2023: Increased Scholarship Opportunities and Major Faculty Accomplishments

General School News

Prof. Cynthia Carter Ching was appointed interim dean for the School of Education by Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan.

Research and Collaboration

The School of Education hosted the Emerging Scholars panel, “Expanding Equity in Research on Language, Race & Culture, and Intersectionality & Policy.” Drs. Sofia E. Chaparro (University of Colorado Denver), Lauren Leigh Kelly (Rutgers), Manali Sheth (University of Illinois Chicago) and Krystal L. Williams (University of Georgia) brough diverse disciplinary perspectives on education.

The School of Education and Graduate Group in Education premiered a new speaker series called Education Career Chats. The series provides UC Davis doctoral candidates the opportunity to learn from individuals who have earned their doctoral degrees in education and are working outside of academia.

The Graduate Group in Education conducted 12 live research seminars with campus and visiting professors, including Profs. Cassandra M. Hart, Alice Lee, Cristina G. Reynaga-Peña, Megan Bettis, Jennifer Higgs, Nicole Sparapani, and Pi-Jen Lin (林碧珍), postdoctoral researcher Sergio Sanchez, and PhD students Audrey Boochever, Mayra Nuñez Martinez, Adriana Lopez Torres, Tadria Cardenas, Elizabeth Castro, Silvia Tovar, and Jade Lee.

Wheelhouse: The Center for Community College Leadership and Research launched the Advancing Leaders Institute for leaders aspiring to become California Community College presidents, chancellors or superintendents/presidents. The center also published “Toward Belonging in the Community College Classroom: Lessons from the Learning for Equity Ascend Research Network (LEARN),” a research brief that documents how two faculty members used survey technology to adjust their teaching practices in real time.

The Beta Lab collaborated with the UC Davis Craft Center to renovate the center’s Maker Space into a classroom for K-12 students, UC Davis students, and community members. The classroom offers hands-on access to equipment such as a 3D printer, vinyl cutter, and soldering kits.

Alumni and Community Support

Deborah Raasch, Cred. ‘74, established the Raasch Family Scholarship to support students pursuing their Multiple Subject Teaching Credential who have a demonstrated financial need.

Sue Hansen, Cred. ‘74, started the Barbara J. Hansen Guardian Teacher Award to provide financial support to former foster youth continuing their post-undergraduate education and careers in teaching.

Shirley LeRoy established the LeRoy Family Fund for Neurodiversity at the School of Education. Her gift will fund the planning and development of an educational model for teaching credential candidates that will help them remove instructional barriers to learning so that all students can thrive.

JennieRae Paker, BA ‘97, established the JR Paker Teaching Award to support teaching credential candidates with the greatest financial need.

The School of Education announced a new partnership with Luminous Minds, Inc. to provide licenses to teaching credential and master’s candidates.

In other news:

• Dr. Susanna Cooper, executive director of Wheelhouse, was elected chair of the board of the James B. McClatchy Foundation.
• Doctoral candidate Elizabeth B. Castro received the 2023 Early Career Educator of Color Award from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).
• PhD student Antoinette Banks won the Pharrell Williams Black Ambition grand prize of $1 million for her app Expert IEP.
• Morgan Myhre, single subject science credential student, was awarded the California Association of Science Educators Future Teacher Award.
• School of Education first-year PhD students formed the Abolition, Decolonization, and Liberation Collective. They launched a speaker series, book club, and community action and collective research projects.

Faculty News

• Prof. Jennifer Higgs was promoted with tenure to associate professor.
• Profs. Kevin Gee, Cassandra M. Hart, Lee Martin, and Paco Martorell were promoted to full professor.
• Prof. Torry Winn was appointed Chair of Undergraduate Programs.
• Prof. Alexis Patterson Williams was appointed Chair of Teacher Education.
• Prof. Paco Martorell was appointed Chair of the Graduate Group in Education.
• Prof. Gloria Rodriguez was appointed Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs.
• Drs. Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica, Nancy Tseng, and Matt Wallace join UC Davis as associate professors.
• Prof. Yuuko Uchikoshi was named Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Instruction for the School of Education.

Awards and Recognition

Prof. Marcela Cuellar was awarded Chancellor’s Fellowship for 2022-2023. She received a one-time award of $25,000 to support her research, teaching, and service activities.

Prof. Michal Kurlaender appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to the Education Commission of the States, which provides research and consultation on education policy.

