April 2024 Newsletter

Maisha T. Winn Voted President-Elect of AERA

Dr. Maisha T. Winn, chancellor’s leadership professor in the School of Education, has been voted president-elect of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She will join the AERA Council in 2024–2025 as president-elect, and her presidency will begin at the conclusion of the association’s 2025 annual meeting.

With more than 25,000 members, AERA is the largest national interdisciplinary research association devoted to the scientific study of education and learning, and the role of AERA president is one of the highest elected positions in the field of educational research nationally and internationally. Read more about Maisha T. Winn.

School of Education Researchers Attend AERA Annual Meeting

Fifty UC Davis School of Education faculty, students and alumni presented at the 2024 annual meetings of AERA and the National Council on Measurement in Education in Philadelphia, PA from April 11-14. View the schedule of presenters and their research and see photos from the event.

Danny C. Martinez Promoted to Professor

Danny C. Martinez has been promoted to Full Professor. His research focuses on empowering non-dominant students in language arts and literacy education through broadening teacher development in social justice and expansive language ideologies. He is a valued citizen of the School of Education, having wrapped up a three-year term as the Chair of the Graduate Group in Education in 2023, and having organized numerous events, speaker series, and conferences for the SOE and broader scholarly community. Read more about Danny C. Martinez.

Thank You for Your Support on Give Day

Generous donors gave 76 gifts totaling $188,600 for School of Education research centers, scholarship funds and education equity initiatives on Give Day 2024. We had 10 challenge gifts, which were crucial to our success. Our thanks to every donor, and to everyone who helped spread the word! Across UC Davis, the university raised more than $4 million from 4,716 gifts. If you weren’t able to participate on Give Day, reach out to Anna Aukes, External Relations and Development Program Manager, at aaukes@ucdavis.edu.

Samuel Blanco III Wins Steve Holeman Award

Sam Blanco III, Program Director of the School of Education’s Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search programs for high school students, has received the 2024 WESTOP Steve Holeman Award. The award recognizes the accomplishments of directors of educational equity programs who have demonstrated continuing dedication to the cause of excellence and equity, who show concern for the development of their students’ potential, and who demonstrate professionalism in the administration of their programs.

Blanco’s involvement in Upward Bound started in 1990, when he became an Upward Bound teaching assistant while earning his bachelor’s degree at UC Davis. He continued with the program as an academic coordinator upon graduation and has been working in TRIO programs ever since. Blanco received the Holeman Award at the 46th Annual WESTOP Conference in March.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Emerging Scholars: Expanding Equity in Educational Research

On May 16 from 4–6 pm, the School of Education will host three notable new researchers at the UC Davis International Center as part of our Emerging Scholars Panel Series. Join us to hear from:

• Aris Moreno Clemons, Assistant Professor, Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures Department, University of Tennessee Knoxville
• Harper B. Keenan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of British Columbia
• Kristyn Lue, a postdoctoral scholar at the Pullias Center for Higher Education, Rossier School of Education.

Admission is free. Learn more about the Emerging Scholars event and register.

School of Education Graduation Celebration

Join us for the School of Education Graduation Celebration on Wednesday, June 12 from 4–6 pm at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts, UC Davis. The final day that students can register in order to participate is May 21. Our website has all the graduation details for grads and guests.

Education Career Chat with Paco Martorell

The School of Education and Graduate Group in Education will host Paco Martorell, Professor and Chair of the Graduate Group in Education, at our next Education Career Chat. Join us for this free event on May 14, 12–1 pm, in the School of Education Building, Room 174. No RSVP is required but space is limited. Read more about Paco Martorell and the upcoming Education Career Chat event.

GGE Research Seminar Series

The Graduate Group in Education’s Monday Research Seminar Series continues with a presentation on May 13 by Emily Penner, Associate Professor, School of Education at UC Irvine, on “Sustaining Ethnic Studies as it Grows.” All presentations are held at the School of Education Building, Room 174, on Mondays from 12:10 pm – 1 pm. Attendance is free, and no RSVP is required.

