麻豆影院

Ana Contreras, Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice
Dissertation: 鈥淭e Acompa? Trust, Engagement, and Belonging in the Wake of School Reform鈥�

Ana Contreras earned her doctorate in Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice. Her exemplary dissertation study, 鈥淭e Acompa帽o: Trust, Engagement, and Belonging in the Wake of School Reform,鈥� built on three years of collaborative fieldwork with a 鈥渘ewcomer鈥� school of choice in Denver鈥檚 Montbello neighborhood. Her research documents how neoliberal urban policies, working in tandem with education reforms, have reshaped communities, exacerbated racial divisions and deepened distrust in public institutions. At the same time, Ana shows how schools can resist and subvert such pressures through pedagogies of acompa帽amiento, practices that help immigrant families find a sense of belonging--and build collective power--in their schools and community. Ana鈥檚 study included a collaborative participatory action research project with Las Madres, a group of Latin American mothers. Through research and activism, this group documented power dynamics around parent engagement in their school and neighborhood, and challenged narrow, district-sponsored 鈥渆ngagement鈥� opportunities to redesign Montbello schools. Ana is a deep and astute listener, an amplifier of others鈥� voices, and a powerful advocate for immigrant families. She is continuing her work with communities as an Assistant Teaching Professor and Coordinator of the Puksta Scholars Program at CU 麻豆影院, mentoring undergraduate students conducting their own community-engaged projects.

Spencer Dudley, Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice
Dissertation: 鈥淟ate Childhood Stress and Neurocognitive Development: Exploring the Role of School Safety鈥�

Spencer Dudley earned a combined triple Ph.D. in Research and Evaluation Methodology, Neuroscience, and Cognitive Science. For his dissertation, Late Childhood Stress and Neurocognitive Development: Exploring the Role of School-Based Threat, he leveraged an exciting new dataset of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data for over 11,000 9- to 10-year-olds across the U.S. Historically, research has found negative associations between childhood adversity and later neurocognition, particularly for executive function and fluid cognition. Such findings have been observed for early experience of poverty, deprivation due to institutional care, and home abuse or neglect. The largely correlational nature of these studies, however, has belied causal interpretations. His dissertation shed light on this issue by taking a principled approach to studying the influence of experiencing an unsafe school environment on neurocognition. When applying a method that accounts for unobserved family-related sources of bias, he generally found that correlations from prior work no longer hold. There is therefore reason for concern that unobserved family-related factors may underlie many of the negative associations reported in prior literature. Altogether, these findings point to a need for a more explicitly circumspect attitude toward the question of causality in research on developmental influence of early adversity.

Tanya Ennis, Learning Sciences and Human Development
Dissertation: 鈥淵earning to Learn: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Black Engineering Students Deciding to Stay or Leave Engineering Majors鈥�

Tanya Ennis earned her degree in Learning Sciences and Human Development. A leader here on campus in broadening participation in STEM as the most recent director of the BOLD Center, Dr. Ennis is committed to developing and studying strategies that can create a more equitable environment for racially minoritized and first-generation students. Her dissertation research grew out of her desire to center and understand Black students鈥� experiences in engineering. She studied Black students鈥� decisions to stay or leave their engineering majors at a single Predominantly White Institution, and her qualitative studies revealed the complexities of why Black students choose to stay or leave. Dr. Ennis is the new Broadening Participation and Research Support Director for the SpectrumX Center in the College of Engineering and Applied Science here at CU 麻豆影院, and the recipient of the 2002 School of Education Outstanding Dissertation PhD Award.

Caitlin Fine, Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity
Dissertation: 鈥淭ranslanguaging as a Co-Design Principle in Science Formative Assessment鈥�

Caitlin Gailey McClearycale Fine earned her doctorate in Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy with a specialization in Science Education. In her dissertation, titled 鈥淭ranslanguaging as a Co-Design Principle in Science Formative Assessment鈥� Dr. Fine developed a partnership with two sixth grade science teachers, co-designing assessment cycles that supported their linguistically and culturally diverse students to demonstrate their understanding of science concepts using their full linguistic repertoires. With an academic identity that spans the disciplines of Bilingual Education, Science Education, and Assessment, Dr. Fine is a talented mixed-methods researcher whose work is already having an impact upon practice nationwide. In the true spirit of a research-practice partnership, Dr. Fine鈥檚 scholarship is conducted with educators in the contexts of their work and her publications reach audiences of scholars and educators. By merging her research with practice, Caitlin is helping the next generation of elementary teachers disrupt long standing injustices in science education and build culturally and linguistically sustaining experiences for young people. Currently a postdoctoral researcher at Boston College, Caitlin will join the faculty at Metropolitan State University Denver in fall of 2022. She is a recipient of the 2022 School of Education Outstanding Teaching PhD Award.

