Dr. Andrea N. Alston is an adjunct faculty member in the College of Education at Grand Canyon University, where she teaches graduate-level special education coursework in the Master of Science in Special Education program. She holds an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership with an Emphasis in Special Education from Grand Canyon University and brings more than 21 years of field experience to her teaching practice. Her instructional portfolio spans behavior support and systematic instruction, IEP case management and transition planning, and literacy intervention, including the science of reading, AAC, assistive technology, and dyslexia, preparing teacher candidates to serve students with moderate to severe exceptionalities across inclusive, virtual, and specialized settings. She also brings active, multi-state special education advocacy experience to the classroom, grounding graduate instruction in real-world law and practice. Her classroom career spans one of the broadest ranges in the profession, from juvenile corrections and ESL settings to gifted education, resource, self-contained, and inclusive classrooms across PreK through post-secondary levels. That depth of experience gives her students something textbooks alone cannot: the perspective of an educator who has navigated the full complexity of special education in the real world. Dr. Alston is passionate about preparing the next generation of special educators to be competent, compliant, and compassionate advocates for students with disabilities.