Members

Catherine Lemmi is a doctoral student in Curriculum and Teacher Education (Science and Environmental Education) at Stanford’s Graduate School of Education. She holds a B.S. in Biology from Sewanee: The University of the South with a double major in Art and Art History. She also holds an M.A. in Education from the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) and a California Single Subject clear credential in Biology with an English Learner authorization. Prior to beginning her doctoral work, Catherine was an ESL teacher in Japan for two years, a substitute teacher in Memphis, Tennessee for one year and a science teacher at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California for five years. At Sequoia, she taught Biology, Honors Biology, Advanced Integrated Science and International Baccalaureate (IB) Environmental Systems and Societies. Catherine has served as a Teaching Assistant for the STEP Science Curriculum and Instruction course and a Teaching Affiliate for the STEP Language Policies and Practices course. Catherine’s research interests lie at the intersection of language policies and practices and science/environmental education. She is currently working with Professor Bryan Brown to investigate the ways that teachers make sense of their students’ use of language to explain science and environmental phenomena. Catherine is also working with professor Guadalupe Valdés and professor emerita Helen Quinn on an NSF funded project to develop a science curriculum for elementary students who are designated as English Language Learners.

Cris brings 15 years of teaching experience to her role as a researcher. She holds a B. A. in Spanish Philology from Spain where she developed curriculum and taught Spanish, Spanish Literature, Latin and Greek. Cris was a Spanish Bilingual teacher for seven years in Oakland. There, she was selected to be a model teacher for 18 schools and she also trained and coached teachers in the district ELD curriculum. Cris also participated on the district English Language Development Committee and worked as a translator for OUSD. She was member of the National Textbook Adoption Committee, she worked for SRA-Mc Graw Hill Educational Publisher as a Spanish Reviewer for Imagínalo and developed Spanish Language instructional materials for Teacher’s Discovery. In 2012, she completed her Master on Research in Teaching Language and Literature at the University of Barcelona. Her passion and commitment to education, extensive background and experience working with the diverse populations of Oakland, Mountain View and San Francisco have led her to pursue her doctorate. She is currently conducting a research project with her third grade dual immersion class at Thomas Edison Charter Academy. The research is focused on analyzing the impact that a specific methodology might have on the linguistic and ethnic identity of students, on their motivation as well as on their acquisition of Spanish.

Diana Mercado-Garcia is a doctoral student in Education Policy at Stanford University. She holds a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish Linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to coming to Stanford, Diana was at the American Institutes for Research (AIR) working on projects related to English language learners, early childhood education, and school reform. Her research interests relate to six main areas: bilingual education, English language learners, education policy, organizational change, early childhood education, and parenting issues. Specifically, Diana aims to develop a deeper understanding of the extent to which large-scale policies—related to bilingual education, English language learners, and early childhood—influence organizational change and parenting practices. Currently, she works with the Understanding Language center under Kenji Hakuta.

Born and raised in Cordoba, Spain, Eduardo has always felt a vocation to communicate and share knowledge, bridging people of different backgrounds, expertise and cultures. After completing his Licenciatura in English Philology in Spain, he went on to teach foreign languages in the private and public sectors for adults and school-age students, in the United Kingdom and Spain. In 2005, he moved to the Oakland, CA to teach in a bilingual elementary setting, which allowed him to get actively involved in issues of language and educational equity. In 2008, he became and English Learner Network Coach, supporting more than 15 schools in their implementation of EL-support strategies and programs, with a focus on bilingual education. In 2010 he completed his Master of Arts in Education with administrative credential at UC Berkeley, and went on to become the principal at International Community School, in Oakland’s Fruitvale District. In 2012, Eduardo left this position to deepen his knowledge and potential as a Doctoral Student and Research Assistant with Professor Kenji Hakuta, at Stanford University. Since then, he has been involved in projects related to EL instruction and intercultural communication and interpreting.

Being a first-generation college student, my passion for improving access to post-secondary education for all students is both personal and professional. Because success in 8th and 9th grade algebra is a predictor of high school graduation and college enrollment, my research agenda targets secondary math education, specifically. My research centers on the math education of students who are commonly left behind: first-generation college students, ethnic/racial minorities, English learners (ELs), and socioeconomically disadvantaged students (SES) in public schools in the U.S. and México. As a math teacher for 22 years, I witnessed first hand what good math teaching can do for first-generation college students. However, with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), all subject area teachers are now accountable for teaching language. Math teachers, in particular, face substantial challenges in shifting their teaching practices to support the success of English learners in this language-rich era of the Common Core. The overarching question that drives my research is, “How can we improve access to higher education for historically marginalized students?” My current research agenda seeks to answer, “How can math educators teach inquiry-based, language-rich mathematics in ways that support the success of students who were already experiencing exceptional learning challenges before the implementation of the CCSS?”