Quinton Freeman, Learning Sciences and Human Development
Dissertation: 鈥淭eaching as a Standing Invitation鈥�

Quinton Freeman earned his doctorate in Learning Sciences & Human Development. In his dissertation, titled 鈥� Teaching as a Standing Invitation 鈥� Quinton grapples with the idea that teaching is not an explanation for learning. He asks, 鈥渨hat, then, is the role of a teacher?鈥� As he elaborates in his dissertation, Quinton sees a central aspect of teaching as noticing how others are genuinely included (or not) in the shared activities of society. In his dissertation, he offers pedagogical strategies and analytic tools that support preservice teachers鈥� development of new ways to notice and build on children鈥檚 capabilities. Dr. Freeman is continuing his own teaching and learning as a Transformational Learning Specialist working in the Spring Branch Independent School District in Texas. He is a recipient of the 2022 School of Education Outstanding Teaching PhD Award. Congratulations Dr. Quinton Freeman!

Nancy Kress, Curriculum & Instruction, STEM Education
Dissertation: 鈥淓quitable Mathematics Instruction: Instructor and Student Perspectives鈥�

Nancy Kress earned her BA from Colby College in 1993 and Masters degrees from University of New Hampshire in 1998 and Antioch University New England in 2015. As she completed her doctoral studies, she has balanced parenting, teaching, research, and regular meditative commutes between Nederland and 麻豆影院. Over her two decades of secondary mathematics teaching, Dr. Kress explored ways of humanizing students鈥� experience with mathematics and began her doctoral program with a strong commitment and passion for advancing equitable and inclusive practices in mathematics.聽 In her dissertation, Equitable Mathematics Instruction: Instructor and Student Perspectives, she examined the culture, norms, classroom practices and student experiences in two university mathematics departments at Minority Serving Institutions with reputations for equitable and inclusive practices to inform a model for Equitable Mathematics Instruction (EMI). In her findings, Dr. Kress identified instructors鈥� use of flexible resources and structures, student focused active learning and cultivating community as central features of the enactment of EMI. Dr. Kress is currently a Postdoctoral Associate in STEM Education at the CU-麻豆影院 School of Education and regularly is asked to present to mathematics departments and conferences focused on improving undergraduate mathematics education. Congratulations, Nancy!

Daniel Moore, Curriculum & Instruction, Literacy Studies
Dissertation: 鈥淪torying Addiction with Youth in Recovery: A Critical Affective Literacies Approach鈥�

Daniel Moore earned his doctorate in Literacy Studies and Teacher Learning, Research, and Practice. His dissertation, titled Storying Addiction with Youth in Recovery: A Critical Affective Literacies Approach, analyzed data gathered through a nine-week literacy collective with eight young people at a recovery high school in the US Mountain West region. Dan and the young people with whom he collaborated drew on critical affective literacies and storying practices to analyze the social label of 鈥渁ddict鈥� to better understand how the label is imbued with power and to redefine the meanings associated with the label. He positioned youth as capable and empowered, recognizing that critique demands not only space to share, hear, and hold personal experiences, but also hope, something not often provided to young people experiencing alternative school spaces. Dan was a 2022 recipient of the CU 麻豆影院 Graduate Part-Time Instructor Teaching Excellence Award.

Christopher Salda帽a, Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice
Dissertation: 鈥淓xamining K-12 School Finance Policy, Practice and Politics in Moments of Crisis鈥�

Chris Salda帽a earned his PhD in Educational Foundations Policy and Practice. In his dissertation, 鈥淓xamining K-12 School Finance Policy, Practice and Politics in Moments of Crisis,鈥� Chris explores how crises impact educational opportunities for minoritized and marginalized groups. Using an impressive and sophisticated range of methodological approaches, his dissertation weaves together three distinct studies, all showing how finance and funding decisions in times of crisis reinforce existing inequities. Chris has also co-authored publications 鈥� reports, a journal article, a Handbook chapter, and an encyclopedia entry 鈥� covering a wide range of important policy issues. And he is the host of the NEPC Podcast, where he interviews top researchers from around the country. Perhaps most importantly, in his short time with us, Chris has built an extraordinary reputation for his kindness, thoughtfulness, collegiality and high quality of work. Chris has accepted a position as an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin 鈥� Madison鈥檚 School of Education.

