Name: Jennifer Santos
Dissertation: Transformative and Trauma-informed
Social-emotional Learning at the Secondary Level
How did you choose your dissertation topic?
I was a secondary science teacher when I started my doctoral program. I infused social-emotional learning into my classes, but I felt that I lacked the resources to support and teach students who experienced trauma or had a different background than myself. I wanted to explore the best way for secondary teachers to teach when they have students from diverse backgrounds or who had experienced trauma. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest in the Summer of 2020 created more urgency for me to explore these topics. The Ed.D. was an avenue to conduct my own research and learn about something that I was really interested in.
How has learning about the topic and conducting research affected your practice?
It reignited a passion in me and a desire to bring this learning back to my school. I became a dean in the Fall of 2020 and an assistant principal in the Fall of 2021 in a school with more than 50% students of color. I also believe that all of us have experienced trauma over the last few years, so I am motivated to do something that could impact the teachers and students in my school.
How has being a scholar-practitioner influenced your work as a school leader?
It influences my day-to-day work. My lens is paying attention to the social-emotional wellness of staff and students. I notice adults' and students' social and emotional status and am more aware of different perspectives. It gives me resources that I share with others. I also look for opportunities to influence the work of others that is aligned to research-based practice.
What have been the joys and barriers to sharing your research and the research of others with other practitioners?
I am fortunate to work for a principal who is open to me sharing research-based ideas with the staff. I am facilitating an ongoing professional learning series for staff. My research and the research of others have provided the foundation and teachers have tried some of the activities. I also found some resources that are aligned with SEL research that teachers have been able to adopt and implement in their classrooms.
What are your ideas to make research more accessible to practitioners?
Unfortunately, many teachers and leaders do not use research as a resource. Their plates are full. We do all the research, but it doesn’t get down to practitioners. There’s a chasm between the body of research and the practices in schools. I wish practitioners didn’t view it as one more thing but as necessary to their professional practice. They often go to a colleague or leader instead of going and looking at the research. It would be cool to have more time to talk about research.
I’d like to see ways to shorten the gap between the time research is conducted and when it gets implemented in the field. I have tried to share some 30-page research articles, but they are challenging for teachers to understand. I recommend we (researchers) reduce our findings to bite-size pieces.
What opportunities have you had to share your work? What are your next steps?
I attended a research conference in August. Beyond that, it has just been within my workplace and with my participants. I’ll be presenting my dissertation study results at UCEA in November and working on a publication for a peer-reviewed journal. I’d like to conduct more research to test the theory I developed-let’s try it and see if it works!
Name: Deanna Dykstra-Lathrop
Dissertation: School Leadership Through the COVID-19
Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study
How did you choose your dissertation topic?
As an assistant principal, I was living through trying to lead amidst COVID-19 and wondered how other leaders were coping with it. Previously, I had been thinking about investigating bilingual administrators using a model of interculturally inclusive leadership, but the confluence of factors and timeliness of the topic pushed my thinking. It was important to me to research a topic that I cared about and that the results could make a difference in my practice and in the practice of others.
How has learning about the topic and conducting research affected your practice?
My own research shapes my daily actions. I am applying what I learned from my participants and sharing the findings with others on my leadership team. I am aware of using the recommendations that I made. I am helping others on the leadership team by reminding them to take care of others and not to forget about self-care.
How has being a scholar-practitioner influenced your work as a school leader?
It has made me aware of issues the need for research to guide my work and the work of others. I walk around everyday thinking about the issues that would make a great research question and study.
I had followed a ton of practitioners on social media and now I follow more researchers.
One project I am working on this year is a revised master schedule. I am relying on other people’s research. I am sharing that with teachers and then we are doing a mini-action research project. I probably wouldn’t have relied on research findings before getting a doctorate.
What have been the joys and barriers to sharing your research and the research of others with other practitioners?
It’s challenging working as a full-time administrator and think about conducting more research or getting an article ready for a research publication.
I think back to when some doctoral colleagues and I presented at a research conference a few years ago. It only reached a few people--maybe six to 10. I wonder how we redefine publishing and accessibility to research so more people could benefit from what we learned.
What are your ideas to make research more accessible to practitioners?
Action research is a great place to start. I think many practitioners can begin research in their classroom or school by collecting data and sharing it. Anytime researchers can keep a foot in the classroom or school, it builds credibility. I wonder how people can keep their feet in both camps.
I’d like to see more opportunities for practitioners to share their research, maybe in a new publication or blog, and then build a network of scholar-practitioners. I’d like to see research findings shared more widely--here are the takeaways. That would respond to practitioners who say, “Give me the bottom line, cut to the chase, and tell me what I need to know.”
What opportunities have you had to share your work? What are your next steps?
I have had many small conversations but nothing formal yet. I applied to present at AERA 2023 for Division A. I get the NASSP Bulletin and keep thinking that I’ll send the results of my study to them since I want to influence the work of other practitioners. I am still concerned about access and equity for historically underserved students. I would like to investigate the long-term effects of the COVID-19 shutdown and family experiences of those who may have struggled.
