Michael Evans, Ph.D.

Educational Credentials

• Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction, Boston College
• M.Div., Harvard Divinity School
• M.Ed., Elementary Education, University of Notre Dame
• B.A., Religious Studies and History, College of the Holy Cross

Biography

Michael Evans, Ph.D., is an interdisciplinary scholar with a joint appointment in the departments of Educational Leadership, Teacher Education, and Family Science & Social Work. He also serves as the coordinator of the Community-Based Leadership minor housed in the Department of Educational Leadership. His primary research focus is on family, school, and community partnerships with an emphasis on community-based approaches to educational change. His recent research projects have included studies of the opt-out movement, parent universities, and alliance-building in education organizing. Prior to becoming an academic, he taught elementary school in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Courses Taught

• EDT 190. Introduction to Education
  • Introductory course combining classroom activities, technology experiences, and school visits to assist students in deciding whether or not to pursue a teacher licensure program and to begin the professional preparation process.
• EDT 225. Family, School, and Community Connections
  • This course focuses on the theory and practice of joining families, communities, and schools to support student learning, development, and success in education. Strategies to improve communication and collaboration are emphasized with a focus on family types, cultures, economic conditions, school systems, community services, political forces, advocacy groups, and other factors that impact children and their families. Cross-listed with FSW.
• FSW 261. Diverse Family Systems Across the Life Cycle. (MPF, MPT)
  • Introduction to and survey of the diversity of family systems. Emphasizes the North American experience while drawing upon global understandings. Covers the nature of family systems and how these may vary by social class, ethnicity, urban-rural residence, and other aspects of sociocultural context. Stresses how family systems change across their life span, as well as how individuals experience different family systems in their life spans. IIC.
• EDL 314. Teacher Leadership
• EDT 422. Studies in Educational Issues. (MPC)
  • Each student or student team collaborates with the instructor and peers to identify and conduct an investigation or complete a creative project that focuses on a specific problem or issue in education. Seminar course with primary emphasis on intensive reading, research, writing, and interaction in student-selected areas of study with opportunities for analysis and reflection. Includes discussions, teamwork, presentations, and writing projects. Culminating activity is an oral or written presentation or exhibition that demonstrates understanding or resolution of the issue or problem studied.
• EDL 464. Community-Based Leadership and Change
  • This course provides students with an opportunity to synthesize what they have learned about community-based leadership through their coursework in the CBL minor and demonstrate mastery of primary leadership competencies, concepts, principles, and practices. Students will be guided in designing and developing a substantial research project that incorporates significant learning from their program. This course challenges each student to choose an aspect of the community to impact and to create and begin implementing an actual community engagement strategy. Readings and discussions focus on effective tools and strategies for creating lasting change, including the leader's role as a catalyst and convener. Recommended prerequisite: EDL 232.
• FSW 614. Family-Community-School Partnerships
  • Analysis of school-linked and community-based partnerships aimed at enhancing the well-being of children, youth, families, and schools. Family-centered, culturally-responsive practice principles and empowerment strategies are emphasized. Cross-listed with EDL.
• EDT 689. Interpretation and Application of Research in Education
• EDL 771. Educational Policy Analysis
  • Provides a broad understanding of educational policy considerations for the formulation and implementation of decisions. Conceptual and methodological conclusions about the complex nature of educational governance and organizational analysis are examined.
• EDL 781. Youth, Culture and Education
  • Explores youth subcultures with implications for how educators develop a culturally-relevant, engaging curriculum and pedagogy. This course applies a cultural studies and youth studies research lens for considering how representations of youth that circulate in US culture impact the way educators imagine, engage, and regulate youth in and through educational ideology, policy, and practice.

