November 2024 Newsletter

Alicia Rusoja Receives Hellman Fellowship

Prof. Alicia Rusoja has been named a 2024 Society of Hellman Fellow, and she will receive a $49,000 award to support her research on the transnational educational practices and experiences (PK-12 and community education) of undocumented Venezuelans migrating across the Americas and into the United States. The Hellman Fellowship will support Rusoja’s participatory project in the contexts of Medellín, Colombia and Northern California to learn more about the intergenerational educational practices, challenges, and resources of undocumented Venezuelans in and across these communities.

The Hellman Fellowship provides support for promising assistant professors who exhibit potential for great distinction in their research, with a goal of promoting their career advancement and progress towards tenure. Read more about this year’s Hellman Fellows.

School of Education Welcomes Author Mitali Perkins

National Book Award nominee Mitali Perkins recently visited the School of Education as our 2024 Author in Residence. Perkins presented to credential students on the power of fiction, and she visited Birch Lane Elementary School, where she gave a reading from her new picture book Between My Hands to families and their students.

Perkins will return on February 25, 2025, for Words Take Wing, the School’s annual celebration that honors diversity in children’s literature. This event will include a matinee presentation from Perkins to regional schoolchildren at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts and an evening presentation at the Sacramento Public Library’s McKinley branch in Clunie Auditorium.

Brent Sasaki Joins School of Education as Assistant Director of Development

Brent Sasaki has been named the new Assistant Director of Development for the School of Education, and started his role on November 4, 2024.

Prior to joining the School of Education, Sasaki served as Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at Sacramento Republic FC and Director of Business Development for Corporate Partnerships for the Sacramento Kings. In both roles, he provided strategic direction on corporate partnerships and partner marketing.

Sasaki is a UC Davis alum who earned his degree in political science. He looks forward to supporting his alma mater and connecting with our donors.

Tell Us What You Think

The School of Education has sent out an alumni engagement survey to learn how to connect with and serve you as an important part of our community. Share your thoughts, and be entered for a chance to win School of Education merchandise. Take the alumni engagement survey.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS AND RECAPS

Marcela Cuellar and Alexis Patterson Williams to Present at Civil Rights Project Briefing

Prof. Marcela Cuellar and Prof. Alexis Patterson Williams will present at the UCLA Civil Rights Project’s education research and policy briefing “A Civil Rights Agenda for California’s Next Quarter Century” on December 5, 2024. The event will address a series of research papers commissioned by the Civil Rights Project on the potential for social change and equity policies in the nation, including “Racial Reckoning and the Role of Schooling: Exploring the Potential of Integrated Classrooms and Liberatory Pedagogies,” co-authored by Patterson Williams and “The Potential of California’s Community College Baccalaureate for Closing Racial Equity Gaps,” co-authored by Cuellar.

Center for Community and Citizen Science Team Presents at National Environmental Education Conference

Prof. Heidi Ballard, Youth Education Program Manager Peggy Harte, and Ph.D. Student Becca VanArnam (pictured left to right) of the Center for Community and Citizen Science (CCCS) presented on the positive outcomes of participatory science at the North American Association for Environmental Education in Pittsburgh, PA. Ballard presented her comprehensive literature review of citizen and community science and ways that can strengthen environmental education and foster deeper learner engagement, as well as CCCS’ partnership with the Insight Gardens Project. Harte and VanArnam also discussed their recent salmon conservation project to engage high school students in hands-on research design and data collection and analysis. Learn more about the Center for Community and Citizen Science.

Lisa Sullivan and Andrew Hood Share Findings on California Fieldwork Supervisors

Dr. Lisa Sullivan, Continuing Lecturer/Supervisor, and Ph.D. student Andrew Hood presented their research “Equity focused supervision: Feedback from field supervisors on their needs and concerns” at the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE) Fall 2024 Conference. Their work examined survey data from fieldwork supervisors in teacher education programs and highlighted the limited opportunities they have for professional development on equity and social justice practices.

