Christian Faltis

Chris Faltis holds degrees from San Francisco State University, San José State University, and Stanford University, where he earned an MA and PhD. Prior to coming to UC Davis, he served on the faculties of Arizona State University and the Universities of Alabama and Nevada. Faltis was a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar at the National Autonomous University of Honduras, and a Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley.

In 2001, he received the American Educational Research Association’s Distinguished Scholar Award. Faltis has worked with schools and school districts in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey, and Texas to strengthen teaching and learning.

Faltis is also an oil painter, whose work has been shown in Arizona, Georgia, and Texas and often addresses education themes. His work focuses on language diversity from critical hybridity theory to promote the creation of robust learning environments in which local language practices contribute to learning, interaction, and performance.

Research Interests

Bilingual Language Practices; Critical Race Theory; Emergent Bilingual Students in Secondary School; Immigration Theory; Art-based Curriculum Studies; Race-Radical Vision in Bilingual Education

Education

• Ph.D. – Stanford University – Curriculum and Teacher Education – Bilingual and Cross-Cultural Education
• M.A. – Stanford University – Curriculum and Teacher Education – Second Language Education
• M.A. – San José State University – Mexican American Graduate Studies – Bilingual Studies
• B.A. – San Francisco State University – Spanish Language and Literature – La Raza Studies

Selected Publications

Selected Books

• Faltis, C. & Abedi, J. (Eds.). (2013). Extraordinary pedagogies for working in school settings serving non-dominant students. Review of Research in Education, Vol 37. New York:  AERA/SAGE publications.
• Arias, M.B. & Faltis, C. (Eds.). (2013).  Academic language and second language acquisition.  Charlotte, NC:  Information Age Publishing.
• Chappell, S. & Faltis, C. (2013). The arts and emergent bilingual youth:  Building critical, creative programs in school and community contexts.  New York:  Routledge.
• Arias, M. B., & Faltis, C. (Eds.) (2012). Implementing educational language policy in Arizona: An examination of legal, historical and current practices in SEI. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, Ltd.
• Faltis, C., & Valdés, G. (Eds.). (2010). Education, immigrant students, refugee students, and English learners. National Society for the Study of Education, New York: Teachers College Press.
• Edelsky, C., Smith, K., & Faltis, C. (2008). Side-by-side and together: Exemplary teaching practices for English learners and English speakers in mainstream classrooms. New York: Scholastic Books.
• Faltis, C. & Coulter, C. (2007). Teaching English learners and immigrant students in secondary school settings. New York: Merrill/Prentice Hall.
• Faltis, C. (2006). Teaching English learners in elementary school communities: A joinfostering approach. New York: Merrill.
• Faltis, C. (2001). Joinfostering: Teaching and learning in multilingual classrooms. New York: Prentice-Hall.
• Faltis, C. & Wolfe, P. (Eds.). (1999). So much to say: Adolescents, bilingualism, and ESL in the secondary school. New York: Teachers College Press.
• Faltis, C. & Hudelson, S. (1998). Bilingual education in elementary and secondary school communities: Toward understanding and caring. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Selected Articles and Book Chapters