Astrid Sambol铆n Morales, Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity
Dissertation: 鈥淧uerto Rican M(other)work at the Center: Everyday Agency and Resistance as a Foundation for More Inclusive Educational Spaces鈥�

Astrid earned her doctorate in Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity. As a doctoral student, Astrid actively contributed to the formation of a better community in the SOE and the Puerto Rican diaspora communities of Florida, Denver, and Pennsylvania with whom she partnered. As a Puerto Rican mother and scholar, she draws from feminist Women of Color epistemologies and Critical Pedagogy to contest systemic injustices. For her dissertation, titled 鈥淧uerto Rican M(other)work at the Center: Everyday Agency and Resistance as a Foundation for More Inclusive Educational Spaces,鈥� Astrid drew on the Freirean method of culture circles to challenge the colonial project by centering love, comunidad, and corrientes de esperanza. Her research illuminated the experiences and resiliency of Puerto Rican mothers鈥攚ho were displaced alongside their families as a result of the devastating effects of Hurricane Mar铆a on the island of Puerto Rico鈥攁s they supported the academic success of their children in the mainland U.S. school system and sustained the family in the new context. Currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, Astrid will join the faculty at Kent State University in August 2022. She is the recipient of the 2022 School of Education Outstanding Community Engagement and Public Scholarship PhD Award. 隆Muchas felicidades, Astrid!

Kristina Stamatis, Learning Sciences and Human Development
Dissertation: 鈥淪eeking Stories: Throughlining in 9th Grade English Language Arts鈥�

Kristina Stamatis received bachelor鈥檚 degrees in music and English from CU 麻豆影院, and a master of arts from University of Denver. She taught high school English Language Arts (ELA) and was a literacy specialist. She focused her doctoral studies on Learning Sciences and Human Development, and was a team member in the Compose Our World project co-designing project-based ELA curriculum with high school teachers. Her dissertation was entitled 鈥淪eeking Stories: Throughlining in 9th Grade English Language Arts鈥�; it was an intensive partnership with one teacher, planning, implementing, studying and then describing in rich detail a justice-oriented digital storytelling project. To understand liberatory educational practices in a complex classroom environment within a conservative rural community, Dr. Stamatis drew on a set of critical theoretical traditions, including jazz theory and literacy scholars鈥� notions of storying and restorying. She revealed how the instructional practices she co-designed and implemented together with her partner teacher allowed students to not only assert epistemic agency, but also transform themselves individually and collectively as they told, shared, transformed, and published stories on the throughlines website (). In Fall 2021, Dr. Stamatis began a position as an assistant professor at University of Nebraska Omaha.

Kirsten Tivaringe, Curriculum & Instruction, Literacy Studies
Dissertation: 鈥淒eveloping Preservice Teachers? Critical Perspectives and Practices Teaching Multicultural Literature鈥�

Kirsten Musetti Tivaringe earned her doctorate in Literacy Studies. Building on her expertise as en elementary educator in Chicago Public Schools, Kirsten made powerful contributions to research and the preparation of preservice and practicing teachers at CU and in the Front Range. Kirsten also played a lead role in developing curriculum in the NSF-funded Build a Better BookProject. Of particular note is Kirsten鈥檚 leadership in founding the 鈥淏uffs Teach Abroad Program鈥�, with another doctoral student to build international partnerships and mentor undergraduate interns. In 2019, she was named one of 30 literacy leaders by the International Literacy Association鈥檚 鈥�30 Under 30鈥� list of young innovators in the global literacy landscape.聽 In her dissertation, Developing Preservice Teachers' Critical Perspectives and Practices Teaching Multicultural Literature, Kirsten studied how diverse children鈥檚 literature can broaden children鈥檚 and teachers鈥� perspectives, and facilitate their learning to make change in their worlds. Her findings show how preservice teachers engaged in critical perspectives teaching diverse books, through reflection and dialogue with their peers and instructor, expanding their knowledge to teach for social justice. Currently, Kirsten continues her professional trajectory in teacher education and curriculum development in the greater Chicago region. She is a recipient of the 2022 School of Education Outstanding Teaching PhD Award.

