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.