• Faltis, C. & Valdés, G. (2015).  Preparing teachers for  teaching in and advocating for linguistically diverse classrooms:  A vade mecum for teacher educators.  In D. Gitomer & C. Bell (Eds.).  5th Edition of the Handbook of Research on Teaching.  Washington, DC:  American Educational Research Association.
• Faltis, C. (2014).  Language, language development, and teaching English to emergent bilingual users: Challenging the common knowledge theory in teacher education and K-12 school settings.  AMAE Journal, 8(1).
• Faltis, C. & Ramírez-Marin, F. (2015). Secondary bilingual education: Cutting the Gordian knot.  In W. Wright, S. Boun, & O. García (Eds.), Handbook of Bilingual and Multilingual Education. New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Faltis, C. (2015).  Language advocacy in teacher education and schools .  In M. Bigelow & J. Ennser-Kananen (Eds.).  Handbook on educational linguistics. New York:  Routledge.
• Faltis, C. (2013).  Demystifying and questioning the power of academic language.  In C. Faltis & M. B. Arias (Eds.), Academic language and second language acquisition.  Charlotte, NC:  Information Age Publishing. 
• Faltis, C. (2012). Art and living inquiry into the anti-immigrant discourse.  International Journal of Multicultural Education, 14(2), 1-21.
• Debach, D, & Faltis, C. (2012).  Bilingual education in the United States.  In J. Banks (Ed.), Encyclopedia of diversity in education.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.
• Manzo,D., Cruz, L., Faltis, C., & de la Torre, A. (2011).  Professional development of secondary science teachers of English learners.  AMAE Journal, 5(1), 41-48.
• Faltis, C. & Arias, M. B. (2012). Scientific-based reform in Arizona:  Whose evidence counts for applying the Castañeda test to Structured English Immersion? In B. Arias & C. Faltis (Eds.) Implementing educational language policy in Arizona:  An examination of legal, historical and current practices SEI (pp. 21-38) . Clevedon, England:  Multilingual Matters.
• Faltis, C. (2011). Hazlo bien:  Teaching immigrant English learners in secondary school.  In A. Benavides, E. Midobuche, & P. Carlson (Eds.), Hispanics in the southwest:  Education, health, and public policy Issues (pp. 184-193).  Tempe, AZ:  Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe.
• Faltis, C. (2010). Artists and counter-narratives in the new era of anti-immigration. Teachers College Record, Date Published: July 13, 2010.  http://www.tcrecord.org ID Number: 16066.
• Faltis, C., Arias, M.B., & Ramírez-Marín, F. (2010). Identifying relevant competencies for secondary teachers of English learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 33, 307-328.
• Faltis, C., & Valdés, G.  (2010).  Educating immigrant students, refugees, and English language learners: A no borders perspective. In C. Faltis & G. Valdés (Eds.), Education, immigrant students, refugee students, and English learners.  National Society for the Study of Education, 109th Yearbook, Issue 2 (pp. 285-297). New York:  Teachers College Press.
• Faltis, C. & Arias, B. (2007). Coming out of the ESL ghetto: Promising practices for Latino immigrant students and English learners in hypersegregated secondary schools. Journal of Border Educational Research, 6(2), 19-35.
• Faltis, C. (2007). Immigrant students in U.S. schools: Building a pro-immigrant, English-plus education counterscript. Journal of Global Initiates: Policy, Pedagogy & Perspectives, 2(1), 5-25.
• Chappell, S., & Faltis, C. (2007). Bilingualism, Spanglish, culture and identity in Latino children’s literature. Children’s Literature in Education, 38(4). 253-262.
• Arias, B., Faltis, C., & Cohen, J. (2007). Adolescent immigrant students and intergroup relations. In E. Frankenberg & G. Orfield (Eds.), Lessons in integration: Realizing the promise of racial diversity in America’s public schools (pp. 101-109). Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.
• Faltis, C. (2006). Review of Literacy Curriculum & Bilingual Education: A critical examination. Linguistics & Education, 16(4), 465-467.
• Faltis, C. & Coulter, C. (2004). Bilinguaphobia in the new millennium. In P. Wolfe & L. Poyner (Eds.). Marketing fear in America’s public schools (pp. 211-234). Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Faltis, C. (2002). Contexts for becoming bilingual in school. In R. Kaplan (Ed.), International handbook of research in applied linguistics (pp. 277-286). London: Oxford University Press.
• Faltis, C. (2001). Bilingualism and schooling as social and political struggles. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 155/156, 115-124.

Professional Experience

• University of California, Davis, Dolly & David Fiddyment Chair in Teacher Education; Professor of Language, Literacy & Culture; Director of Teacher Education. Jan., 2009 – present
• Arizona State University, Professor of Education and Applied Linguistics, 1991-2008.
• University of Nevada, Associate Professor of Education, 1987-1991.
• Fulbright Scholar, National Autonomous University of Honduras, Tegucigalpa,1986
• University of Alabama, Assistant Professor, 1983-1986

Awards and Honors

• Editor, Educational Researcher, Research News & Comments, 1998-2001
• Co-Editor, Review of Research in Education, Vols. 37 & 39.
• Editor, Teacher Education Quarterly, 2010-2015
• Editor, TESOL Journal, 1994-1998
• Distinguished Scholar Award. American Educational Research Association. Committee on the Role and Status of Minorities in Educational Research, 2001.
• Recipient of Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research, 1997-1998, College of Education, Arizona State University.

Current Activities and Service

• Program Chair, Bilingual Research SIG, AERA, 2008-2009.
• Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Multilingual Research
• Editorial Board Member, Language, Identity and Schooling

Courses Taught at UC Davis

• EDU 206B Inquiry for Spanish Teachers
• EDU 206 C/D Inquiry Research for Teachers

Funded Research

WRITE Project.  5 Years Institute for Educational Studies, USDOE.  $3.5 million.  With Jamal Abedi and WestEd.

Project ACCESS (Academic Content Combined with English for Secondary Schools). 5 years USDOE Professional Training Grant. $1.5 million. Beatriz Arias, PI, Christian Faltis, co-PI. 2007-2012.