Harvard Graduate School of Education

About the 2008-2009 Editorial Board

Name

Title

Contact with questions about:

Email
Elizabeth E. Blair
Cochair, 2008-2009
HER board policy and practice
Elizabeth E. Blair is a fourth-year doctoral student in Human Development and Psychology. Her current research interests focus specifically on how adolescents make meaning of romantic relationships and intimacy, and more broadly on social and moral development, violence prevention education, and gender, race, class, and sexuality issues in education. Prior to matriculating to HGSE, Elizabeth was the school service learning coordinator at Duke University, supervising tutoring partnerships between Duke undergraduates and the Durham (NC) Public Schools. She also worked in middle and high schools in Minneapolis as a sexual violence prevention educator. Elizabeth holds a MEd from the HGSE and a BA from Swarthmore College in Psychology and Education, with a concentration in Women’s Studies. 
Gretchen Brion-Meisels
Editor, 2008-2010

Gretchen Brion-Meisels is a first-year doctoral student in Culture, Communities, and Education. Her current research interests focus on the intersection between cities and schools, specifically on the creation of community-school alliances that support students’ social, emotional, and academic developments. In addition, she is interested in school-based movements for social justice and the social construction of whiteness in school settings. Prior to matriculating at HGSE, Gretchen taught middle school humanities in Baltimore City, Cambridge and Berkeley. Through this work, she came to appreciate the importance of youth voices in conversations about communities and schools. Gretchen holds a MAT from Johns Hopkins and a BA from Harvard University in the History and Literature of America.
Kristy Cooper

Editor, 2008-2010


Kristy Cooper is a fourth-year doctoral student in Education Policy, Leadership, and Instructional Practice. Prior to coming to Harvard, Kristy spent six years teaching elementary school in both inner-city and suburban neighborhoods in Los Angeles and earned her National Board Certification as a middle-childhood generalist. Dedicated to improving educational experiences for K-12 students that are typically underserved by public education, Kristy’s research interests include student engagement, motivation, dropout prevention, urban education, school reform, and policy evaluation. She has worked on numerous research projects at Harvard, including a study of effective charter schools in Massachusetts, an analysis of responses to standardized testing in Chicago elementary schools, and a qualitative look at student experiences in a racially integrated suburban high school. Kristy holds Masters degrees in Education from Harvard and UCLA and a Bachelor of Arts in English from UCLA.
Sherry L. Deckman

Editor, 2008-2010


Sherry L. Deckman is a second-year doctoral student in Culture, Communities, and Education. Her current research interests focus on teacher attitudes, practice, and preparation related to supporting students from diverse race, class and gender backgrounds. More broadly she is also interested in teacher education, educational equity, and school culture. Prior to coming to HGSE, Sherry taught high school ESL in Washington, DC as a Teach For America corps member and also served as a Teach For America program director in New York City. After teaching in the U.S., Sherry spent a year teaching English in Japan as part of the JET Programme. Sherry holds an EdM from the HGSE and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in Communications, with minors in Spanish and
Urban Studies.
Christina L. Dobbs
Editor, 2008-2010
    
Christina L. Dobbs is a second-year doctoral student in Human Development and Education. Her current research focuses on the discourse of school, academic language, and speakers of dialectal variations of English. She is also interested in teacher professional development, use of developmental reading assessment, and the development of argumentative writing skill for secondary students. Christina is a reading specialist who works in various capacities with the master’s program to license reading specialists at HGSE. Prior to her doctoral work at HGSE, Christina was a high school English and journalism teacher in Houston, Texas. Christina holds a MEd from HGSE in Language and Literacy and a BA in English and secondary education from Texas A&M University.
Chantal Francois
Editor, 2008-2010

