2021- 2022 Division K Award Winners
Arturo Nevárez (California State University Stanislaus)
The award recognizes Dr. Nevárez’s dissertation, Reading “Racial Grammar”: Latinx students’ racial literacy development in ethnic studies classrooms to name and resist racism for its methodological rigor and important insights into the pedagogical practices of Ethnic Studies teachers that support Latinx students’ development of their racial literacies. Dr. Nevárez deftly uses Critical Race Theory and LatCrit to frame the dissertation’s methodological approach and to draw clear connections to theory while providing practical implications for districts, teachers, and teacher educators.
Rachel Snyder Bhansari (Portland State University)
The Honorable Mention award recognizes Dr. Snyder Bhansari’s dissertation, Feeling their way towards justice: The emotional journeys of critically conscious bilingual teachers, for the exceptional quality and creativity of its research design, measures, and analysis and its important insights into how pedagogical decisions for justice are mediated by teachers’ critical consciousness, identity, and emotion. The dissertation makes clear the ethical dimensions of being in community with teachers in its examination of how justice is (re)defined, experienced and enacted in the everyday work of teaching.
Committee: Alexis Patterson Williams (chair), Mildred Boveda, Arturo Cortez, Heather Hill, Josephine Pham, Manali Sheth
Abiola Farinde-Wu (University of Massachusetts, Boston)
The award recognizes Dr. Farinde-Wu’s inspiring, high quality, and impactful research on recruiting and retaining Black teachers. Dr. Farinde-Wu’s research is of critical importance to the field. Her use of innovative frameworks and approaches, including Black feminist epistemology and a whole career-span perspective is not only relevant to teacher recruitment and retention, but also to supporting equitable learning opportunities for all students in schools. Dr. Farinde-Wu purposefully connects her scholarship and teaching to provide race-conscious teacher education.
Committee: Janine Remillard (chair), Hosun Kang, Saili Kulkarni, Riika Hofmann, Kimberly White-Smith
Gloriana Gonzalez Rivera (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign)
Dr. Gonzalez Rivera’s scholarship was recognized for its potential to transform our understanding of the relationship between teacher thinking, mathematics instruction and teachers’ professional development. In her work, teachers are given the opportunity to actively reflect on students’ thinking about what they are learning, practice having conversations with students about their own thinking, and consider new strategies that might more effectively help students learn skills and correct misconceptions. Dr. Gonzalez’s careful exploration of how teachers’ deep and thoughtful reflection actually impacts their teaching has significant implications for teacher education. It brings to light the important relationship between student learning ad teachers’ strategic, focused, and collaborative reflection on how students learn.
Committee: Marvin Lynn (chair), Dan Battey, Tambra Jackson, Michelle Knight-Manuel, Louie F. Rodriguez
Peter Smagorinsky (University of Georgia)
The award recognizes Dr. Smagorinsky’s book, Learning to teach English and the language arts: A Vygotskian perspective on beginning teachers’ pedagogical concept development (Bloomsbury, 2021). Dr. Smagorinsky’s integration of theory, research, and pedagogy drives his examination of “taken-for-granted” understandings of teaching English and the Language Arts (ELA). His specific and relatable teaching examples directly articulate the overarching ideas of the theories under consideration. Dr. Smagorinsky’s book offers insights to build the 21st century education of ELA teachers to meet the needs of diverse students in different contexts.
Committee: Mara Teresa Tatto (Chair), Hilary Conklin, Lorena Guillen, Ilana Seidel Horn, Erica Litke, James Martinez
Angela Calabrese Barton (University of Michigan)
Edna Tan (University of North Carolina at Greensboro)
The award recognizes Dr. Calabrese Barton and Dr. Tan for their work to reframe research on STEM teaching and teacher education and its implications for practice in both classrooms and communities. Their rightful presence framework is a powerful tool for guiding justice-oriented studies of teaching and learning. The research-practice partnerships that Drs. Calabrese Barton and Tan forge with communities serve as a model for equity-focused, engaged scholarship in teaching and teacher education.
Committee: Joseph Nelson (chair), Roderick Carey, Ruchi Rangnath, Kevin Roxas (recused)
Socorro Herrera (Kansas State University)
Dr. Herrera was recognized for her high-quality contributions to teacher education with a focus on Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners and Teachers of Color. Dr. Herrera’s innovative approaches to scholarship and teaching, emerging from the Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy, are both rigorous and enduring. Her nationally recognized Bilingual/Bicultural Education Students Interacting to Obtain Success (BESITOS) program stands as a model for its attention to and benefits for Students of Color.
