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A Systems-Oriented Scholar & Translational Research Leader
A Systems-Oriented Scholar & Translational Research Leader
My scholarship examines how individual practitioners, institutional policies, and a variety of different learning environments shape opportunity across PK–20 systems. While I am interested in any real world problem related to student success, the majority of my research agenda falls into one of three focal areas (or pillars) of inquiry.
Pillar 1: Disability IdentitY Development
Pillar 1: Disability IdentitY Development
Goal:
Developing actionable insights about how students develop disabilitiy identity and navigate baririers within educational systems in order to craft more inclusive learning environments.
Key Questions:
How do students with disabilities understand themselves relative to both familial and societal messaging about disability and/or ableism?
What institutional practices foster inclusive learning environments for students with disabilities?
How does disability identity shape key student success metrics like belonging, engagement, and career outcomes?
Pillar 2: PK-20
STEM Education
Pillar 2: PK-20
STEM Education
Goal:
Revealing how the design of STEM learning environments influences the success trajectories of learners, the preparation the STEM workforce, and the nature of scientific inquiry.
Key Questions:
How do the assumptions held by STEM faculty members about who students are and what effective instructional practice looks like shape outcomes?
What practices and policies create barriers to STEM learning? Reduce or eliminate barriers to STEM learning?
How do we prepare STEM learners to work in collaborative team and/or in interdisciplnary ways to address wicked problems of pressing significance?
Pillar 3: Scholarship for Social Impact
Pillar 3: Scholarship for Social Impact
Goal:
Understanding how scholars can translate research findings into insights for practice and how higher education institutions can leverage scholarly expertise for meaningful community impact.
Key Questions:
What kinds of knowledge bases and/or theories do educators use to determine strategies for practice?
How do the incentive structures in both academic disciplines and postsecondary institutions shape the problems that scholars choose to address?
What makes research–practice partnerships both effective and sustainable over time?
What does it mean to be a translational research leader?
What does it mean to be a translational research leader?
To be a translational research leader is to move knowledge across boundaries—between theory and practice, between universities and schools, and between research questions and public needs. It means designing studies that do not end in publication, but instead inform policy, reshape programs, and strengthen systems. My work has been supported by the major funders such as the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the United States Department of Education, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality—because my work aims to create sustained, collaborative, cross-sector partnerships rather than isolated research projects. These investments have allowed me to contribute to both fundamental insights about the nature of student success in higher education and also to critical conversations about the science of broadening participation, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary inquiry, and implementation science. Collectively, this work helps describe how higher education institutions can: build research–practice partnerships that connect PK–20 systems, partner directly with schools districts and communities to address local needs, strengthen educator preparation pathways, and improve outcomes for diverse learners.
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