Benjamin Walsh, Curriculum & Instruction, Literacy Studies
Dissertation: 鈥淓nriched Project-Based Learning for Multilingual Students鈥�

Ben Walsh earned his doctorate in Literacy Studies. Prior to his arrival to CU, Ben was a high school Language Arts, Global Studies, and Social Studies teacher in Brooklyn, bringing vast experiences collaborating with newcomer students in the implementation of STEM and literacy projects. As a research assistant in projects funded by NSF (Build a Better Book) and the Lucas Foundation (Compose Our World), Ben co-designed curriculum and facilitated programs with multilingual youth to design tactile picture books for children who are blind or have a visual impairment. In his dissertation, Enriched Project-Based Learning for Multilingual Students, Ben illustrates the ingenious ways students draw upon languages, modes, and digital tools to access and compose texts and communicate with each other. His findings demonstrate the positive impact of such projects on multilingual students鈥� identities and aspirations, showcasing their rich repertoires of multimodal storytelling and technical skills. He is currently a Project Director in the Imagine AI: Artificial Intelligence and Ethics NSF-funded project. In this role, he collaborates in the development and study of a curriculum that uses stories, interactive experiences with AI apps, and multimodal projects to build students鈥� understanding of AI and related ethical issues.

Curriculum & Instruction: STEM Education

Curriculum & Instruction: Secondary Humanities

Cultivating Compassion and Dignity in Ourselves and Our Schools

Teaching Culturally/Linguistically Diverse Students

Leading for Change in Science Assessment Practice

The Teacher and Social and Emotional Learning

Rethinking Inclusive and Special Education

Designing for Learning:聽 Inquiry-Based Pedagogy for K-12 Educators

Jason Yeikichi Buell, Curriculum & Instruction: STEM Education
Dissertation: 鈥淒esigning for Relational Science Practices鈥�

Dr. Jason Buell completed his doctorate in STEM Education in the summer of 2020. His dissertation was embedded within a long-term research-practice partnership with a local school district that he has been instrumental in cultivating since 2014. By drawing together readings from the philosophy of science, science studies, and science education, Dr. Buell developed a new framework for understanding the types and purposes of models students create to represent their understandings of everyday phenomena as they learn about energy in high school physics, chemistry, and biology classes. He analyzed co-designed formative assessment tasks to better understand the affordances of these tasks in helping students show what they know. During his time at CU Dr. Buell also dedicated his time to supporting the School of Education and CU 麻豆影院 community, mentoring countless undergraduate and graduate students, serving as a co-founder of the student-run journal 鈥淭he Assembly,鈥� as an advisor to the McNair Scholar Program, and a board member of the Teachers of Color and Allies. He is currently a post-doctoral scholar at Northwestern University. Congratulations, Dr. Buell!

Amy Burkhardt, Research & Evaluation Methodology聽
Dissertation: 鈥淥n Three Different Classification Tasks With Unobservable Latent Traits鈥�

Amy Burkhardt has earned her PhD in the Research and Evaluation Methodology program where she completed a dissertation entitled 鈥淥n Three Different Classification Tasks With Unobservable Latent Traits.鈥� A common thread in the three distinct studies that comprise her dissertation is the challenge and affordance of using statistical models to support human human judgment in classificatory tasks. She considers classificatory judgments that arise in the context of the variability in emotions expressed by students in a collection of writing samples from essay responses, the attitudes about testing expressed by individuals on Twitter, and the sophistication with which high school students demonstrate their understanding of important scientific concepts. Each study illustrates Amy鈥檚 skillfulness in arriving at creative solutions to complex problems. Amy鈥檚 research is truly interdisciplinary, combining skills she has developed in educational research with a specialization she sought out in natural language processing through coursework in linguistics and cognitive science. Amy has been beloved by fellow students and faculty alike for her curiosity, thoughtfulness, and wonderful sense of humor. Congratulations Dr. Burkhardt!

Jeffrey Bush, Curriculum & Instruction: STEM Education
Dissertation: 鈥淭echnology Mediated Formative Assessment: Instructional Technology to Support Teaching and Learning Mathematics鈥�

Jeffrey Bush earned his doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction, Mathematics Education. In his dissertation, Jeff completed three related studies that examined ways in which mathematics teachers used technology to support student progress towards instructional goals. Using a randomized cross-over trial, and two mixed methods case studies that included video analyses of teacher practice, the findings from this collection of studies offered complementary perspectives documenting how different instructional technologies can mediate the formative assessment process. Given the rapid increase in the use of instructional technology to support teaching and learning during the pandemic, these studies provide specific evidence of ways in which teachers use technology mediated formative assessment to manage the complexity of information they use to adapt instruction and support student engagement and learning. A manuscript for one of Jeff鈥檚 dissertation studies was recently accepted for publication in the British Journal of Educational Technology. Dr. Bush is currently a Research Associate for the Institute for Cognitive Sciences at CU-麻豆影院, where he studies and supports teacher use of inquiry-oriented curricula. Congratulations, Jeff!