Committee: Gloria Boutte, Cheryl Craig
Anti-Racist Teaching and Teacher Education Seed Grant Awards
Reflecting its commitment to supporting anti-racist research and practice, in 2021, Division K launched the Anti-Racist Teaching and Teacher Seed Grants. The grants seek to support cross-institutional partnerships aimed at establishing research programs that will advance knowledge about anti-racist teaching and teacher education policy and practice. We especially sought to support projects in which researchers, teacher educators, and practitioners, broadly defined, work together to study and enact replicable approaches/strategies to combat myriad forms of racial harm. The Division received 70 proposals. Their rigor, creativity and commitment to forging partnerships to support anti-racist teaching and teacher education were truly impressive.
The following Division K members were awarded Anti-Racist Teaching and Teacher Education seed grants
Erica B. Edwards, Assistant Professor, (Wayne State University) and Sherell A. McArthur, Associate Professor (University of Georgia), Storying to stay: Engaging Black women career teachers in Black feminist narrative and wellness practice
Marie-Emilie (Mimi) Masson, Professor, (University of Ottawa) and Shawna M. Carroll, Senior Assistant Professor (Okayama University), Uncovering racism, colonialism, and oppression in the French as a second language (FSL) curriculum and creating opportunities for subversion for teachers
Zhongfeng Tian, Assistant Professor (University of Texas at San Antonio) and Alisha Nguyen, PhD Teaching Fellow (Boston College), Co-design and implementation of an anti-racist biliteracy program for young bilingual children using critical translanguaging pedagogy
Heartfelt thanks to the following Division K members who gave their time and insight to review the proposals. Reviewers participated in a multi-stage process that ensured all proposals received multiple reviews and that AERA conflict of interest rules were observed in the consideration of all submissions.
Gabrielle Bernal (University of Michigan), Terrance Burgess (Michigan State University), Danielle Marie Carrier (University of Georgia), Justin Coles (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Keirah Comstock (University of Rochester), Rita Kohli (University of California Riverside), Natasha Perez (University of Houston – Downtown), Emily Petchauer (Michigan State University), Bree Picower (Montclair State University), Francisco Rios (Western Washington University), Christine Sleeter (California State University, Monterey Bay), Raven Jones Stanbrough (Michigan State University), Jon Wargo (Boston College), Chezare Warren (Vanderbilt University)
Re-envisioning Teaching and Teacher Education in the Shadow of the COVID-19 Pandemic (RTTE) Seed Grant Awards
The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped teaching and teacher education in myriad ways. Given the pandemic’s impact, especially its exacerbation of educational and social inequities, in 2021, Division K redirected funds budgeted for the canceled 2020 AERA Annual Meeting to seed research projects that explore the moment’s challenges and possibilities for reimagining teaching and teacher education. The Division received 165 proposals. Their rigor, creativity, and commitment to addressing issues of equity were impressive.
The following Division K members were awarded RTTE seed grants.
Melanie M. Acosta, Assistant Professor, Florida Atlantic University, African Descent Peoples’ Community-Based Organizing for Education in the South
Shannon Paige Clark, Doctoral Candidate, University of Illinois at Chicago, We too, are America: Black teachers, Black families and schooling amidst COVID-19
Saili S. Kulkarni, Assistant Professor, San Jose State University, Amanda L. Miller, Assistant Professor, Wayne State University, Emily Nusbaum, Affiliated Faculty, University of San Francisco, (Re)imagining Teacher Preparation During a Global Pandemic Using Disability-Centered, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies
Joanne Marciano, Assistant Professor, Ji Soo Lee, Doctoral Student, & Lee Melvin Peralta, Doctoral Student, Michigan State University, Examining and Addressing Educational Disparities Experienced by Marginalized Youth During COVID-19 Through Culturally Responsive-Sustaining YPAR
Helen Rose Miesner, Doctoral Candidate, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Compliance Amid Complexity? How Policies, People and a Pandemic Shape Special Education in Practice
Jenny Root, Assistant Professor, Florida State University, Sarah Cox, Assistant Professor, Eastern Michigan University, Addie McConomy, Doctoral Student, Florida State University, Taryn Wade, Doctoral Student, Florida State University, Caregiver-Assisted Virtual Math Instruction for Secondary Students with Autism
Heartfelt thanks to the following Division K members who gave their time and insight during a very challenging summer in 2020 to review the 165 RTTE proposals. Reviewers participated in a multi-stage process that ensured all proposals received multiple reviews and that AERA conflict of interest rules were observed in the consideration of all submissions.
Danielle Marie Carrier (University of Georgia), Keirah Comstock (University of Rochester), Cassandra Drake (California State University Stanislaus), Hala Ghousseini (University of Wisconsin), Lin Goodwin (University of Hong Kong), Thomas Levine (University of Connecticut), Emily Smith (Fairfield University), Kevin Roxas (Western Washington University), Jon Wargo (Boston College), Chezare A. Warren (Vanderbilt University).
Special thanks to Felice Levine (Executive Director, AERA) and Lori Diane Hill (Associate Executive Director, AERA) for their generous insight and support in the development and administration of the RTTE grant program.
