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Kate Baca, Learning Sciences & Human Development and Teacher Learning, Research & Practice
Dissertation: “Teacher Histories in Communities of Color: Teacher of Color Identity in the Rural Southwest”
Faculty Advisor: Susan Jurow

Kate Baca earned her doctorate in two programs: Teacher Learning, Research, & Practice and Learning Sciences & Human Development. Kate was a founding member of the research practice partnership that was the site for her doctoral research. She is from the Southwest, understands how its histories of colonization and violence live in present-day schooling practices and is dedicated to being a part of organizing a more liberatory future. 

In her dissertation entitled "Teacher Histories in Communities of Color: Teacher of Color Identity in the Rural Southwest," Kate brought together studies of teacher identities, co-design, and analyses of learning towards social transformation. These are three separate and well-established fields of research that have not been examined together. By creatively joining these fields, Kate developed an innovative framework that challenges the thinness of the term “teachers of color” to acknowledge teachers’ diverse histories, practices, and stories of themselves as educators. Through case studies based on collaborating with the same set of teachers for multiple years, Kate beautifully uplifts the dignity of teaching and of teachers. We are so very proud of you Dr. Baca! 
 

Malerie Beth Barnes, Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice
Dissertation: “Individual Merit or Institutional Strategy? An Examination of the Merit Scholarship Practices at a Public Flagship University”
Faculty Advisor: Michele Moses

Malerie Beth Barnes is receiving her PhD in Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice with specializations in Higher Education and Research Methods. In her excellent mixed-methods dissertation entitled “Individual Merit or Institutional Strategy? Examining the Merit Scholarship Practices at a Public Flagship University,” Malerie examines, first, how university enrollment management leaders define and operationalize the concept of merit by way of the automatic merit scholarship policies that they develop and oversee to meet university goals; second, how expanded models of merit scholarships have previously affected student enrollment, retention, and academic performance; and third, how leaders at the university ought to think about and operationalize merit and balance the individual and collective purposes of higher education. Acknowledging the very real constraints of the university’s political and financial realities, she offers policy recommendations aiming toward an expanded recognition of merit in the service of meaningful educational access and equity. Known throughout the School of Education as an especially thoughtful, insightful, and generous scholar and colleague who passionately champions opportunity and equity, we are so lucky that Dr. Barnes will continue as Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management for our own School of Education. Malerie – you are a gift to our community. 

Ericalyn Dimla Caasi, Literacy Studies
Dissertation: “The Body as Pedagogy: Building a Critical Literary Space with Children Participating in After School Sport Programs”
Faculty Advisor: Elizabeth Dutro

Dr. Erica Caasi earned her PhD in Literacy Studies. Her dissertation study, "The Body as Pedagogy: Building a Critical Literary Space with Youth Participating in After School Sport Programs," focused on collaborating with teacher partners, in their roles as coaches for an after school running program, to co-design curriculum that integrated literature and discussions on sport, athletes, gender, race, and the body into the program. Her study shows the important shifts in depth and expansiveness of critical topics and ideas that can result through weaving literature and discussion about vital issues of race and gender that impact sport, particularly within a sport program that explicitly engages with issues of gender and, in the case of Erica’s partnership, includes primarily children of color. Her work has impacted the direction of the program at that school and holds implications for shifts in theory and practice in and outside of classrooms.  She was also an award-winning instructor and mentor to fellow instructors at CU Boulder. Across the strands of her research and her current role as research consultant, Erica is fueled by the desire to do work that leads to social change and collective impact. Congratulations, Dr. Caasi!

Julia Daniel, Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice
Dissertation: “Engage for What? What Participation in Education Reform Efforts Reveal about Power and Inequality”
Faculty Advisors: Kevin Welner and Terrenda White

Dr. Julia Daniel is the recipient of the 2024 School of Education PhD Outstanding Community Engagement / Public Scholarship Award. All of Julia’s work arises out of her commitment to the importance of genuine community voice and to healthy, equal relationships between researchers and community members. Her dissertation study focuses on community and teacher voice in three school districts. Across the sites, Julia examined how different approaches are needed in different contexts by those who hope to advance equity-oriented reforms – either adversarial engagement, collaboration, or an insider-outsider approach. In each site, her approach was to engage and collaborate herself – developing mutual trust and finding ways to be of assistance to those who invited her into their communities. The dissertation explains why attempts to create authentic forms of participation must make sure to expand how and which people participate in reform efforts, undermine unjust power dynamics, create counter-public spaces to support resistance, politicize the issues being discussed, and attend to participants’ emotions. For the past four years, while working on her dissertation, Julia has also worked as the Assistant Director of Showing Up for Racial Justice, the main national network organizing white people for racial and economic justice.

