Welcome to New 2020-2021 College of Education Research Faculty

Join the College of Education in welcoming faculty members who are new to the college. We asked our six incoming research faculty to share their research goals and themes. Presented by department, meet our new faculty.

In the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies:

Dr. Jennifer Bailey

Assistant Professor
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Preparing Future Principals for Diverse Student Bodies 

"As a former principal and district-level administrator, I am very passionate about equity and access for all students. As such, my goals for my research are to advance methodology and pedagogy in the field for improved outcomes for our leaders and for our teachers and of course, for their direct impact on student success."

Dr. Ericka Roland

Assistant Professor
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Equity and Justice in Education Leadership

"In my research, I examine critical research development in higher education. At the center of my research are questions around the problems and possibilities of leading to enact equity and justice...The second field of my research focuses on the lived experiences of historically marginalized people and their leadership, to think about ways of knowing and leading from different perspectives and possibilities."

In the Department of Curriculum & Instruction: 

Dr. Melissa Hulings

Assistant Professor
Curriculum & Instruction

Teaching "Scientifically Literate Citizens" 

"It is my goal through my research to fully understand the challenges and the perceptions that we have when it comes to science education, so that way we can better prepare teachers to teach students to become scientifically literate citizens."

Dr. Bree Jimenez

Associate Professor
Curriculum & Instruction

Helping Students with Disabilities

"My research goals are focused on students with intellectual disabilities and autism, working to develop ways in which we can use research and evidence-based practices and build those practices to support academic learning and achievement of students with disabilities."

Dr. Robin Jocius

Associate Professor
Curriculum & Instruction

Helping Teachers Understand Digital Literacy

"We know that our kids, everyone from pre-kindergarteners through high schoolers and beyond, are making these incredibly complex texts in out-of-school spaces, where they are remixing video, images, writing, sound, to advocate for social change. And this isn't always reflected by what they are doing in their classrooms...I believe that a huge part of this work begins with empowering our teachers, novices and veterans alike, by creating tools and teacher communities for them to share ideas, to collaborate and to rejuvenate their teaching practices so that they are excited about staying in the classroom as a lifelong career."

Dr. Paul Polanco

Assistant Professor
Curriculum & Instruction

Tracking Bilingual Student Success

"Since much of our Latinx population tends to be bilingual, I take that linguistic and cultural capital as an asset that can further enhance the chances of success in education and, eventually, in the larger community...Ultimately, the idea is to see how we, as educators, create educational environments and policies that foster the success of this important segment of our society, considering their biligualism and culture as important tools to their success."