Outstanding Dissertation Award
Winner: Dr. Jenni Conrad, (University of Washington/Temple University)
"Grandmother Cedar as sovereignty teacher: Transformations in teacher learning, research-practice partnerships, and curriculum"
The award recognizes Dr. Conrad’s dissertation for its rigor, basis in partnership with and elevation of the knowledges, voices and perspectives of Indigenous communities. The dissertation “stretches our imagination” of the possibilities Indigenous knowledges and practices hold for teacher education scholarship.
Honorable Mentions:
Adrian Neely (Georgia State University)
"School Connectedness And African American Students: An Examination With Implications For Policy And Teacher Education"
Desiree Pallais (University of Texas)
"Re-figuring informational texts when using Spanish to create and teach with them in a Bilingual Teacher Preparation Program: Latinx Contributions to Linguistics and Pedagogy"
Committee: Elizabeth Van Es(Chair), Niral Shah, Alexis Patterson Williams, Margarita Jimenez-Silva, Roderick Carey, Priyanka Agarwal
Early Career Award
Winner: Dr. Travis Bristol (University of California Berkeley)
Dr. Bristol’s scholarship was recognized for its powerful insights into the professional pathways, experiences and retention of teachers of color, especially Black male teachers. Dr. Bristol’s work has opened new terrain in our field and is distinguished by its innovative approach to examining the intersection of race and gender in the policies that shape teachers’ work.
Committee: Kimberly A White-Smith (Chair), Marvin Lynn, Danny Martinez, Kenneth Varner, Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz
Mid-Career Award
Winner: Dr. Rita Kohli (University of California Riverside)
Dr. Kohli was recognized for the rigorous quality of her scholarship and her efforts to bring her scholarship to the public sphere to improve the well-being of teachers and students. Dr. Kohli’s studies of the racialized experiences of teachers of color and efforts to amplify their voices through her work are models of critically engaged teacher education scholarship.
Committee: Corey Drake (Chair), Paula Lancaster, Amy Roth McDuffie, Jon Wargo
Exemplary Research in Teaching and Teacher Education
Winner: Dr. Cheryl J. Craig (Texas A&M University)
“Data is [G]od”: The influence of cumulative policy reforms on teachers’ knowledge in an urban middle school in the United States, published in the journal Teaching and Teacher Education.
Dr Craig’s article was recognized for its innovative approach to the study of how policy shapes teachers’ professional lives and experiences over time. The article develops a dual approach to narrative inquiry: as a research method for unpacking teachers’ work overtime and as teachers’ ways of knowing. In doing so, Dr. Craig’s article provides insights into how policies could respect the professionalism of teachers and both speaks to educators and addresses issues of equity and justice in policy implementation.
Committee: Maria Teresa Tatto (Chair), Beatrice Avalos, Megan Madigan Peercy, Gloriana Gonzalez Rivera, David Stroupe
Innovations in Research on Equity and Social Justice in Teacher Education
Winner: Rahat Zaidi (University of Calgary)
Dr. Zaidi is recognized for the theoretical innovation and extraordinary impact of her scholarship in the field of multilingual literacies. Her conceptualization of teacher-led dual-language reading strategies and commitment to informing teacher practice grounded in culturally relevant teaching expand our visions of teaching for equity and social justice.
Committee: Mayida Zaal, (Chair), Darla Linville,, Jillian Ford Fernando Naiditch, Margary Martin, Patricia Lopez
Legacy Award
Winners:
Dr. Gloria Boutte (University of South Carolina)
Dr. Boutte was recognized for her important and influential scholarship on teaching and teacher education. Throughout her career, Dr. Boutte has created agentive spaces for students, teachers and faculty, alike, to explore culturally sustaining approaches to teaching and learning for African American students, most notably via the Center for the Education and Equity of African American Students at the University of South Carolina. The theoretical and empirical attention to African Americans and the African Diaspora in Dr. Boutte’s scholarship are critical models for transforming teaching and teacher education scholarship and practice.
Dr. Cheryl J. Craig (Texas A&M University)
Dr. Craig was recognized for the depth and breadth of the scholarship she has produced over her professional career. Dr. Craig has been critical to the development of narrative approaches to studying teaching and teachers’ experiences. Her mentoring of graduate students and junior faculty are exemplary. Dr. Craig was further recognized for the national and international reach of her scholarship.
Committee: Francisco Rios (Chair), Christine Sleeter, Anthony Brown, Mara Sapon-Shevin, Cleveland Hayes, Elham Kazemi
2021
Gloria Boutte & Cheryl J. Craig
2020
Linda Darling Hammond
2019
Arnetha Ball, Jo-Ann Archibald
2018
Marilyn Cochran-Smith
2017
Walter Doyle, Sharon Feiman Nemser
2016
Etta R. Hollins
2015
D. Jean Clandinin
2014
Susan E. Noffke