics, Methods of Teaching Science, Foundations of Research, and Curriculum Design. Passionate about creativity in the classroom, Dr. Yates stresses the importance of establishing an engaging classroom and believes in modeling research-based teaching strategies. She has trained teachers on multiple mission trips to Asia and Africa.

Dr. Yates enjoys working with doctoral students and encouraging them in their research endeavors. Her research interests include factors that contribute to student thriving. She has conducted research on how engaged learning, academic determination, positive perspectives, social connectedness, and spirituality can enhance students’ chances of thriving.

Having taught for over thirty years at the K-12 and collegiate level, she values the importance of a Christian education and says, “A student could not find a better place to learn and develop skills in the field of education than Southeastern University.”