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Research Spotlight: Julie C. Brown

Q & A with Julie C. Brown, Ph. D., Associate Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning

What research are you currently working on?

I lead two National Science Foundation-funded grants, RIEL Biology and CRAFT, both of which include classroom-based research and the professional development of Florida’s science and math teachers. On both projects, we have some really interesting research in the works. Please visit our social media pages, @RIELBiology and @CRAFTSciMath, for more information.

In February 2022, RIEL Biology was spotlighted by the National Science Foundation as an exemplary project that advances culturally responsive STEM education. More recently (October 2022), CRAFT was spotlighted by the National Science Foundation as an exemplary project that advances students’ social emotional learning (SEL). While SEL is not taught explicitly in CRAFT, we draw upon the tenets of a race-visible, culturally responsive pedagogy that supports academic goals alongside affective domains, funds of knowledge, and asset-based, humanizing pedagogies, all of which are critical components of CRAFT.

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Research Spotlight: Carla-Ann Brown

Q & A with Carla-Ann Brown, Ed. D., University School Assistant Professor at the P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School

What research are you currently working on?

My primary research areas are equitable teaching and learning and Culturally Sustaining (CS) practices. Currently, my research focuses on promoting an anti-racist and CS school culture through advancing systems and structures that increase opportunities for faculty of color (FoC). More specifically, as repercussions of the pandemic and racially targeted state laws continue to negatively impact Black educators, research on the simultaneous impact of both external stressors (COVID-19 and racially targeted state laws) is lacking Black educator insights critical to improving educational systems. My goal is to develop robust representation in this research field by creating opportunities for Black K-12 educators to share their authentic experiences and personal truths, including acknowledging the consequences of these challenges on Black educator well-being, efficacy, and tenure. With this goal in mind, if awarded the 23-24 Spencer Postdoctoral fellowship, I intend to continue a cross-cultural and international analysis of how Black educators experience racialized school climates amidst a global COVID-19 pandemic that will begin during my Fulbright experience in the U.K. during the 2023 Spring semester.

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Research Spotlight: F. Chris Curran

Q & A with F. Chris Curran, Ph. D., Director of the Education Policy Research Center & Associate Professor in the School of Human Development and Organizations Studies

What research are you currently working on?

My research applies frameworks and methodologies from the field of public policy to improve outcomes and equity in educational systems. In particular, I seek to examine how the laws, policies, and practices of educational institutions shape experiences and outcomes for students of color, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and other marginalized groups. My primary areas of research are school safety and discipline as well as early childhood education, though I have written widely about other education policy topics ranging from teacher labor markets to federal policy adoption.

Currently, I am leading several federally funded research projects including a Department of Justice-funded grant to develop a school safety data dashboard and training materials for the state of Florida as well as a National Science Foundation-funded project examining the elementary school science learning trajectories of multi-lingual students. For the school safety dashboard project, we are working with state and non-profit partners to understand how stakeholders use school safety data and to incorporate that feedback into data visualizations that school personnel can use to facilitate data dialogues and target policy and practice changes. The multi-lingual learners and elementary science project is currently supporting the development of multiple graduate students’ skills in the quantitative analysis of large-scale secondary data and has led to multiple presentations to researchers and practitioners.

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Research Spotlight: Zandra de Araujo

Q & A with Zandra de Araujo, Ph.D., Chief Equity Officer and Mathematics Principal in the Lastinger Center for Learning

What research are you currently working on?

My current research focuses on teacher professional development and equitable mathematics instruction. I currently have two large research grants I am working on. I am the principal investigator of the Practice-Driven Professional Development (PDPD) Project (NSF #2206774, $2,533,289). The PDPD Project researches and develops professional development aimed to help teachers enact incremental changes to their existing instruction in algebra.

On the second project, led by Dr. Hyunyi Jung, I am a co-principal investigator. The project, Empowering Students with Choice through Equitable and Interactive Mathematical Modeling (EIM2, NSF #2200928, $1,978,280), helps students engage in equitable mathematical modeling. Equitable mathematical modeling is the process of using mathematics to analyze and quantify scenarios through a lens of equity and studying the outcomes of that process.

In addition to these two funded projects, I continue to study teachers’ instruction in mathematics with students classified as English learners.

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