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Faculty members and doctoral students work to positively impact society and make a difference in our world through research presentations and publications. This Spring semester, more than 80 CU Denver School of Education & Human Development scholars have been invited to present and discuss their findings at major regional and global academic conferences, including AERA, AACTE, UCEA, Colorado CASE, the AAAL, Play Explore Research, national and international mental health conferences and symposia, American Anthropological Association, TESOL, and the Colorado Department of Education’s Annual Educator Convening.

“Academic conferences provide key opportunities for members of our school community to share their research passions and lead conversations that bridge the worlds of research, policy and practice,” said Marvin Lynn, Dean of CU Denver’s School of Education & Human Development. “We are national leaders in multiple areas across several disciplines and I am so proud of the important research that is happening in our school. These conferences give our faculty members opportunities to address gaps in their fields and bolster their career opportunities. These opportunities pave the way for graduate student researchers to present their work and receive feedback from scholars and practitioners in supportive environments.”

AERA

The AERA conference will be hosted in Denver, Colorado from April 23 – 27 this year. More than 70 SEHD scholars will be seen and heard frequently throughout the conference. Dean Marvin Lynn and Dennis DeBay will perform music at the AERA’s Presidential Address on the opening evening, 70+ faculty members and doctoral students will present 67 research projects, and SEHD will co-host a Colorado reception, Un-AERA panel discussion and reception, and major regional spotlight sessions. Topics of SEHD research presentations include: defining important characteristics of effective teachers; fostering teacher retention; building up social and emotional learning ecosystems in higher education; centering meaningful science museum experiences; measuring student attitudes toward mathematics and graphics; lifting the voices of disabled learners; healing the minds and spirits of bilingual individuals by expanding biliteracies; empowering youth participatory action research in civics; and supporting doctoral mother scholars.

For a full list of SEHD community members' AERA presentations, please visit our presentations schedule page.

“These presentations will showcase how our faculty and students are centering diverse learning opportunities and community impact in their research” said Dean Lynn. “More news will be coming on this front in late April.”

AACTE25

AACTE’s Annual Meeting, the premier educator preparation conference in the nation, provided an excellent forum for four SEHD faculty members to share research and practices and engage in meaningful discussions about addressing nationwide educator shortages. Featured speakers affiliated with SEHD included: Dennis DeBay, Lisa Forbes and Julia Mahfouz who discussed playful pedagogies to cultivate preservice teachers’ social and emotional learning as well as Cindy Gutierrez and Barbara Seidl who shared key leadership insights about SEHD’s innovative pathways to teaching that increase access and diversity.

University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) and Colorado CASE

Faculty members and doctoral students from the Leadership for Educational Organizations program presented at leadership conferences UCEA and Colorado CASE. At UCEA, faculty member Julia Mahfouz presented in a critical conversation session that addresses the leader wellbeing crisis. Kent Seidel discussed a five-year study that helped school leaders and Board members rethink accountability. Kristie Kauerz presented a report from the National P-3 Center on principal preparation and early school success. And PhD student Jesse Lasser presented strategies to center justice in times of crisis. Liana Hall, a second year PhD student, presented one of the Prosocial Leader Lab studies that explores how teachers’ perceptions can shape and enhance the effectiveness of implementation of mindfulness-based programs. At UCEA and Colorado CASE, Scott McLeod explored the implementation, optimal use, and policy considerations around artificial intelligence.

American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)

At the American Association for Applied Linguistics conference in March, scholars in the Culturally and Linguistically Education program shared their latest papers. Ester de Jong presented on the history of the Denver Consent Decree that guides the schooling of multilingual learners and was a discussant for a symposium on dual language bilingual education in non-dominant partner languages and one focusing on how to advance equitable education and multilingual education. Lucinda Soltero-Gonzalez was the discussant for a symposium entitled “¡La lucha sigue!: The Congress of Hispanic Educators and Denver’s 50-year struggle for linguistic justice.” Sofía Chaparro and Adriana Alvarez co-chaired an invited colloquium and discussed how arts-based methodologies can serve as community-accountable research in applied linguistics. And, Christopher Carson presented on the importance of conceptualizing, measuring, and imagining equity in multilingual education.

Play Explore Research International Conference

The Play Explore Research (PER) international conference and action project initiated by the Italian Reggio Children’s Foundation and LEGO Foundation, will be held on April 10 - 12, 2025 in Denver and sponsored by SEHD and the Boulder Journey School. It will explore worlds in which digital and nature collide, promote the right to quality education, and foster the connection between play and learning through exchanges and dialogues between educators, teachers, parents, and institutions. SEHD’s Lori Ryan will lead the hosting effort in Denver. Robin Brandehoff will present a session titled “Make Lei, Talk Story: Sharing Hānai Pedagogy Across Waters,” and SEHD faculty members Dennis DeBay, Lisa Forbes and Julia Mahfouz will present a session around playful pedagogy.

Mental Health Research Conferences

Faculty members in the Counseling and School Psychology programs have been sharing their research expertise nationally and internationally. Chaya Abrams presented a session at the Brock University Antisemitism Symposium in Ontario, Canada and the Trauma and Nightmare Interdisciplinary Conference in Gdansk, Poland. Lisa Forbes presented on engaging the modern student at the Architecture Media Politics Society conference in Los Angeles, California. Bryn Harris demonstrated how to use best practices in school-based autism assessment and identification at the National Association of School Psychologists in Seattle, Washington.

American Anthropological Association

Our EdD student, Amanda Christopher, presented her paper titled, "Humanizing the learning practices in community college anthropology courses," highlighting the importance of creating inclusive and supportive classrooms.

TESOL 2025 International Conference

Our EdD student, Magdalena Jovanovska-Ribic, presented along with two other members of CoTESOL a presentation titled, “When what worked well no longer works” referring to the ways the board of CoTESOL needed to restructure ensuring meeting evolving needs and sustainability.

Colorado Department of Education’s Annual Educator Convening

Cathy Doetkett, ASPIRE to Teach faculty member, and Laurie Wretling, SEHD EdD student and part-time faculty/staff in Teacher Education, were selected to present at the Colorado Department of Education Annual Educator Convening scheduled for April 24 in Denver. They will discuss the impacts of communities of practice designed to support early career and ally teachers in rural Colorado as part of the NxtGEN Colorado Teacher Quality Partnership grant.

Congratulations to everyone who crafted and shared compelling and impactful research projects this spring!