Caitlín Anna Dougherty, Equity, Bilingualism & Biliteracy
Dissertation: “​​​A Language Policy Ethnography of Fifth Graders and Their Families:  
Navigating the Transition from a TWBE Elementary School to Middle School”
Faculty Advisor: Deb Palmer

Caitlín (Caitie) Dougherty has earned her doctorate in Equity, Bilingualism and Biliteracy. A talented teacher educator with a focus on preparing teachers to work with bilingual/multilingual students, Caitie has work with both preservice and practicing teachers with tremendous success. Her dissertation is titled "A Language Policy Ethnography of Fifth Graders and their Families: Navigating the Transition from a TWBE Elementary School to Middle School." Drawing on an ecological lens and a community/cultural wealth framework, she explores the decision-making and policy navigation of four Latina bilingual students and their families as they completed fifth grade at a dual language bilingual school and weighed options for middle schools, within the context of a neoliberal, choice-based schooling system. Her findings make evident the influence of language commodification in shaping opportunities for bilingual students to thrive beyond elementary grades. She calls for a decolonizing approach to bilingual programming K-12 that honors the complex language and culture identities of racialized bilingual families in white- and English-dominated schools. More broadly, her research centers families’ perspectives to shed light on the complexities of their interactions with policy in schools. We are so proud of you Caitie - ¡Felicidades!

Michelle Doughty, Research & Evaluation Methodology
Dissertation: “Teachers Beyond the Classroom: Evidence on Union Action, Leadership, and Coaching Effectiveness”
Faculty Advisor: Mimi Engel

Dr. Michelle Doughty earned her PhD in Research & Evaluation Methodology. Her dissertation, "Teachers beyond the Classroom: Evidence on Union Action, Leadership, and Coaching Effectiveness" explores the effects of teacher activism and teacher leadership, topics that first piqued her interest through firsthand experience when she was a science teacher turned teacher activist during Arizona’s 2018 teacher strike, part of the Red for Ed movement. When taking REM’s introductory course on regression analysis, Michelle learned at least two pivotal things. First, that quantitative methods are FUN, and second that we were studying topics that were central to her interests through a research-practice partnership with Denver Public Schools. This led her to join our partnership and become a key collaborator in the work we've done. Her deep commitments to educational equity and her skills as an instructor and a leader are now complimented by the extensive methodological expertise and substantive knowledge she’s gained as a scholar. Her dissertation work will lead to important publications, and, she already has two sole-authored manuscripts in revision at top education journals. This is a mere glimpse of what’s to come – we can’t wait to continue to learn from and with Michelle as she pursues her career as an education policy scholar. She has accepted a position as a postdoctoral scholar at Vanderbilt University. Congratulations, Dr. Doughty!

Kristen Driscoll, Literacy Studies
Dissertation: “Fostering Criticality in Surveilled Spaces: Teacher Educators and Preservice Teachers Navigating Accountability through their Sensemaking on Equity-Oriented Early Literacy Instruction”
Faculty Advisor: Silvia Noguerón-Liu

Dr. Kristen Driscoll is graduating with a Ph.D. in Literacy Studies and  Teacher Learning, Research, and Practice. Through practitioner inquiry and self-study, Dr. Driscoll’s research focuses on shifts in literacy instruction in response to state policy initiatives. Her analysis of dilemmas that educators face in universities and elementary schools is skillfully crafted in her dissertation titled "Fostering Criticality in Surveilled Spaces: Teacher Educators and Preservice Teachers Navigating Accountability through their Sensemaking on Equity-oriented Early Literacy Instruction." Dr. Driscoll argues that future teachers and their university instructors can envision the potential of equitable and responsive literacy instruction, when they engage in identity work about themselves and their students, and conceptualize literacy in complex ways. Dr. Driscoll has timely implications for policy and practice. As the teaching of reading is highly visible in public media discourse, Dr. Driscoll’s work reminds us how decisions about evidence-based instruction should include the perspectives of teachers as policymakers. A reflective scholar who centers children at the heart of her work, Dr. Driscoll will join the faculty in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, as assistant professor in Early Childhood Literacy. Congratulations Kristen! We are so very proud!    

