April 2026 Newsletter

Researchers Examine How Story Time Improves Early Language Development

Bilingual education often prioritizes English over a child’s home language, even though both are key to strong language and thinking skills. Prof. Yuuko Uchikoshi, Emily Mak, Ph.D. ’24, and their colleagues studied how parents support early bilingual development through everyday interactions, focusing on shared book reading as a natural time for conversation between family members. Researchers uncovered that when children were encouraged to think more deeply about a book, they used their home language to express ideas—a practice that, over time, can build their communication skills and confidence as bilingual speakers.

Faculty Promotions for Albano, Montaño, Mustafaa, and Patterson Williams

We are pleased to announce the faculty promotions of Drs. Anthony Albano and Alexis Patterson Williams to professor, Faheemah Mustafaa to associate professor, and Elizabeth Montaño to professor of teaching in recognition of their research accomplishments, service contributions, excellence in teaching, and commitments to diversity and equity. All promotions are effective as of July 1, 2026. Congratulations to Drs. Albano, Montaño, Mustafaa, and Patterson Williams!

Venezuelan Immigrants’ Journeys Reveal New Insights About Learning Beyond the Classroom

Prof. Alicia Rusoja is launching a new research project that turns attention to a largely overlooked idea: learning that happens during migration. Focusing on Venezuelan families traveling 4,000 miles on foot to California, her work traces how knowledge is built in motion—through navigation, shared resources, and community-making. By focusing on the migration process, Rusoja aims to open a new line of inquiry into education, one that recognizes the expertise immigrants carry long before they step into a classroom in the United States.

Thank You for Your Support on Give Day

The School of Education community rallied behind our programs and students on Give Day 2026, raising $32,215 from 38 gifts! Thank you to everyone who contributed and helped spread the word. Across UC Davis, Give Day brought in over $3 million from 4,486 donors. If you weren’t able to participate and want to support one of our featured funds, please contact Anna Aukes, External Relations and Development Program Manager, at aaukes@ucdavis.edu.

School of Education Presents Wide-Ranging Research at AERA

Over 50 faculty members, graduate students, and staff members from the School of Education presented at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in Los Angeles, California. Researchers explored the theme “Unforgetting Histories and Imagining Futures” through work that spanned math achievement in Chinese adolescents and preparation for neurodivergent teachers to Hispanic-Serving Institutions and the California teacher pipeline. View the full list of UC Davis AERA presentations.

Other recent conference highlights include: Yianella Blanco, Alicia Rusoja, and Michael Singh presented work on the inaugural UC Davis Chicanx and Latinx Education Symposium during an online release panel for the journal Race, Ethnicity and Education. Visit our conference page for a complete roundup of recent research presentations.

Experience AERA as a Ph.D. Candidate

Ph.D. candidate Téa Pusey shares her experiences presenting and networking at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting. Visit us on YouTube or Instagram for more student and alumni stories.

Faculty and Staff News

Ballard and Harte Receive Global Affairs Grant to Advance Citizen Science in Tanzanian Classrooms

Prof. Heidi Ballard and Peggy Harte, Center for Community and Citizen Science Youth Education Program Manager, and their colleague Catherine Njau received the 2025-26 Advancing Sustainable Development Goals grant from UC Davis Global Affairs. The team will use the grant to advance “Interdisciplinary Teacher Training to Support SDGs in Tanzania,” a project that provides professional development to Tanzanian science teachers implementing citizen science practices in their classrooms and communities.

Passmore and Griesemer Recognized with 2026 NARST Award

Prof. Cynthia Passmore, Dr. Chris Griesemer, Executive Director of the Sacramento Area Science Project, and their colleagues Drs. Jessica Alzen, Jason Buell, Kelsey Edwards, Brian Reiser, and Yang Zhang received the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) 2026 “Research Worth Reading” Award for their study “Characterizing variations in the figured worlds of teachers and students in science class.”

“This award is especially meaningful because it recognizes that our work has immediate potential for impact on practitioners,” said Passmore. “We think the reason that is true for us is that our projects are all done in very close collaboration with practicing teachers. This keeps us grounded and relevant to the reality of their everyday experiences, and we are grateful to the teachers.”

Alumni and Student News

Ed.D. student Michelle Benjamin, Cred. ’13, M.A. ’14, is featured in a CapRadio article highlighting her family’s efforts to bring the public library back to Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood.

Leslie Banes, Ph.D. ’17, Sergio Sanchez, Ph.D. ’22, Joanna Wong, Ph.D. ’14, are research partners on a new $3.5 million Transformative Research Grant from the Spencer Foundation. The project supports a five-year initiative focused on high school dual language enrollment in California.

 

Ph.D. candidate Antoinette Banks recently received the Best AI Research Award for her study “Racially Differentiated Linguistic Patterns in IEP (Individualized Education Program) Documents” at the UC Davis Designated Emphasis in Computational Social Sciences annual conference. Her work was recently featured in Essence and AfroTech, and she has joined the ASU+GSV HBCU Partnership as an Advisory Board member.

Ed.D. candidate Donelle Allen has accepted the role of Associate Vice Chancellor for Housing, Dining, Divisional Operations, and Technology at UC Davis, and will serve on the Student Affairs Vice Chancellor’s Council and Leadership Team and oversee Student Housing, Dining Services, Student Affairs Divisional Operations, and Student Affairs Information Technology. Allen brings over 20 years of experience to the role, most recently serving as Interim Associate Vice Chancellor.

Publications

Ardoin, N.M., Reid, A., Bowers, A.W., Ballard, H., and Monroe, M.C. (2026). Engaging people in educational processes that foster environmentally valuable outcomes: A synthesis of key findings across eight systematic reviews. People and Nature.

Dixon, C.G.* and Martin, L. Intersubjective uncertainty and positioning in a school makerspace. Journal of Engineering Education, 115(2).

Huang, C.J., Muscente, K.K., Zane, N., Uchikoshi, Y., and Huang, C.Y. (2026). Asian Immigrant Parents’ Language Use and Perceptions of Parent–Child Relationship Quality. Family Process.

Restani, R.*, Ambrose, R., Martin, R., Jiménez-Silva, M., Abdelrahim, S., Xu, X., Huynh, A., and Albano, A. (2026). Using Partner Interviews to Support Language and Mathematics Development for Elementary Multilingual Learners. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 24(8).

Wilkes, C.E. and DeFino, R.A. (2026). Acknowledging Competence to Foster Belonging. Learning and Teaching PK-12, 119(3).

*School of Education alumni