Dissertation: Transformative and Trauma-informed
Social-emotional Learning at the Secondary Level
How did you choose your dissertation topic?
I was a secondary science teacher when I started my doctoral program. I infused social-emotional learning into my classes, but I felt that I lacked the resources to support and teach students who experienced trauma or had a different background than myself. I wanted to explore the best way for secondary teachers to teach when they have students from diverse backgrounds or who had experienced trauma. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest in the Summer of 2020 created more urgency for me to explore these topics. The Ed.D. was an avenue to conduct my own research and learn about something that I was really interested in.
How has learning about the topic and conducting research affected your practice?
It reignited a passion in me and a desire to bring this learning back to my school. I became a dean in the Fall of 2020 and an assistant principal in the Fall of 2021 in a school with more than 50% students of color. I also believe that all of us have experienced trauma over the last few years, so I am motivated to do something that could impact the teachers and students in my school.
How has being a scholar-practitioner influenced your work as a school leader?
It influences my day-to-day work. My lens is paying attention to the social-emotional wellness of staff and students. I notice adults' and students' social and emotional status and am more aware of different perspectives. It gives me resources that I share with others. I also look for opportunities to influence the work of others that is aligned to research-based practice.
What have been the joys and barriers to sharing your research and the research of others with other practitioners?
I am fortunate to work for a principal who is open to me sharing research-based ideas with the staff. I am facilitating an ongoing professional learning series for staff. My research and the research of others have provided the foundation and teachers have tried some of the activities. I also found some resources that are aligned with SEL research that teachers have been able to adopt and implement in their classrooms.
What are your ideas to make research more accessible to practitioners?
Unfortunately, many teachers and leaders do not use research as a resource. Their plates are full. We do all the research, but it doesn’t get down to practitioners. There’s a chasm between the body of research and the practices in schools. I wish practitioners didn’t view it as one more thing but as necessary to their professional practice. They often go to a colleague or leader instead of going and looking at the research. It would be cool to have more time to talk about research.
I’d like to see ways to shorten the gap between the time research is conducted and when it gets implemented in the field. I have tried to share some 30-page research articles, but they are challenging for teachers to understand. I recommend we (researchers) reduce our findings to bite-size pieces.
What opportunities have you had to share your work? What are your next steps?
I attended a research conference in August. Beyond that, it has just been within my workplace and with my participants. I’ll be presenting my dissertation study results at UCEA in November and working on a publication for a peer-reviewed journal. I’d like to conduct more research to test the theory I developed-let’s try it and see if it works!
Name: Deanna Dykstra-Lathrop
Dissertation: School Leadership Through the COVID-19
Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study
How did you choose your dissertation topic?
As an assistant principal, I was living through trying to lead amidst COVID-19 and wondered how other leaders were coping with it. Previously, I had been thinking about investigating bilingual administrators using a model of interculturally inclusive leadership, but the confluence of factors and timeliness of the topic pushed my thinking. It was important to me to research a topic that I cared about and that the results could make a difference in my practice and in the practice of others.
How has learning about the topic and conducting research affected your practice?
My own research shapes my daily actions. I am applying what I learned from my participants and sharing the findings with others on my leadership team. I am aware of using the recommendations that I made. I am helping others on the leadership team by reminding them to take care of others and not to forget about self-care.
How has being a scholar-practitioner influenced your work as a school leader?
It has made me aware of issues the need for research to guide my work and the work of others. I walk around everyday thinking about the issues that would make a great research question and study.
I had followed a ton of practitioners on social media and now I follow more researchers.
One project I am working on this year is a revised master schedule. I am relying on other people’s research. I am sharing that with teachers and then we are doing a mini-action research project. I probably wouldn’t have relied on research findings before getting a doctorate.
What have been the joys and barriers to sharing your research and the research of others with other practitioners?
It’s challenging working as a full-time administrator and think about conducting more research or getting an article ready for a research publication.
I think back to when some doctoral colleagues and I presented at a research conference a few years ago. It only reached a few people--maybe six to 10. I wonder how we redefine publishing and accessibility to research so more people could benefit from what we learned.
What are your ideas to make research more accessible to practitioners?
Action research is a great place to start. I think many practitioners can begin research in their classroom or school by collecting data and sharing it. Anytime researchers can keep a foot in the classroom or school, it builds credibility. I wonder how people can keep their feet in both camps.
I’d like to see more opportunities for practitioners to share their research, maybe in a new publication or blog, and then build a network of scholar-practitioners. I’d like to see research findings shared more widely--here are the takeaways. That would respond to practitioners who say, “Give me the bottom line, cut to the chase, and tell me what I need to know.”
What opportunities have you had to share your work? What are your next steps?
I have had many small conversations but nothing formal yet. I applied to present at AERA 2023 for Division A. I get the NASSP Bulletin and keep thinking that I’ll send the results of my study to them since I want to influence the work of other practitioners. I am still concerned about access and equity for historically underserved students. I would like to investigate the long-term effects of the COVID-19 shutdown and family experiences of those who may have struggled.