Influential Women honors Susan Jackson for expanding dual credit access

Influential Women named Goose Creek CISD Deputy Superintendent Susan Jackson a 2026 featured honoree for expanding advanced academics and mentoring future education leaders. Jackson has grown dual credit enrollment in the Texas district from 60 seats to more than 4,000, broadening college and career pathways for thousands of students.

Why it matters: - Susan Jackson’s work has expanded access to advanced academics for thousands of Goose Creek CISD students. - The district’s dual credit growth from 60 seats to more than 4,000 gives more students a head start on college, military service, or skilled careers. - Jackson’s recognition spotlights leadership pipelines for women in education, where senior roles remain underrepresented.

What happened: - Influential Women named Susan Jackson a featured honoree for 2026. - Jackson serves as deputy superintendent of Goose Creek CISD in Baytown, Texas, where she leads districtwide curriculum and instruction initiatives. - Jackson has more than three decades of experience in education. - Jackson’s specialties include curriculum and instruction, dual credit opportunities, and school turnaround.

The details: - Goose Creek CISD increased dual credit enrollment from 60 seats to more than 4,000 under Jackson’s leadership. - The expansion has helped thousands of students, including many first-generation college-goers, earn college credit before graduation. - Students also use the credits as a pathway toward military service or skilled careers. - Jackson’s interest in advanced academics began in high school, when her mother petitioned the local school board to allow her to take college coursework before graduation. - Jackson made history as the first female high school principal in Baytown. - When she was assigned to lead a campus of 2,400 students, her leadership was initially questioned because of her gender. - She later raised that campus’s performance rating from underperforming to exceeding excellence through systemic instructional improvements. - Jackson earned a master’s degree in Secondary School Administration and Principalship from Stephen F. Austin State University. - Jackson later completed a Doctor of Education at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. - Mentors including Dr. Randal O’Brien, Dr. Melissa Duarte, and Dr. Michelle Peters supported Jackson’s career and doctoral work. - Jackson credits her family for encouraging her to pursue graduate study and leadership roles. - Jackson’s community roles include the Texas Dual Credit Association, the Texas Association of School Boards, the Texas Association of School Administrators, Kiwanis, the Baytown and Highland’s chambers of commerce, Communities In Schools, Raise Your Hand Texas, the Houston Methodist Women’s Advisory Board, and the Houston Methodist Presidents Leadership Council. - As president of the Texas Dual Credit Association, Jackson organizes statewide conferences that broaden dual credit access across Texas.

Between the lines: - Jackson’s story links personal experience to public policy in the classroom. - Her mother’s advocacy became the model for Jackson’s own push to open advanced coursework to more students. - Her career also reflects a broader push to move more students into early college, career, and technical pathways. - Jackson views leadership as a way to create opportunity for others, especially aspiring women leaders. - She sees school leadership as a place where consistent instructional improvement can change outcomes at scale.

What's next: - Jackson said she is open to a superintendency or a role outside the public sector if it allows her to keep expanding opportunity. - She plans to continue mentoring future leaders and supporting women who want to move into senior education roles. - Jackson expects public schools to keep adapting through dual credit, early college, career and technical education, and other advanced pathways. - Her Influential Women profile provides more information.

The bottom line: - Susan Jackson’s career centers on one goal: give more students and emerging leaders a real chance to rise.