Holly Pope has 17 years of teaching experience from prekindergarten through 6th grade, including 5 years as a math instructional coach in a K8 urban charter school. She has served as a Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) Supervisor for elementary preservice teachers, and she cotaught the Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematics Courses I and II, which is the elementary mathematics methods course for STEP. Her current research interests include the development of student number sense from playing a digital mobile game. She also assists with research at Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity on the Learning Through Performance in Middle School Mathematics and Science Project, in which teachers and researchers codesign a math and science curriculum through designbased implementation research. Her second research assistantship sets out to determine the effects of a Math Mindset MOOC intervention on middleschool student outcomes. Other research interests include inservice teacher education, differentiation practices, curriculum use and development, implementation of the Common Core State Standards, and issues of equity in urban elementary mathematics. Holly is a 3rd year doctoral student in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education, focusing on Mathematics Education. She holds a B.S. in Elementary Education, with North Carolina and Pennsylvania Level II certification for K6 (all subjects), and Middle School Mathematics grades 79. She also holds a M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction. Holly is a proud grandmother of one.

Karla Lomelí is doctoral student in Race, Inequality, and Language in Education in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. She earned a B.A. in Counseling Psychology (with honors) and a M.A. in Teacher Education (Suma Cum Laudee). Karla also holds an administrative credential and a clear California single-subject English credential with BCLAD certification to teach English Language Learners. Her research interests involve studying the intersection of race and language and its implications on literacy development as it relates to Latino students and their academic achievement. Prior to Stanford, she was a high school English teacher for nine years in East Side San Jose and one year in East Side Salinas in predominantly Latino communities. Karla is an experienced High School Teacher and Instructional coach. Skilled in curriculum development and professional development involving critical pedagogy that includes the linguistic needs of English language learners. Currently, Karla is working as a research assistant under Dr. Guadalupe Valdés and is also involved in projects related to instructional coaching and professional development for teachers who work with linguistically diverse students.

Liam is a doctoral student in the Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education program at Stanford University. He holds a B.A. in Psychology and Elementary Education from Middlebury College, as well as a clear multiple subject teaching credential in California. Prior to coming to Stanford, Liam was a fifth grade language arts and social studies teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area. His research interests include literacy across the subject matters, writing instruction, and the ways students build comprehension of texts through small-group discussion. He also works with pre-service teachers as an instructor for Stanford's Teacher Education Program, and conducts research for Dr. Jelena Obradovic’s Promoting Learning, Understanding Self-Regulation (PLUS) Project.

Lisel is a doctoral student in the curriculum and teacher education program at Stanford. After graduating Summa cum Laude from Dartmouth College, she used the Dartmouth Dean Of Faculty Senior Scholar Graduate Fellowship to continue her education and was awarded a Dual Master of Science in General and Special Education at the Bank Street College of Education in New York, NY. Prior to Stanford, she taught general and special education as a Kindergarten and fourth-grade head teacher, as well as leading and teaching in a tutoring program for low-income second-grade students struggling with math. Lisel's research rests on the interdisciplinary platform of literacy education and social psychology. She is interested in designing and implementing social psychological interventions that can influence students' sense of linguistic belonging in the elementary literacy classroom, and human flourishing overall. In addition to her role with LEEP, Lisel belongs to the Psychological Interventions in Education (PIES) group at Stanford.

A former middle school and high-school English teacher, Mike brings his 15 years of classroom experience to his role as a teacher educator and researcher. Mike works as an instructor and supervisor in the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP) helping to prepare secondary English teachers for productive careers in diverse classrooms. As a researcher Mike works with Pam Grossman to explore Core Practices in English Language Arts instruction. Mike’s own research examines how linguistically informed approaches to grammar and language instruction can increase the engagement and achievement of students who speak historically stigmatized varieties of English.

Quentin Sedlacek is a PhD student in Curriculum and Teacher Education at Stanford University. A native of Farina, Illinois, he holds a Bachelor of Arts in Physics from Harvard University and a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Mississippi, where he received the 2012 Mississippi Teacher Corps Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. His work applies sociolinguistics and social psychology to teacher education, investigating ways in which teachers' understandings of language, race, and other socially constructed concepts can contribute to their adoption of new pedagogical tools. Quentin began his career as a high school mathematics teacher in American Samoa, where he served as a volunteer for the Cambridge-based nonprofit WorldTeach, Inc.; in the years that followed, he taught middle school math and high school science in the Mississippi Delta, where he also worked as an instructional coach and conducted pre-service and in-service teacher training.

Tina Cheuk is a doctoral student researching policies related to K-12 science education, and gender-equity issues within the STEM pipeline in higher education. She is a Teach for America alumna with experience as a teacher and school leader through the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) schools. She is also a returned Peace Corps science education volunteer in Ghana. Her most recent roles were directing the mathematics and science research, development, and design efforts at Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP) in San Francisco Unified School District and leading work as the project manager at Understanding Language (ell.stanford.edu) at Stanford under the leadership of Professor Kenji Hakuta. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Chicago and a M.A. in Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies from Stanford.Education Research Partnership (SERP) in San Francisco Unified School District and leading work as the project manager at Understanding Language (ell.stanford.edu) at Stanford under the leadership of Professor Kenji Hakuta. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Chicago and a M.A. in Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies from Stanford.