Research Statement

My research interests and goals focus on equitable access to education. I define equitable access to education as an educational experience, including the following prerequisites.

1.  Content and knowledge are cognitively accessible, enabling student-content connections.

2.  Instructional technology and delivery systems do not add layered barriers to access knowledge.

3.  The instructional ecosystem is resilient and capable of pivoting in the face of ecological challenges. 

4.  Curriculum and instruction elevate multiple perspectives and sustain experiential equity while doing no harm through stereotypes, hidden curricula, and violent discourse against marginalized communities. 

5.  Learning activities acknowledge, honor, and welcome cultural and ethnic diversity, including valuing diverse funds of knowledge and epistemologies. 

The macro-level problem my research tackles is the incongruency between the barriers we seem to be removing and the remaining inconspicuous barriers. At the micro-level, there are more opportunities to improve outcomes for those who may need the most systemic support, such as students whose experiential background is misaligned with the characteristics of the average student. In short, while the U.S. educational system reports improved outcomes, since schools and schooling are consistently treated as a sociopolitical battleground for policymaking, there seems to be a persistent evolutionary accumulation of barriers and educational injustices.  

I began the work to elevate multiple voices and critically evaluate the curriculum with my dissertation. The primary focus on Latinx students became a vital consideration for Utah as the Latinx population continues to grow. Latinx students struggle to perform at the same level as their White counterparts. Identifying the phenomenon of curricular rejection began to set the groundwork for equitable access to education by beginning to address all requisites mentioned above, except for overcoming ecological challenges. However, there is much more work to develop a research-based body of knowledge emerging from the critical examination of how schooling, through barriers or access in the educational system, shapes civil society and how equitable access to education can be executed as the operationalization of education as a human right.