Rajendra Chattergoon, Research & Evaluation Methodology
Dissertation: 鈥淯sing Polytomous Item Response Theory Models to Validate Learning Progressions鈥�

Rajendra Chattergoon has earned his PhD in the Research and Evaluation Methodology program. His dissertation demonstrates how psychometric modeling can be used to evaluate the quality of assessment tasks designed to provide diagnostic insights into student learning. Raj鈥檚 work is an extremely valuable resource for science educators in their efforts to develop innovative assessments motivated by cognitive learning theories. The incredibly high quality of his dissertation鈥攄escribed by one famous member of his committee as the best she had ever read鈥攃alls to mind an anecdote from earlier in his graduate career in which his fastidiousness was so widely appreciated by his colleagues, that some began to use his name as a verb, as in, 鈥淲ow, you really Raj鈥檇 that presentation!鈥� Raj is currently working as a research scientist for Lexia Learning where he is coordinating studies for the purpose of evaluating and improving the efficacy of educational technology designed to support English language acquisition among emergent bilingual learners. Congratulations Dr. Chattergoon!

Monica Gilmore, Curriculum & Instruction: STEM Education
Dissertation: 鈥淭ranslanguaging in Mathematics Learning: Teacher Instructional and Attentional Supports鈥�

Monica Gilmore earned her doctorate in STEM Education. In her dissertation entitled, Translanguaging in Mathematics Learning: Teacher Instructional and Attentional Supports, Dr. Gilmore collaborated with two mathematics teachers to study what they noticed about language in moments of classroom activity, how they responded to these moments, and the spaces for the translanguaging that emerged. A former mathematics teacher, Dr. Gilmore understood the importance of supporting students in bringing all of their linguistic resources to their learning. Dr. Gilmore found that spaces for translanguaging emerged when teachers were paying close attention to student energy, their vulnerability, and opportunities to position multiple languages as a resource. Dr. Gilmore returned to the classroom at Casey Middle School, where she employs her translanguaging perspective daily.

Aaron Micah Guggenheim, Curriculum & Instruction: Literacy Studies聽
Dissertation: 鈥淪tory through Sound: Narrative Podcasting in an Alternative High School ELA Classroom鈥�

Aaron Guggenheim earned his doctorate in Literacy Studies. A former high school English teacher, Dr. Guggenheim was a valued member of research teams and accomplished graduate instructor during his time at CU 麻豆影院. His dissertation鈥擲tory Through Sound: Narrative Podcasting for More Just Futures鈥攊s a study in which he co-designed, co-studied, and co-taught a narrative podcasting project with a high school ELA teacher at an alternative high school. He partnered with the teacher to design a curriculum that brought theory around critical literacy and sound studies into the classroom as students used sound and interviews to compose powerful narrative podcasts about issues that they found meaningful in their lives. As he explains, his study reaffirmed his values in building and sustaining meaningful relationships and partnerships with K-12 teacher colleagues and youth as foundational to not only recognizing the realities of day-to-day experiences in classrooms, but also to producing meaningful instructional shifts and opportunities for youth to center their knowledge, stories, and literacies in school. Congratulations, Aaron!

Deena Gumina, Educational Equity & Cultural Diversity聽
Dissertation: 鈥淏ilingual Teacher Agency: Possibilities for Action When High Stakes Accountability and Bilingual Language Policies Interact鈥�

Dr. Deena Gumina completed her doctorate in Equity, Bilingualism & Biliteracy in December 2020. Her dissertation is titled, 鈥淏ilingual Teacher Agency: Possibilities for Action when High-stakes Accountability and Bilingual Language Policies Interact.鈥� Motivated by her own experiences as a bilingual elementary teacher in Denver Public Schools, and her work as a teacher educator in CU鈥檚 elementary teacher education program, Deena used her dissertation to explore the agentive possibilities of bilingual teachers who are caught in a web of constraining policies, including high-stakes accountability policies and restrictive language policies. Importantly, rather than focusing on constraints and harms, Deena鈥檚 study focused on the possible. As a result, Deena鈥檚 dissertation offers actionable insights that can inform efforts to teach in ways that honor bilingual students鈥� cultural and linguistic knowledge and practices. During her time at CU, Deena held various positions in, and made critical contributions to, the elementary teacher education program and research and teaching projects within the BUENO Center. Immediately following graduation, Dr. Gumina served as Director of TILDE (Teachers Improving Learning in Dual Education), a professional development project for practicing bilingual teachers. Deena joined the Elementary Teacher Education Program as an Assistant Professor of Practice in Fall 2021. Warmest congratulations Deena!

