Currently, Dr. McGaughey serves as the 6th-12th Grade Social Studies Coordinator for the Rockwood School District. In this role, Dr. McGaughey works to facilitate curriculum writing, professional learning opportunities, resource purchases, district common assessment development and building/districtwide data analysis for secondary social studies teachers. Moving into his seventh year as the 6th-12th Grade Social Studies Coordinator in Rockwood, Dr. McGaughey has prioritized implementation of the C3 Framework national social studies standards as the foundation of a social studies program whose foundations include inquiry based learning, project based learning, and skills based social studies instruction and assessments. In the last few years, Dr. McGaughey has worked with teachers to develop and utilize proficiency scales tied to essential course outcomes determined by teachers to be the skills needed for students to grow as historians and social scientists. As a teacher at Seckman High School in the Fox C-6 School District, Dr. McGaughey stressed the value of diversity, debate and critical thinking as students create presentations and videos, write to legislators, and simulate the legislative process with mock Congressional sessions. In one lesson, students developed, presented, discussed and voted on new Constitutional amendments. His students consistently performed above district and state averages on year-end assessments: last year, 92% scored Advanced or Proficient. In addition to winning the Milken Award in 2017, Dr. McGaughey was awarded the Fox C-6 School District Teacher of the Year award in 2015-2026, and was named a DESE St. Louis Regional Teacher of the Year in 2016.
Committed to supporting fellow educators, Dr. McGaughey serves as a member of multiple professional organizations both inside and outside of his school district. Dr. McGaughey is a member of the grading and assessment committee for his district's 6th-8th grade program redesign. Additionally, Dr. McGaughey serves as the Professional Development Committee for his curriculum team, a position that is voted upon per guidelines from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Locally, Dr. McGaughey serves as the President of the St. Louis Social Studies and History Resource Consortium, which is comprised of all St. Louis Metropolitan area coordinators, facilitators and instructional leaders for social studies across all school districts in the St. Louis metropolitan area. In past years, Dr. McGaughey has served as a representative on the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Teacher's Advisory Council, as well as a member of the board of delegates for the Missouri Council for Social Studies.
McGaughey earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 2007, master’s in education in 2008 from Truman State University, and an educational doctorate in leadership from Saint Louis University in 2024.
Press release: There's no debating this decision: Jordan McGaughey is Missouri’s only Milken Educator Award recipient for 2017
"If students are passionate about what they are learning,..." (read more)
Coordinator of K-12 Social Studies
