Dr. Cristin Hall

Society for the Study of School Psychology

Factors Affecting Implementation of an Evidence-Based Intervention in Child Care Centers: A Mixed Methods Study                                           

Dr. Rebeca Tarlau

National Science Foundation

Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship:  Teacher Activism Across the Americas:  Union Politics and Educational Change in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States

Under what conditions do unions start acting beyond their economic interest and become broader actors for social change? In this study, I answer this question by analyzing instances of “oppositional unionism” within teachers' unions in Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. Oppositional unionism occurs when union members come together to contest the leadership of their union and transform the union’s daily practices, priorities, and demands. By examining the diversity of internal groups and theories of social change within unions, I contest the assumption that teachers’ unions are unitary actors simply “blocking” education reform efforts. Instead, drawing on the labor studies and social movement literature, I argue that unions are complex organizations that reflect their political-institutional contexts, which shape their forms of political engagement. This research is comparative and ethnographic, focusing on the internal politics of teachers’ unions in three countries. Through participant observation, interviews, and archival research, I examine the relationship between teachers’ unions, the state, and political parties; internal union divisions; the moments when teachers organize for broader demands; and how union disputes influence education. This project will shift our understanding of teachers’ unions as simply “self-interested” or “selfless,” to a more nuanced assessment of the role teachers play in politics, the diversity of political groups within unions, and the ways that teachers’ unions in diverse contexts go beyond self-interest and become social movement actors

Dr. Fran Arbaugh

National Science Foundation

Collaborative Research: Early Field Experiences for Prospective STEM Teachers: Scaling the UTE Model

Among many dimensions of improving STEM education in the U.S., this research addresses two of particular urgency: (1) improving the preparation of secondary STEM teachers and (2) improving STEM learning and learning environments. The proposed project will assess the effectiveness of an early field experience model for secondary prospective teachers (PSTs), initially developed and tested at Michigan State University with prior NSF support. The model, called the University Teaching Experience (UTE), involves mathematics teacher educators serving as mentor teachers for PSTs as they teach in an undergraduate gateway mathematics course. This IUSE Development and Implementation for Engaged Student Learning project will have two broad aims. First, the project will involve collaboration across three different teacher preparation institutions to assess the portability of the UTE model to a wider range of university-based teacher preparation institutions. Second, the project will empirically assess the effectiveness of the UTE model in supporting the development of PSTs' understanding of the practices of eliciting and responding to student thinking, both of which are high-leverage teaching practices and are essential for achieving ambitious learning outcomes.