The Research to Practice Gap

Dr. Alejandra A. Fernández Morgado is a scholar, special educator, and advocate for equity in special and advanced education. A Cuban American educator, her work centers multilingual, multicultural, and marginalized learners, as well as the working conditions of Latinx teachers. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. She has taught across special education settings in K-12 and beyond, prepares preservice teachers at the university level, and contributes nationally to inclusive gifted education through leadership, editorial, and research roles. She is committed to dismantling systemic barriers and expanding access for underrepresented students and educators.

Buruuj Tunsill earned a Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning with a specialization in Special Education from Florida International University. Her research interests center on racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse children in special education, with particular attention to inequities in educational systems, culturally responsive teaching practices, and family–school partnerships.

Dr. Tunsill brings seven years of K–12 teaching experience in both Florida and Oklahoma, having taught in major metropolitan and rural settings. Her professional experience includes working with a wide range of exceptionalities, including but not limited to emotional and behavioral disorders, intellectual disabilities, autism, specific learning disabilities, speech and language impairments, and other health impairments.

Dr. D’Annette Mullen is a lecturer in the Special Education program at Boston University Wheelock College of Education and Human Development. Her research is dedicated to the preparation of special educators, addressing discipline disproportionality, and integrating restorative practices in schools. Dr. Dee previously taught high school students with disabilities in New York City, where she also served as a liaison between district and city-level special education services. She also has experience serving as a restorative practices facilitator.

A former elementary school teacher, Dr. Samuels is interested in the intersections of teacher education, professional development, creativity, and arts integration. He is specifically interested in examining how teacher educators, practicing teachers, and preservice teachers can cultivate joy and support the imagination-intellectual development of their students.  

Dr. Ranita Ray is Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico, where she holds an endowed chair. Her latest book, Slow Violence: Confronting Dark Truths in the American Classroom, is an untold story of what happens behind closed classroom doors inside American public schools. Slow Violence was shortlisted for the 2024 Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize and received a 2026 Society of Professors of Education Outstanding Book Award.   

For 15 years, her award-winning research program has centered on children & youth, education, and gender and racial injustice. Ray is a 2019 National Academy of Education/Spencer fellow, as well as a 2018 Racial Democracy and Criminal Justice Network fellow. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation several times.

Dr. Sharde Theodore is an Assistant Professor in Morgan State University’s Department of Teacher Education and faculty affiliate of the National Center for the Elimination of Educational Disparities (NCEED). Previously, she taught for five years in Title I schools across Miami-Dade County Public Schools as a General and Special Education Teacher. A proud HBCU alumna, she earned her bachelor’s from North Carolina A&T State University and went on to complete her master’s, specialist, and Ph.D. degrees in Special Education at Florida International University. Dr. Theodore strives to amplify marginalized voices through impactful community-based applied research projects and to prepare the next generation of educational leaders and disability rights advocates.

Dr. Lim is an educator, researcher, and school leader passionate about transforming how we understand learning and well-being. She holds a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) from Johns Hopkins University in Mind, Brain, and Teaching, where her research focused on building teacher capacity to support students’ socio-emotional health and well-being in high-stakes examination environments.

Currently, she serves as the Principal and Director of Curriculum & Instruction at TLS International School in Kota Damansara. With over a decade of teaching experience across the United States and Malaysia, and state certifications in English Language Arts and ESL (Washington and Michigan), she leads with a focus on developing both academic rigor and emotional well-being.

She believes that educating hearts and minds begins with empowering teachers, because when teachers thrive, students flourish.

Laura Foster is an affiliate faculty member with the Center for Montessori Education. She brings over 20 years of experience as an educator and leader in early childhood education. Her career spans public, non-profit, and independent school settings, where she has consistently centered equity, inclusion, and joy in learning. In addition to her teaching experience, Laura has created and delivered multiple professional development workshops, sharing her expertise with educators to foster growth and improve classroom practices.

Currently, Laura serves as a first-grade teacher at the National Presbyterian School in Washington, D.C. She holds the Administrative Credential from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) in Washington, D.C. 

Laurie Williams George is a teaching fellow and research assistant at the University of North Texas, where she is completing her Ph.D. in Special Education. Her research takes a strengths-based approach to disability, inclusion, and support needs across the lifespan. She is especially interested in inclusive education, autism and family systems, and the ways schools can build supports into everyday classroom practice.

Laurie’s background is interdisciplinary. She began with training in language, philosophy, and biomedical ethics, earned a master’s degree in teaching with an emphasis on cognitive theory and language acquisition, and spent more than a decade teaching English Language Learners before shifting her focus to developmental disabilities and research. She is also engaged in education policy, disability rights, and autism advocacy at the state and national levels. She lives in Fort Worth with her husband, three children, and a menagerie of pets.

Michael Fairbanks II is a former National Teacher of the Year nominee. He has since served as a school principal across both public and private sectors and has led instructional improvement efforts nationwide, partnering with schools and districts to strengthen teaching and learning at scale. He now coaches and develops emerging school leaders through his work with New Leaders.

His current interests focus on strengthening the teacher pipeline, advancing adult learning and facilitation in education, and building sustainable leadership systems that support long-term school success.

Tara is an assistant professor of instruction in special and inclusive education at the University of Northern Iowa and a PhD candidate at the University of Iowa, where her research focuses on the intersection of special education and neuroscience within teacher preparation. She is deeply committed to professional service, including active involvement with the Council for Exceptional Children and related advocacy initiatives. Beyond her academic work, she values family, wellness, and lifelong learning—and proudly geek out for all things education, trauma, and neuroscience.