Brenda Rubio

Dr. Brenda Rubio’s research and policy agenda focuses on the development of critically conscious educational leadership and community-district-university partnerships. Among her current research, she examines learning spaces that promote the curricular recognition of alternative epistemologies and the development of pedagogies that foster students’ culture, language, and funds of knowledge. Her research explores the impact of community-anchored, ethnic studies curriculum on the educators themselves, their classroom practices, and their leadership development.

Her experience in educational research and program evaluation is primarily focused on K-12 but extends into higher education. She has conducted research with schools and providers that serve diverse student populations, including schools located in rural border towns and Indigenous pueblos as well as urban, Title 1 schools that primarily serve immigrant and refugee student populations. An essential part of her work as a participatory action researcher focuses on establishing collaborative partnerships across institutions and disciplines to leverage the existing knowledge and expertise found within these communities. Dr. Rubio is a first-generation immigrant and college graduate who proudly continues to serve diverse communities.

• Rubio, B., &Palmer, D. (in press). Si no estas defendiendo tus alumnos, que estas haciendo en el salon? In B. Caldas (Ed.), Hablando Pa’tras: Developing Critically Conscious Bilingual Teacher Preparation Programs in Mexican-American/Latinophobic Times. Special issue of the Journal of Language, Identity and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2021.1864208
• Milk Bonilla, C.; Rubio, B.; &Alvarez-Sims, L. (in press). Building confidence through culturally sustaining spaces for teachers and students. Trayectorias Humanas Transcontinentales, 8.
• Valenzuela, A., Zamora, E., &Rubio, B. (2015). Academia Cuauhtli and the eagle: Danza Mexica and the epistemology of the circle. Voices in Urban Education, 41, 46–56.