Research
The UCSC Education Department is engaged in innovative research to improve education. Our research focuses on two interrelated domains:
- Learning and teaching of students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds in two content areas:
a) language and literacy
b) mathematics and science
- The impact of classroom, school, community and policy environments on learning and teaching
We provide a wide range of research opportunities for our students through the extramurally funded research of individual faculty and in the work of two
National Science Foundation funded centers: the Center for Mathematics Education of Latinos/Latinas (CEMELA) and the Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS).
The Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/as (CEMELA) is an interdisciplinary, multi-university consortium
focused on the research and practice of the teaching and learning of mathematics with Latino students in the United
States. CEMELA brings together experts in mathematics education, mathematics, language, and culture to collaboratively
work on improving the mathematics education of low-income Latino students. CEMELA aims to understand the interplay of
mathematics learning and teaching and the unique language, social and political issues that affect Latino communities.
CEMELA, a Center for Learning and Teaching funded by the National Science Foundation, is a collaboration between The
University of Arizona, University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Illinois at Chicago, and The University of
New Mexico. Graduate level programs are offered at each institution. UC Santa Cruz is offering fellowships for Ph.D.
study in mathematics education and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in mathematics education.
For more information about CEMELA, please send email to: zamora@ucsc.edu
For more information regarding CEMELA at U.C. Santa Cruz, please contact: Dr. Judit Moschkovich (lead PI for CEMELA), jmoschko@ucsc.edu.
The VINE (Vocabulary Innovations in Education) project is a three year, federally funded research project that explores the development of vocabulary knowledge through word consciousness and metacognitive awareness. The focus of the project is helping fourth grade students, particularly English learners and those traditionally underserved by schools, develop word consciousness and an understanding of how to use academic language as a tool of communication. This collaboration between UCSC, San Jose State University, and seven neighboring school districts involves the co-construction, with teachers, of effective classroom practices that enhance the reading, writing, and vocabulary achievement. Both quantitative and qualitative data are being analyzed in this large scale study.
The Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community (CJTC) at UC Santa Cruz is a progressive research institute tackling issues of social justice, diversity and
tolerance, and the building of collaborative relationships between the university and local community. Our overall mission is to promote EQUITY. We define
this broadly, including studies of the roots of prejudice, the sources of economic inequality, and the obstacles to the building of community. We seek to work
at the cutting edge, combining rigor and relevance, as we focus on what might be termed the civil rights issues of the new century. Most of all, we seek to
promote research that translates into action.