FACULTY NEWS

School of Education Faculty Selected for PIRI Grants

Three School of Education research teams have been awarded 2024 Public Impact Research Initiative (PIRI) Grants by the UC Davis Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement. PIRI grants provide financial support for research that is cogenerated with community partners, is of mutual benefit, and has a positive public impact, providing financial support for new collaborations or sustaining relationships that will support publicly engaged research with non-university partners.

“Cultivating Youth and Community Resilience in Maui, Hawaiʻi”
Prof. Heidi Ballard and PhD student Jadda Miller will work with Kihei Charter School and Kipuka Olowalu in Maui on wildfire mitigation through land stewardship.

“Stewarding Future Veterinary Professionals”
Prof. Alexis Patterson Williams and Prof. Faheemah Mustafaa will partner with Breakthrough Sacramento to focus on diversifying the veterinary profession through education and outreach.

“A Bilingual Documentary on COVID-19’s Impact on Latine/x Immigrant Communities”
Alicia Rusoja will produce a bilingual documentary capturing the profound effects of COVID-19 on immigrant communities in South Philadelphia.

Learn more about the PIRI grant recipients and projects.

EVENT RECAPS

Graduate Group in Education Research Seminar Series

On April 22, PhD candidate Laurel Towers presented on “Exploring the Match Between Student Emotion Regulation, Instructor Interactions, and Environmental Characteristics in K-3rd Grade General Education Classrooms,” and PhD candidate Johanna Vega Garcia presented on “Teachers’ Affect Within Interactions with Their Autistic Students During Literacy Activities in Preschool through 3rd Grade.” Learn more about the GGE Research Seminar Series.

Teacher Job Fair 2024

The School of Education held our annual Teacher Job Fair at the UC Davis Conference Center on March 16. More than 20 school districts were represented at the event, including from Yuba City to the north, and the Bay Area and Los Angeles to the south. This event is held each spring for UC Davis teaching credential candidates and credential alumni as part of the School’s Job Search Assistance for Teachers program. View the Teacher Job Fair photo gallery.

Picnic Day 2024

This Picnic Day the School of Education celebrated together and cheered for alumna and Grand Marshal Sheri Atkinson, EdD ‘14, the UC Davis associate vice chancellor of student life, campus community, and retention services in Student Affairs. Read about Atkinson and the Picnic Day parade.

Show Off with School of Education Gear

Looking for a way to show off your School of Education pride? You’ll find shirts of all styles, as well as mugs, hats and more with the School of Education logo at the online UC Davis Store. Proceeds from all store sales benefit UC Davis Athletics.

PUBLICATIONS

Todd A. DeMitchell, MA ‘90, has written the book “The Legal and Policy Challenges of Student Dress and Grooming Code: Balancing Rights and Responsibilities,” published by Rowman & Littlefield.

Prof. Jennifer Higgs co-authored the guest editorial “Artificial intelligence and composing just education futures,” published in English Teaching: Practice & Critique.

Prof. Elizabeth Montaño and Dr. Rosaisela Rodriguez co-authored “First-Generation Chicanas with Doctorates Advocating for the Next Generation of Educational Leaders,” a chapter in the book First-Gen Docs: Personal, Political, and Intellectual Perspectives from the First-Generation Doctoral Experience, published by Brill.

Prof. Alicia Rusoja authored “‘Estás Luchando…Por Toda La Comunidad’: The Communal Organizing Literacies of Latine/x Immigrant Families,” published in Journal of Language, Identity & Education.

Prof. Nicole Sparapani, PhD candidates Sandy Birkeneder, Laurel Towers and Johanna Vega Garcia, PhD student Cindy Parks, Associate Professor of Teaching in Education Nancy Tseng and other UC Davis colleagues co-authored “Measuring Teacher Talk and the Behavior of Autistic Students in Preschool Through Third-Grade Special Education Mathematics Activities,” published in Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders.