March 2026 Newsletter

UC Davis Researchers Partner with San Benito High School District to Refine Student Support Model

When research is conducted alongside teachers in real classrooms, it does more than describe what’s happening—it helps create scalable solutions that improve student learning. That’s the approach Drs. Megan Welsh and Christina Murdoch are taking in partnership with Superintendent Dr. Shawn Tennenbaum and the San Benito High School District. Together, they’re examining how supplementary study sessions can boost students’ mastery of course material and strengthen academic support at the classroom and district level.

Learn how Welsh and Murdoch are working with San Benito High School District to measure student outcomes over time.

Rethinking Bilingual Education: How Teachers Are Building Student Confidence

Too often, bilingual education sends the message that a student’s first language is something to fix, leaving many learners disengaged and disconnected from school. Dr. Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica is working to change this reality. Through the Bilingual/Biliterate Instruction for Bilingual Youth Project, she and her co-researchers partner with educators to build culturally responsive classrooms and advocate for bilingual students. Read how two teachers have strengthened their commitment to inclusive bilingual education.

Newbery Medal-Winning Author Plants Seeds of Self-Discovery During Words Take Wing

In February, Words Take Wing invited author Renée Watson spoke with teachers, students, and community members about the importance of bearing witness to others’ experiences and realities. Storytelling, Watson explained, helps build empathy for people who are both similar to and different from ourselves. “The more you learn about people, the more you care about them,” she said. Read why Watson believes storytelling can be so transformative.

Master’s Candidates Show How They’re Bringing Data-Informed Practices to the Classroom

During the School of Education’s annual M.A. Symposium, students presented their master’s inquiry projects to faculty, peers, family, and staff. Research topics ranged from “Turn and Talk” best practices and writing scaffolds to supporting emotional development and fostering conflict resolution skills. Master’s candidates conduct research in their classrooms while completing their first year of full-time teaching. View an event photo gallery of the 2026 M.A. Symposium.

Watch a Day in the Life of a Credential Student

Credential candidate Jess Stillwell shares her experiences in the social studies classroom at the same middle school she attended as a child. Visit us on YouTube or Instagram for more student and alumni stories.

Faculty and Staff News

Gee Shares New Insights on Chronic Absenteeism

In partnership with Attendance Works, Dr. Kevin Gee published two research briefs on chronic absenteeism. “An Overlooked Early Warning Signal” explores the impact of chronic absenteeism on changing school districts among K–3 learners, while “The Persistence of Chronic Absence Between Kindergarten and 1st Grade in California” examines absenteeism trends among kindergarten and first-grade students. In collaboration with Policy Analysis for California Education, Gee and co-researchers published “How Changes in Foster Youth Classification Status Relate to Student Absenteeism and Discipline,” which discusses higher rates of chronic absenteeism among youth in foster care.

California Education Lab Publishes New Research on Regional K–16 Education Collaboratives

California Education Lab Executive Director Dr. Sherrie Reed, Research Fellow Dr. Alexandria Hurtt, and former undergraduate research assistant Casey Duyan published a new practice brief through Policy Analysis for California Education. The brief is reflective of the authors’ work with UC Davis Inclusive Excellence and three of California’s Regional K–16 Education Collaboratives, and describes how cross-sector partnerships that link K–12 schools, higher education, and employers are working to better align education with workforce needs. Read the practice brief “K–16 Partnerships: UC Davis Aligns Education and Workforce.”

CARE Lab Research Assistant Interviewed About Life After Redwood SEED Scholar Program

CARE Lab research assistant Sophie Howarth was recently featured in a UC Davis article highlighting the Redwood SEED Scholars Program graduates and their transition into independent living and employment. In the article, Howarth—who joined the CARE Lab as a student researcher in her third year and continues her work after graduation—reflects on achieving her “dream job.” She contributes to multiple research teams, conducting coding and data entry alongside graduate and undergraduate students. Howarth recently co-authored a literature review on sex and relationship education for adolescents and young adults with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities and autism.

Alumni and Student News

Elizabeth Castro, Ph.D. ’25, will receive the Division K 2026 Outstanding Dissertation Award for her work on bilingual paraeducators at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting. Castro’s research examines the expansive role paraeducators play beyond their assigned duties to strengthen communication between students and their teachers. Her findings highlight ways schools can better support and collaborate with bilingual paraeducators.

 

Garth Lewis, Ed.D. ’25, was named 2026 Superintendent of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators Region 3, which represents school leaders across Sacramento and Yolo counties. The award recognizes Lewis’s exceptional leadership, dedication to student success, and commitment to strengthening public education across Yolo County. He has served as county superintendent since 2018.


 

Ph.D. student Julia Barzizza won the 2026 UC Davis Center for Poverty and Inequality Research Black History Month Student Essay Contest. Her essay “California’s high schools should be teaching ethnic studies courses but aren’t” discusses how California’s ethnic studies graduation requirement has faced uneven implementation due to limited funding and inconsistent adoption, and why that gap matters for students’ ability to see themselves reflected in the curriculum.

Featured Conferences

Michal Kurlaender delivered the President’s Remarks at the Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Conference. Kurlaender was one of several School of Education representatives to present research, including Emily Alonso, Elizabeth Friedmann, Cassandra Hart, Teresita Issa, Robbie Linden, Paco Martorell, and Patrick McClellan.

Other recent conference highlights include: Alicia Rusoja was an invited speaker at the 2026 Humanizing Education Conference…Nicole Sparapani, Nancy Tseng, and Charles Wilkes were keynote speakers at UC SPEDDR. Visit our conference page for a complete roundup of recent research presentations.

Publications

Diemer, M.A., Winn, M.T., Winn, L.T., de los Reyes, W., Kubi, G., and Philip, T.M. (2025). Development and Initial Validation of the Transformative Justice Scale: Assessing Teachers’ Capacity for Transformative Practices in Education. AERA Open, 11.

Gerhart, L., Ballard, H., Correia, C., Johnson, J., Meyer, R., and Winn, A. (2025). The Value of Garden-Based Participatory Environmental Science Projects in California Prisons. In C.P. Dum, J.J. Fader, T.P. LeBel, and K.A. Wright (Eds.), Handbook on Lived Experience in the Justice System. Routledge.

Jiménez-Silva, M., Short-Meyerson, K., Rillero, P., Ishaq, C., and Coughlin, A. (2026). Familias y Ciencia: Launching Science Together Through Informal Familycentric Rocketry with Latina Girls and Parents. Family Sciences, 2(1).

Ostrom, T. and Passmore, C. (2026). Moving Learners from Data Skills to Data Inquiry with Messy Data. Science Scope, 49(1). 

Roach, E.L., Mauss, I.B., Uchikoshi, Y., and Zhou, Q. (2026). Emotion Beliefs and Depressive Symptoms in Chinese American and Mexican American Parents in Low-Income Immigrant Families. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 0(0).