Sarah LaCour-Yarbrough, Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice
Dissertation: 鈥淵ou Get What You Get No Matter the Fit: An Examination of Access to Opportunity under a School Choice System鈥�

Sarah LaCour-Yarbrough earned her PhD in Educational Foundations Policy and Practice. In her dissertation, 鈥淵ou Get What You Get, No Matter the Fit: An Examination of Access to Opportunity Under a School Choice System,鈥� Sarah studied the interaction of Louisiana鈥檚 various choice policies, analyzing the extent to which these policies provide all high school students with access to quality schools. Sarah arrived at CU already having worked as a classroom teacher and as a lawyer, and she brought that knowledge and professionalism to her studies. She鈥檚 already produced an impressive body of research, as well as 鈥� last year 鈥� an impressive baby, named Charles. When Sarah was finishing up her dissertation, she told her advisor that a key requirement for a future job was that it had to be in a place where she could have horses. Somehow, in the midst of the hiring freezes of the COVID recession, she landed a position at the University of Kentucky 鈥� which certainly meets the horse requirement. She鈥檚 now an assistant professor in UK鈥檚 Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation. She also is Assistant Director of the University of Kentucky鈥檚 Education and Civil Rights Initiative.

William Edward Lindsay, Curriculum & Instruction: STEM Education聽
Dissertation: 鈥淏ridging Reform Ideals: Crafting Coherence with a No-Excuses Charter Network鈥�

Will Lindsay is a consummate teacher educator who is transforming science education both through his teaching and his research. His broad, practical understanding of teaching as well as deep knowledge of educational research and content has tremendous value for future teachers. Will leverages the practices of science to create empowering learning environments. For example, students in his classes learn to advocate for themselves using evidence and consensus rather than appealing solely to the textbook and teacher for answers. These empowering environments help students learn to love themselves through science, rather than in spite of it. Will鈥檚 humanistic approach also applies to his research on institutional change. By rejecting traditional notions of success and failure in reform, Will鈥檚 research repositions reform into a realistic, ongoing, human experience. Professor Otero said, 鈥淎 highlight of my career has been the many hours of discussions with Will about his dissertation work. Growing together is an amazing experience.鈥�

Jose Ortiz, Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice
Dissertation: 鈥淩eflection Through Testimonios: Centering the Experiences of Latina/o Students as a Way to Collectively Explore, Understand, and Contextualize Emotions鈥�

Jose Ortiz is committed to educational equality, social justice, and improving the experiences of Latinx students. His dissertation examines how Latinx students within a summer program used a form of narrative known as 鈥渢estimonios鈥� to make sense of and understand their emotions. Drawing on literature that centers culture and race, Dr. Ortiz demonstrated how students in the CU Aquetza program used testimonios to process their lived experiences. His research findings have important implications for the ways educators incorporate socioemotional learning programs in their classrooms and how to serve Latinx youth. Dr. Ortiz is currently an Assistant Professor of Foundations and Social Advocacy at the State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland.

Mar铆a de los 脕ngeles Osorio de la Rosa Cooper, Educational Equity & Cultural Diversity
Dissertation: 鈥淒efining Participation In Support of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students鈥� Education: A CBPR Perspective鈥�

Mar铆a de los Angeles Osorio de la Rosa Cooper earned her PhD in Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy. Using Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to guide her work, she joined a research collective known as 鈥淟as Comadres.鈥� Together, they designed and conducted a study aimed at identifying and articulating root causes of the tumultuous relationships and chronic and historical distrust between Mexican immigrant and Mexican-American families and school district educators in one local school district. CPBR emphasizes research that is done with communities and not on them. The study examined parent participation and engagement in multidimensional ways and from different stakeholder鈥檚 perspectives through interviews, documents, and historical analysis. Findings revealed extensive funds of knowledge that participating families employed to be involved with and support their children in school. Most of this knowledge was unknown and/or not acknowledged by school officials who tended to focus on the need for school-centric parent participation and engagement as a means to compensate for perceived family deficits. Findings suggested a need for dual capacity building between families and schools and recommended a set of community-generated actions that the district could enact to transform school experiences of Latinx Spanish speaking students in positive ways. 隆Felicidades Angeles!

Mary Ann Quantz, Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice
Dissertation: 鈥淎dvocating for Gender and Sexual Diversity in ANTI-GSD Contexts: The Experiences of K-12 Educator-Advocates in Religiously Conservative Communities鈥�

Mary Quantz earned her PhD in Educational Foundations Policy and Practice. In her dissertation, 鈥淎dvocating for gender and sexual diversity in hostile contexts: The experiences of K-12 educators in religiously conservative communities,鈥� Mary analzyed interview data with teachers through a queer theoretical lens. She developed an innovative way of calculating a 聽community鈥檚 鈥淩eligiously Conservative Score鈥� and connected that with the localized challenges experienced by teachers who work to proactively create safer learning environments for LGBTQ students by enacting 鈥榪ueer gestures鈥� to build 鈥榪ueer futures鈥�. Mary鈥檚 leadership in the SOE and mentorship of other PhD students will be sorely missed. She was a founding member of the student-run journal, The Assembly, and helped develop teaching supports for other graduate students who teach EDUC 3013 -- School and Society. Her commitments to equity and justice-oriented teaching is continuing as she returns to the classroom. She is currently a high school English teacher in St. Vrain Valley School District. Warm congrats, Doctor Quantz!

Jody Ann Slavick, Educational Equity & Cultural Diversity聽
Dissertation: 鈥淣egotiating Tensions as Bilingual Teacher Advocates: Reflecting on the Past and Transforming the Future鈥澛�

Jody Slavick earned her Ph.D. in Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy. Using Freire鈥檚 Critical Pedagogies, Dr. Slavick explored the agency of three veteran bilingual teachers who advocated for themselves and their students through the rise and fall of bilingual programming in their district. Dr. Slavick engaged the focal teachers in a series of interviews and critical reflection sessions to problematize, dialogue, problem-solve and act on past and current tensions in their school environment. Findings revealed that the teachers experienced the most tensions when relating to administrators who held divergent racial and linguistic ideologies from the teachers. Her findings resulted in practical and scholarly implications to support bilingual teacher advocates as they navigate daily tensions that they face in their school environments. Dr. Slavick is currently working as a Professional Research Associate and Director of Professional Development within Literacy Squared, a biliteracy project housed within the BUENO Center in the University of Colorado鈥檚 School of Education.

Maravene Taylor-Heine, Learning Sciences & Human Development
Dissertation: 鈥淟earning, Identity, and Power in a Multi-Voiced Movement for Education Reform鈥�

Maravene Taylor-Heine has completed her doctorate in Learning Sciences & Human Development. Her dissertation is titled Learning, identity, and power in a multi-voiced movement for education reform. In her study, Mara focused on the development of youth activists through their engagement in the Opt-out (of standardized testing) movement, which was a predominantly white, middle-class movement framed as a collective action for social justice. It was especially vibrant in Colorado where she conducted her research. The questions that led her dissertation focused on how diverse groups of people 鈥� across age, race, and socioeconomic background 鈥� can develop solidarity to engage in progressive social movements. Grounded in her roots in feminist methodology and theory, Mara鈥檚 study draws critical attention to what often goes unnoticed, undervalued, and taken for granted. Her analysis considers how whiteness functions as a discourse that silences discussions of race and renders them unimportant. Mara鈥檚 research provides insight into how young white people develop identities and skills as activists for progressive change; it also offers practical advice for how we can better support young people in their activist efforts. Warmest congratulations Mara!

Kelsey Mills Tayne, Curriculum & Instruction: STEM Education
Dissertation: 鈥淯nderstanding and Designing for Youth Learning as and for Socioenvironmental Action鈥�

Kelsey Tayne earned her doctorate in Learning Sciences & Human Development and STEM Education. Kelsey鈥檚 dissertation research addresses a significant, if not the most significant, socio- environmental issue facing us today: climate change. The focus of her dissertation is on how to support youth in engaging in scientifically-grounded action on climate change. Coordinated action across scales of practice, as Kelsey argues, is necessary to effect real change on the climate crisis. However, the discourse around action is often focused on personal behavior change. This is a limiting approach that blames individuals for problems that are structural, cultural, and historical. Addressing problems like climate change that have deep and tangled roots can overwhelm youth and make them feel hopeless. Taking this as a starting point, Kelsey worked with educators to co-design learning environments that supported young people in imagining and enacting collective solutions for a sustainable future. Her approach generates radical hope and possibility with youth at its center. Congratulations Kelsey!

Tafadzwa Tivaringe, Curriculum & Instruction: Literacy Studies聽
Dissertation: 鈥淭he Possibilities and Limits of Using Education as a Lever for Structural Transformation鈥�

Tafadzwa 鈥淭aphy鈥� Tivargine completed his doctorate in Learning Sciences and Human Development. He completed a 3-article dissertation titled 鈥淭he Possibilities And Limits Of Using Education As A Lever For Structural Transformation.鈥� His first study, published in Education and Evaluation Policy Archives, analyzed nationally representative data from South Africa and found that structural factors limited the impact of a university degree on labor force participation among certain groups. His second study, published in the Journal of the Learning Sciences, drew on ethnographic research in South Africa to understand the development of a multigenerational movement fighting for more just education policies. His third article, based on data from alumni of college support programs in the United States, examines the role of social networks in facilitating career success. Together this empirically rigorous work helps us understand how education policy can be a vehicle for addressing inequality by empowering marginalized groups across diverse international contexts. During his time at CU Taphy has also contributed immeasurably to public scholarship through his skillful evaluation of CU Engage programs and his dedication to collaborative partnerships with the Research Hub for Youth Organizing. Makorokoto Amhlophe Taphy!

Christine Marie Zabala, Curriculum & Instruction: Literacy Studies聽
Dissertation: 鈥淭he Role of Queer Literacies in a University's Required Diversity Course鈥�

Christine Zabala earned her doctorate in Literacy Studies. An experienced writing teacher in college and university contexts, Dr. Zabala has led and supported several research projects, coordinated CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 online composition hub, and been a graduate instructional leader for the Center for Teaching and Learning. Her dissertation鈥擳he Role of Queer Literacies in a Required Diversity Course鈥攊s a study of her own teaching, investigating the impact of curricular and instructional innovations related to critical pedagogies and queer literacies in a course taken by many undergraduates on campus. She brings a deeply reflexive approach to her analysis of her course design and students鈥� responses to the critical goals and relational methods she employed, including the sudden shift to online in the wake of Covid 19. As she argues, failure and discomfort in teaching and learning can and must be reframed as generative, necessary aspects of undergraduate courses, particularly when the content requires students and instructors to do the vulnerable work of critical examination of self, others, and systemic oppressions. 聽This work holds significant implications for scholarship in queer literacies, as well as for universities鈥� pursuit of courses intended to address diversity as required components of undergraduate curriculum. Congratulations, Christine!

Curriculum & Instruction: STEM Education

Curriculum & Instruction: Secondary Humanities

Curriculum & Instruction

Educational Equity & Cultural Diversity

Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice

Higher Education

Learning Sciences & Human Development

Kristen Sim

Aryn Bloodworth, Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice
Dissertation: 鈥淎chieving Equity for Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students鈥�

Josephina Sue Chang-Order, Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice
Dissertation: 鈥溾�楽eeing Who鈥檚 Represented, Who鈥檚 Not鈥�: Identifying with Historical Narratives in Museum Exhibits鈥�

Matthew Hastings, Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice
Dissertation: 鈥淟eft to Our Own Devices: Education and Attention for a Digital Age鈥�

Leighanna Hinojosa, Learning Sciences and Human Development
Dissertation: 鈥淚dentity Development, Participation, and Equity in Museum Community Science Programs鈥�

Laken Michelle Top, Curriculum & Instruction, STEM Education
Dissertation: 鈥淔rom Invitation to Integration: A Model for Why Learning Assistants Are Valued by Members of Communities within Institutions鈥�

Francisco Luis Torres, Curriculum & Instruction, Literacy Studies
Dissertation: 鈥淧odemos Cambiar El Mundo: Centering the Voices of Children in Conversations of Teacher Practice and Social Justice鈥�

Erica Jeanne Van Steenis, Learning Sciences and Human Development
Dissertation: 鈥淭oward a Valued Career: A Multisite Study of Youth Workers in Different Stages of the Profession鈥�

Curriculum & Instruction

Curriculum & Instruction

Educational Equity & Cultural Diversity

Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice

Higher Education

Learning Sciences & Human Development

Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice

Meredith Brooke Nass