Megan Welsh and Valeria C. Zunino Edelsberg Present at GGE Research Seminar Series

The Fall 2024 Graduate Group in Education’s Research Seminar series wrapped up with a presentation by Prof. Megan Welsh and Ph.D. candidate Valeria C. Zunino Edelsberg on “Constructing a Measure of Preservice Teacher Justice-Oriented Classroom Assessment Literacy.” Previous speakers have included Dr. Michael Wilkes, UC Davis Global Health; Dr. Cara Sandholdt, associate adjunct professor, School of Nursing; and Dr. Arturo Cortez, visiting assistant professor, School of Education.

Beta Lab Builds Electrical Circuits at Greatest Show

The Beta Lab taught visitors of all ages how to create light-up greeting cards and luminaries at UC Davis’ celebration The Greatest Show. The project, led by Prof. Lee Martin and Ph.D. student JC Leapman, demonstrated how to build a closed or open electrical circuit using paper, tape, a battery, and a switch.

 

ALUMNI AND STUDENT NEWS

Ph.D. student Jadda Miller has been named a 2024-2025 Earth Scholar by the Institute of the Environment and, with her advisor Prof. Heidi Ballard, has received a 2024-2025 Public Impact Research Initiative grant for their project “Hoʻomalu ʻĀina Maui” (Protecting the Land of Maui). Learn more about Jadda Miller’s recent research and  accomplishments.

 

Credential students Andrea Ramos and Megan Yu received the California Association of Science Education’s Future Science Teacher Award for their promise as educators and their commitment to science education. The award, which is only given to up to two students per year, is an important reminder to Ramos and Yu of their unique teaching strengths. “This award shows me that I am capable of bringing science into future classrooms and expanding the interest of my students in a way that they probably didn’t think was possible,” Ramos said. “This award is a great honor,” Yu said, “and receiving it has reminded me of all of the support I have received to make it to this point.”

Ph.D. candidate Jaime Ramirez-Mendoza has been selected for the Gardner Fellowship, receiving a $3,000 award to support his dissertation work on college affordability, access, and success for historically excluded populations. Ramirez-Mendoza will be affiliated with the UC Berkeley Center for Studies in Higher Education for the 2024-2025 academic year, and he will attend seminars with other fellows who are committed to critically examining higher education.

 

Ph.D. student Stephanie Luna-Lopez moderated the webinar “Beyond the Vote: Latina/o/x Perspectives on the Presidential Election Results and Our Path Forward.” This event was hosted by the American Educational Research Association Special Interest Group on Latina/o/x research issues, and addressed policy implications and strategies for advancing Latinx advocacy and empowerment in the post-election landscape.

 

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

Kurlaender, M., Cooper, S., Rodriguez, F., and Bush, E. (2024). From the Disruption of the Pandemic, a Path Forward for Community Colleges. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 56(3), 29–36.

Wong, J., Athanases, S., and Houk, J. (2024). From Deficit to Asset-Based Perspectives on Multilingual Learners: A Critical Inquiry in Teacher Education. The Teacher Educator, 1–22.

Colby Woods, S., Gottfried, M., and Gee, K. (2024). Instability in Foster Care: How Transitions Into and Out of Foster Care Relate to School Discipline. (EdWorkingPaper: 24-990).

Nuñez Martinez, M., Deeb-Sossa, N., Cuellar, M. G., and Guerrero, B. G. (2024). “Échale ganas, tú puedes”: Latinx/a/o Parents Supporting Students’ College Aspirations During COVID-19. Journal of Latinos and Education, 1–15. 

Rusoja, A., and Gonzales, G. C. (2024). “I Have Been Getting Involved for My Children:” An Un/documented Latina Mother’s Immigrant Rights Practice as Family Engagement. The Educational Forum, 88(4), 400–414.

Martin, L., Lee, J., Leapman, J.C., and Rainey-Ruiz, A. (2024). Making Connections: Pandemic-Era Lessons from a Maker-Centered University-Community Partnership. University-Community Partnerships for Transformative Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.

Campbell, D. and Erbstein, N., Benefits and Challenges in Building a Community Youth Development Coalition. REACH Issue Brief Series. Number One, Sierra Health Foundation. United States of America.

Alzen, J. L., Edwards, K., Buell, J. Y., Zhang, Y., Griesemer, C., Passmore, C., Penuel, W., and Reiser, B. (2024). Creating a Science Classroom Culture Where Teachers and Students Care About Learning Science Together. International Society of the Learning Sciences.