Scholarship Narrative

My research agenda over the past three years has been centered on three lines of inquiry:
preparation of preservice teachers for racially and socioeconomically diverse schools, creating
equitable learning environments in elementary classrooms, and developing school-university
partnerships with racially and socioeconomically diverse schools. The first line of research
(preparation of preservice teachers for racially and socioeconomically diverse schools) builds on
and extends my previous dissertation research while the other lines of inquiry were originated at
Illinois State University. In addition to presenting the findings from this research agenda at
numerous national conferences, I have produced a total of 6 publications (1 book chapter, 5
peer-reviewed articles) from these three lines of inquiry while at Illinois State University
(see Appendix 12).

Preparation of Preservice Teachers for Racially and Socioeconomically Diverse Schools

This primary line of inquiry explores what preservice teachers need from and are receiving from
teacher preparation programs to feel prepared to teach in racially and socioeconomically diverse
schools. I have published 3 publications in this line of inquiry. In 2019, I published a co-
authored a book chapter entitled, “Situating a requisite purple rain in multicultural education”.
This book chapter examines how the co-authors and myself set out to examine the shifting
demographics across U.S. K-12 public schools followed by recent trends in teacher preparation
and our impact on multicultural education. We also shift to a closer examination of teacher
preparation in multicultural education and focus on two model programs that are specifically
designed to approach teaching and learning through a more inclusive leans that both enhances
and embraces dialogic inquiry and community partnerships with schools.

In 2019, I published a conceptual article entitled, “#Preparation matters: Preparing next gen
candidates for diverse classrooms”. This article shares data from my dissertation and makes the
argument of how important it is to prepare teacher candidates for racially diverse schools. Also, I
share points for teacher educators on how to design their courses to focus on preparing
preservice teachers for racially and socioeconomically diverse students.

In 2019, a co-authored article written based on my dissertation was accepted and is currently in-
press with Caddo Press Multicultural Education Journal. This article is entitled, “Show and
Tell: Elementary Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions of Teaching in High-Poverty Schools”. This
article shares data from my dissertation that focuses on preservice teachers’ perceptions of high-
poverty schools and how the data leads to preservice teachers thinking of these schools as both
racially and socioeconomically diverse. This article shares how teacher educators need to discuss
both race and social class when discussing high-poverty schools.

Creating Equitable Learning Environments in Elementary Classrooms

In addition to teacher preparation, my research focuses on creating equitable learning
environments in elementary schools. I have co-authored 2 publications that do this. In Summer
2019, a co-authored manuscript written by Dr. Terry Husband and I was accepted in the Journal
of Global Education and Research. The manuscript is currently in press and is entitled, “The
disproportionate impact of school disciplinary policies on Black girls in Ohio”. The purpose of
this article is to not only highlight disportionality in disciplinary policies on Black girls, but also
focus on what administrators, teachers, and other school staff can do to make sure they are
creating equitable learning environments for all students, but in this case specifically Black girls.

In Spring 2019, I published a co-authored article with Dr. Erin Quast in The Reading Teacher
which is a peer-reviewed journal of the International Literacy Association. This article is
entitled, “Exploring economic diversity and inequity through picture books”. This article focuses
on providing ways that teachers can use picture books to discuss poverty in their classrooms
through the use of picture books.

Developing School-University Partnerships with Urban Schools (Racially Diverse Schools)

While here at ISU, I have focused much of my time on creating school-university partnerships
with racially and socioeconomically diverse schools/school districts. I have co-developed an
Equity & Diversity Cohort which focuses on preparing juniors in the Elementary Education
program for racially and socioeconomically diverse classrooms, as well as teaching them how to
create equitable learning environments in their future classrooms. I co-authored 1 publication
with Dr. Erin Quast and Mrs. Kay Green who I work closely with in the Equity & Diversity
Cohort. This article highlights the development of this cohort. The article was published in the
National Association of Professional Development Schools School-University Partnerships
Journal. The article is entitled, “The influence of John Goodlad’s Legacy: Developing a school-
university partnership in an urban school district”.

Grants

Over the past 3 years, I have been awarded a total of $10,500 in grant monies to engage in
various research projects. In Fall 2017, I was awarded $3, 500 through the Office of Research
and Graduate Studies New Faculty Startup Support Program to begin conducting research on
preservice teachers perceptions of how teacher preparation programs prepare preservice teachers
to teach in high-poverty schools. This grant led to the generation of a peer-reviewed publication
and several conference presentations.

In Spring 2018, I was awarded a total of $2,500 as part of the New Faculty Mid-Year
Fellowship. This grant provided me with funds to conduct a study that explored how teacher
candidates perceive students who attend high-poverty schools. Through data analysis I was able
to examine how teacher candidates discuss the intersections of race and social class when
discussing students who attend high-poverty schools. This grant lead to a peer-reviewed
publication.

In Summer 2018, I was awarded the National Center for Urban Education Course Redesign
Grant. In order to receive this grant I visited schools and community organizations in Peoria, IL,
Decatur, IL, and Chicago, IL. I stayed in a Chicago neighborhood for a week long immersion trip
and redesigned my TCH 204 Elementary Education Practices & Issues course to center urban
education.

Conference Presentations

Over the past 3 years, I have presented my scholarship at numerous national research
conferences such as: National Association of Professional Development Schools, National
Association of Multicultural Education, Association of Teacher Educators Conference,
International Conference on Education and Social Justice, and International Congress of
Qualitative Inquiry (see Appendix 13).

Reviewer for Refereed Journals

I have served as a reviewer for two journals over the past 3 years (see Appendix 14). This
experience has provided an opportunity for me to serve the profession at-large as well as develop
and learn more in my respective area of inquiry. I have reviewed two manuscripts for Action in
Teacher Education and one manuscript for The New Educator.

Public Scholarship

In September 2019, I was a presenter for the Town of Normal’s Racial Equity Summit at
Heartland Community College. My presentation was entitled, “What is Racism?” This
presentation was centered on informing participants of the definition of racism, what it looks
like, and how we as a community can dismantle racism. This presentation caught the attention of
media sources such as NBC News 25, The Pantagraph, and ISU’s In the News.

In conclusion, I believe the aforementioned narrative, along with accompanying evidence

demonstrates my dedication as a teacher educator and researcher. I have documented
accomplishments that are consistent with the College and University’s commitment to teaching
and teacher education, thereby satisfying the expectations of the Third Year Review.