Prof. Maisha T. Winn was recognized from more than 20,000 academics as one of the top 200 education scholars in the United States. The selected scholars are chosen for their work moving ideas from academic journals into national conversation and shaping educational practice and policy. Winn was also elected to the National Academy of Education, joining a prestigious group of U.S. members and international associates who are elected based on outstanding scholarship or leadership in education.

Prof. Darnel Degand was one of four UC Davis faculty selected to participate in the 2023 Writing Community of the Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on the Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities (CAMPSSAH). The faculty selected are engaged in work that applies an intersectional lens to issues of race, gender, sexuality and class inequalities.

Prof. Pauline Holmes received the UC Davis Academic Senate and Academic Federation’s Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching or Mentoring Award.

Speaking Opportunities

Prof. Michal Kurlaender delivered the keynote address at the Centering Equity in Graduate Education event hosted by AMIGA (Alliance for Multi-campus Inclusive Graduate Admissions).

Prof. Alicia Rusoja presented her research “My Son Was Teaching Me How to Really Act in Solidarity: Latine/x Immigrants Organizing Intergenerationally through a Communal Pedagogy of Resistance” at a research colloquium hosted by the Center for the Advancement of Multicultural Perspectives on Social Science, Arts, and Humanities (CAMSSAH).

Prof. Faheemah Mustafaa and PhD student Tadria Cardenas Rico presented “Promotive and Inhibitive Outcomes Among Black Girls in California Schools: A Civil Rights Data Collection Exploratory Study,” as part of a series hosted by the Aoki Center on Critical Race and Nation Studies.

Prof. Torry Winn and PhD candidate Izamar Ortíz-González presented “Lessons From the Pilot of MTSS School-Site Implementation” during a UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools webinar.

Prof. Faheemah Mustafaa shared her research “A Tale of Two California Studies: Investigating Holistic Well-Being and Mental Health During COVID-19” at a webinar hosted by the COVID-19 and Equity in Education (CEE) initiative.

Publications

Dr. Sherrie Reed, Prof. Michal Kurlaender and fellow researchers co-authored the report “Innovating High School Math Through K-12 and Higher Education Partnerships.”

Prof. Kevin Gee co-authored the report “Disparities in Unexcused Absences Across California Schools,” and a related commentary article in EdSource titled “Disparities in ‘Unexcused’ Absences Deepen Education Inequities.” The research was also featured in Education Week articles “Some Students Are Less Likely to Have Absences Excused: Why That Matters for Schools” and “3 Signs That Schools Are Sending the Wrong Message About Attendance.” Gee also co-authored the commentary “Chronic Absenteeism Post-Pandemic: Let’s Not Make This Our ‘New Normal.’” He presented “School Bullying and Hate Speech Against Asian American Youth: What Can Schools Do?” as part of the North Carolina State University College of Education speaker series. Gee was featured in a story by CBS Sacramento on the funding for his related research project.

Prof. Lauren Lindstrom was featured in an Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education article about her research on the influence of gender on career development for youth with disabilities and learning differences.

Prof. Marcela Cuellar, PhD candidate Mayra Nuñez Martinez, Alicia Bencomo Garcia, PhD ‘23, and UC Berkeley’s Prof. Gina A Garcia published the report “Building Capacity for Equity and Servingness across California’s Hispanic-Serving Community Colleges.”

Grants

Prof. Kevin Gee received a grant from the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Data program at the University of California, Riverside. With this support, Gee launched a research project that examines how school climate influences the bullying experiences of California’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth.

Center for Community and Citizen Science Executive Director Ryan Meyer, with postdoctoral scholar M.V. Eitzel, received the Advancing Sustainable Development Goals grant from UC Davis Global Affairs for their project “Multilayered Community-Based Assessment of Sustainable Development Goals in Rural Zimbabwe.”

Center for Applied Policy in Education Executive Director Christina Murdoch, with Professor Emeritus Thomas Timar, was awarded a Seed Grant for International Activities from UC Davis Global Affairs for the project “Comparative International Research in Education Policy to Address Educational Inequities,” Which involves research in Bavaria, Germany.

Prof. Alicia Rusoja and Center for Community and Citizen Science Executive Director Ryan Meyer named Faculty Fellows by the UC Davis Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement. The fellowship comes with a $1,000 grant in support of their initiatives