Chantal Francois is a second year doctoral student in the Education Policy, Leadership and Instructional Practice program at HGSE. Her research interests are adolescent literacy, urban school improvement, language, culture, and identity. Specifically, she is interested in investigating how urban middle and high schools develop the organizational capacity to improve literacy instruction and learning. Chantal was formerly a middle school Humanities teacher in New York City. At HGSE Chantal is an instructional designer for the Harvard Institute for School Leadership and a research assistant for the Strategic Education Research Partnership middle school vocabulary curriculum. She also works with local educators on a middle school Humanities curriculum about the history of African American education. She received her bachelors degree from University of Pennsylvania and her masters degree in social studies education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Liliana M. Garces
Book Notes Editor, 2008-2009
 Review books queries HER_Booknotes@gse.harvard.edu
Liliana M. Garces is a fourth-year doctoral student in Higher Education. Her research centers on issues of access and diversity in higher education and school desegregation policies in K-12. Before coming to HGSE, Liliana was a staff attorney at the Immigrant Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable John C. Coughenour in the Western District of Washington. Most recently, she served as counsel of record in an amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court by 553 social scientists in support of the respondents in Parents v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson County. She received her EdM from Harvard University, her JD from the University of Southern California Law School, and her BA from Brown University.
Rebecca B. Miller


 Manuscripts Editor,

2008-09

Submission
guidelines and procedures

HER_Manuscripts@gse.harvard.edu
Rebecca B. Miller is a fourth-year doctoral student in Education Policy, Leadership, and Instructional Practice. A former biochemist, Rebecca’s current research focuses on the educational efforts of academic scientists. Her studies bridge the fields of education and science and technology studies to examine the social and epistemological functions of college science instruction, particularly in courses designed for nonspecialists. Before coming to HGSE, Rebecca conducted research on intracellular transport at Princeton University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, worked as a freelance science writer, and served as editorial director of science and medicine for Columbia University’s online education projects. Rebecca holds an AB in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and an EdM in Special Studies from HGSE.
Thomas Nikundiwe

Editor, 2008-2010


Thomas Nikundiwe is a third year doctoral student in Education Policy, Leadership, and Instructional Practice. He is currently researching community and youth organizing for school reform. In addition, Thomas is curious about math educators’ adaptation of curriculum to create meaningful learning experiences. Before coming to HGSE, Thomas worked as a math literacy youth organizer for the Baltimore Algebra Project through the New Voices Fellowship. Prior to his organizing work, Thomas served as a teacher trainer in Uganda and as a secondary mathematics teacher for the Baltimore City Public School System. Thomas holds an EdM from HGSE and earned a BS from Michigan State University in Mathematics, as well as a Certification in Education for Secondary Mathematics.
Carla Shalaby
Editor, 2008-2010
Carla Shalaby is a second-year doctoral student in Culture, Communities and Education, primarily interested in ethnic and cultural justice for our youngest public schoolchildren. Her work focuses on definitions of Americanism and schools as sites of immigrant incorporation and integration, the politics of and discourse about identity and power in schools, and the everyday ways children and their teachers both construct and challenge the meanings of difference in their classrooms. She has a particular interest in Middle Eastern and Arab-American youth and their families, and the impact of the larger political and global contexts on their school experiences. Before returning to life as a fulltime student, she taught fourth and fifth grade in the New Jersey public school district that educated her. She holds an EdM in Early Childhood/Elementary Education and a B.A. in English, with a specialization in Black Literature, both from Rutgers University. 
Mara Casey Tieken
Cochair, 2008-2009
HER board policy and practice 
 HER_Community@gse.harvard.edu
Mara Casey Tieken is a fourth-year doctoral student in Culture, Communities, and Education. Before coming to Harvard, she taught third grade and adult education in rural Tennessee. Her research focuses on the rural South; she is specifically interested in the role that the public school plays in rural southern communities. Mara is a research assistant for the Massachusetts Charter School Dissemination and Replication Project and has participated in research projects on adolescent moral development, education organizing, and children’s understanding of culture. She holds an EdM from HGSE and an AB in Psychology from Dartmouth College.
Chris Wynne
Solicitations Editor, 2008-2009
 Invitations and Solicits queries
Revised manuscripts queries		 HER_Invites@gse.harvard.edu
Chris Wynne is a fourth-year doctoral student in Education Policy, Leadership, and Instructional Practice, with a focus on stereotyping and stereotype threat. His additional interests include charter schools and mathematics pedagogy, and he teaches mathematics part-time at Boston Preparatory Charter Public School in Hyde Park, MA. Chris is also a research assistant for the Massachusetts Charter School Dissemination and Replication Project, which will be publishing a book during the 2008-09 academic year. Before coming to HGSE, Chris taught middle school math, science, and reading in Opelousas, Louisiana, where he also developed a permanent harmonica problem. Chris received his MEd from HGSE and his BA in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.