Andrea LeMahieu Glaws, Literacy Studies
Dissertation: “Designing Teacher Learning Experiences to Promote Equitable and Just Teaching Practices”
Faculty Advisors: Wendy Glenn and Sara Staley

Andrea Glaws values and elevates the voices of classroom teachers. In her dissertation, “Designing Teacher Learning Experiences to Promote Equitable and Just Teaching Practices,” she tackled two interrelated aims—the creation of a collaborative space for teachers to learn together as they envision the critical literacy practices they can bring to their classrooms and examination of this space as a site for teacher learning. The limitations of school-based professional development, coupled with demands to engage educators in critical work in response to the changed and changing needs of students and schools, make this project not only important but essential. By centering teachers’ voices and exploring how they enact their agency, the project challenges deficit narratives of teachers as passive and beholden to political forces and policy decisions beyond their control. Her work expands upon and reframes the research conversation regarding critical literature practices, teacher learning, and teacher collaboration to inform the work of teacher educators in university settings and classroom teachers in K-12 schools, ultimately supporting the creation of rich learning experiences for young people. Dr. Glaws is continuing this work as an Assistant Professor in the College of Health and Human Service at Colorado State University.

Derek LeFebre, Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice
Dissertation: “Pedagogies of Resistance and Self-Preservation: Hispano Education and the Struggle for Land Rights in Northern New Mexico, 1846-1919”
Faculty Advisor: Rubén Donato

Derek LeFebre is an accomplished teacher and emerging educational historian. His dissertation is titled “Pedagogies of Resistance and Self-Preservation: Hispano Education and the Struggle for Land Rights in Northern New Mexico, 1846-1919.” In six chapters, Derek examines how Hispano education evolved after the U.S. occupied New Mexico in 1846. He argues that Hispanos established schools to defend their land and autonomy. Derek’s research underscores how Hispano schools strengthened and fueled the land rights struggle during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Important in his research were the educators who became leaders in the struggle for Hispano land rights. Derek examined how Hispano educators developed unique, local relevant English and Spanish language curricula that prepared Hispano students to compete for land and political power in their occupied homeland.

Rebecca Machen, STEM Education
Dissertation: “Exploring the Connections Between Active Learning Pedagogy and Inclusion Within Introductory-Level College Mathematics Courses”
Faculty Advisor: David Webb

Dr. Rebecca Machen directs her time and passion toward improving mathematics education for students at University of Colorado where she has worked as an instructor, advisor, administrator, and department campus liaison for the Student Academic Success Center (SASC) since 2015. Beyond SASC, she developed a co-requisite course for CU Boulder’s mathematics department that was designed to promote improved student reasoning and engagement with precalculus course material. Dr. Machen also regularly facilitates professional development workshops sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America designed to increase the use of student-centered practices by mathematics department faculty across the country. In her dissertation titled, "Exploring the Connections Between Active Learning Pedagogy and Inclusion within Introductory-Level College Mathematics Courses," she analyzed interview data, focus group discussions and classroom observations to identify themes regarding inclusive teaching and theories of Whiteness. The findings from her study highlight the pivotal role instructors and students have in enhancing inclusivity and belonging in college mathematics classrooms, particularly the influence of instructors’ intercultural positioning on addressing issues of equity. These findings are an important contribution to research on ways to improve undergraduate mathematics education for current and future generations of students. Congratulations, Dr. Machen!

Jose Ortiz, Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice
Dissertation: “Reflection Through Testimonios: Centering the Experiences of Latina/o �鶹��Ժ as a Way to Collectively Explore, Understand, and Contextualize Emotions”
Faculty Advisors: Rubén Donato and Enrique Lopez

Jose Ortiz, who earned his PhD in Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice, is committed to educational equity, social justice, and improving the experiences of Latinx students. His dissertation, “Reflection Through Testimonios: Centering the Experiences of Latina/o �鶹��Ժ as a Way to Collectively Explore, Understand, and Contextualize Emotions,” examines how Latinx students attending a summer program use a form of narrative known as testimonio to make sense of and understand their emotions. Falling on literature that centers culture and race, Dr. Ortiz demonstrated how students at the CU Boulder Aquetza program use testimonios to process their lived experiences. His research findings have important implications on ways educators can diversify Social and Emotional Learning strategies to better serve Latinx students. Dr. Ortiz is currently an Assistant Professor in Foundations and Social Advocacy at the State University of New York at Cortland where he is preparing the next generation of K-12 teachers to be agents of change within their school community.

Jennifer Elaine Pacheco, Learning Sciences & Human Development
Dissertation: “The Role of Dialogue in Promoting Anti-racist Practices in the Workplace”
Faculty Advisor: Ben Kirshner

Dr. Jennifer Pacheco engages in praxis--the combination of theory and action--to bring about change in organizations and communities. Dr. Pacheco’s dissertation, “The Role of Dialogue in Promoting Anti-racist Practices in the Workplace,” examines processes of organizational learning and change that she co-designed and studied. Over several years at a higher education institution, Dr. Pacheco and her colleagues trained “lead facilitators” in structured dialogues focused on advancing equity and anti-racist practices. In the best tradition of community-based participatory research, Dr. Pacheco studied the process of individual and organizational change while she worked collaboratively with professional staff. This critical research, drawing on Chicana feminism and critical theories of whiteness, identified innovations in how to facilitate anti-racist dialogues, including the role of vulnerability, risk-taking, and storytelling. Dr. Pacheco’s research documents a transition that her research partners made from personal learning through dialogue towards engaging in significant policy change in their institution. Dr. Pacheco’s work raises important implications for community-engaged research, theories of institutional change, and critical anti-racist dialogues. Moreover, her approach to writing in the dissertation creates new space in education research for combining critical qualitative analysis with personal narrative and storytelling.

Danielle Elizabeth Shaw Attaway, Research & Evaluation Methodology
Dissertation: “An Investigation of Factors of High-Quality Early Childhood Education”
Faculty Advisor: Mimi Engel

Dr. Danielle Shaw Attaway earned her PhD in Research & Evaluation Methodology. Her dissertation, "An Investigation of Factors of High-Quality Early Childhood Education," explores causal effects, contexts, and implementation of policies and programs aimed at improving equitable experiences and outcomes in early childhood. Danielle focuses on policies and practices in early childhood education that have the potential to help young children with special needs, from households with low income, and whose life circumstances put them at risk for being left behind. Danielle earned a master's in Learning Sciences and Human Development here while earning her PhD in Research & Evaluation Methodology! She uses a developmental lens in her work evaluating programs and policies with the goal of improving early childhood education and supporting young children’s development. Her dedication, hard work, and commitment to conducting research aimed at improving early childhood education will make important contributions for years to come. Danielle’s dissertation work is already leading to publications in top education journals. She is continuing her journey as a researcher at the American Institute of Research. Congratulations, Dr. Shaw Attaway, we are so lucky to have the privilege of working and learning with you!

Katherine Grace Somerville, Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice
Dissertation: “Justice and Well-Being in School: Youth Visions for Promoting Student Mental Health”
Faculty Advisor: Kevin Welner

Over the past five years, we’ve heard a great deal about students’ mental health and about trauma-informed care in schools. But much of this thinking, and resulting policies, has been surprisingly superficial, with an emphasis on treatment but little attention to the actual harms experienced by students – and the causes underlying those harms. In her dissertation research, Dr. Kate Somerville pushes against this conventional thinking. She uses youth participatory action research and nested comparative research, engaging youth in the research process while also independently analyzing data on the experiences of selected youth focal participants – as well as mental health professionals in a focal school district. Her research challenges assumptions about trauma-informed care in schools, exploring the importance of experiencing justice and wellness inside and outside of schools. In her dissertation, and in her other work, Kate is enormously impressive in her commitment to collaboration, her initiative, her kindness, her ethical integrity, and her creative and critical thinking. This fall, Kate will start her research position as a post-doc at the University of Virginia's Center to Promote Effective Youth Development.

Elizabeth Ann Tetu, Teacher Learning, Research & Practice
Dissertation: “Becoming Justice-Oriented Teachers: A Collective Learning Experience For and With First-Year Teachers”
Faculty Advisors: Jamy Stillman and Kathy Schultz

A powerful teacher educator and teacher education scholar, Lizz Tetu is the Teacher Learning, Research, and Practice program’s first graduate. Lizz’s dissertation, “Becoming justice-oriented teachers: A collective learning experience for and with first-year teachers,” addresses one of education’s most persistent problems: new teachers leaving teaching within the first five years. For her project, Lizz designed a teacher inquiry community to serve as a bridge connecting teacher preparation and the first, often tumultuous, years of teaching. Relying on Critical Pedagogy and Cultural Historical Activity Theory to design both the inquiry community and study, Lizz examined: 1) dilemmas of practice that first-year justice-oriented teachers encountered as they sought to enact their values in practice, 2) the role of school contexts in constraining or supporting teachers’ pursuits of justice-oriented teaching, and 3) how the inquiry community facilitated teacher learning. In addition to generating new understandings about the kinds of experiences that may enable justice-oriented teachers to remain in the profession and enact anti-oppressive teaching, Lizz’s study is having immediate impacts on teacher education and on teachers’ learning and work. This fall, Dr. Tetu will join the faculty here at CU Boulder as an Assistant Teaching Professor of Elementary Education. Congratulations, Lizz!