Professional Experience

• Associate Professor of Family, School, and Community Connections, Joint Appointment in Departments of Educational Leadership & Teacher Education, Miami University, Oxford, OH, 2015-Present
• Assistant Professor of Family, School, and Community Connections, Joint Appointment in Departments of Educational Leadership, Teacher Education, and Family Studies & Social Work, Miami University, Oxford, OH, 2009 – 2015
• Coordinator (Present) - Community-Based Leadership Minor, Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University, Oxford, OH
  • Worked with Education Leadership faculty to create an interdisciplinary minor focused on community-based leadership models. Researched public leadership frameworks from across the country to develop a cohesive plan of study and networked with departments across campus to negotiate course-cross listings and curriculum endorsements. Developed new “capstone” course EDL 464: Community-Based Leadership and Change.
• Coordinator (2010-2015) - Graduate Certificate in Family, School, and Community Partnerships, Miami University, Oxford, OH
  • Approved in January 2011, the Graduate Certificate in Family, School, and Community Partnerships is the first of its kind in the United States. The certificate is intended to address the professional development needs of individuals working as parent educators, resource coordinators, community liaisons, and others in similar positions. Certificate requirements cross the EDL, FSW, and EDP departments, making this an interdisciplinary endeavor.
• Summer 2010 – EDT/Urban Teaching Cohort – Cincinnati Summer Immersion Program (CSIP), Miami University, Oxford, OH,
  • Developed Miami’s first summer immersion program for students in the Urban Teaching Cohort. In the past, Miami has sent students to live in Over-the-Rhine while they participate in their student teaching. CSIP was designed as a precursor to that experience and allowed students to learn about the families and community-based organizations outside the context of the schools. I was responsible for helping develop the curriculum, arranging for all of the internship opportunities in the Price Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, and co-facilitating Friday classes.
• Ecumenical Chaplaincy Intern, Office of the Chaplain, Tufts University, Medford, MA, Sept. 2001 – May 2002
• Elementary Education Pre-Practicum Supervisor, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, September 2004 – May 2005
• 2nd Grade Teacher, Saint Catherine School, Tulsa, OK, August 1998 - June 2000

Professional Organizations and Service

• American Education Research Association, Member, 2003 - Present
• SIG memberships:
  • Families, Schools, and Community Partnership
  • Elected Officer, At-Large Executive Committee Member (2011-Present)
    
    • Educational Change
    • Grassroots Community and Youth Organizing for Education Reform (advisory board member)
• American Educational Studies Association, Member, 2011-2013
• Association of Teacher Educators, Member, 2009 – Present

Professional Certifications and Licenses

• Massachusetts Educator’s License: Elementary (1-6)
• Qualified MELA-O Administrator

Service

National Service to the Profession

URBAN Education Steering Committee – MIT CoLab

• Steering Committee Member - 2012-2014

INET Session Chair

• 2014 - "The power and promise of community-based educational change" – Philadelphia, PA

ATE Session Chair

• 2012 – “Agency in Teacher Education” – San Antonio, TX

AERA Session Chair

• 2016 – “Youth Voice in Educational Justice” – AERA, Washington, DC
• 2014– “Parents, Students, and Communities Organizing for and Against Educational Change,” Philadelphia, PA
• 2011 - “Youth Organizing for Educational Equity and Social Change” – AERA, New Orleans, LA.
• 2011 - “New Perspectives on Parent Organizing” – AERA, New Orleans, LA.

AERA SIG Committee Work

• AERA Family, School, and Community Partnership SIG
• 2013-Present, Publications Committee (Committee Chair)
• 2012-2014, Graduate Student Travel Award (Committee Chair)
• 2011-2012, Outstanding Dissertation Award (Committee Chair)

AERA Grassroots, Community, and Youth Organizing SIG

• 2011-2012, Outstanding Graduate Paper Award (Committee Member)

Select University Service

• 2015-17, Graduate School Petitions Committee
• 2015-17, Promotion & Tenure Committee (EDT)
• 2014-Present, EDL Graduate Admissions Committee
• 2014-Present, EDT Graduate Studies Committee
• Fall 2014, Search Committee for Assistant/Associate Professor of Education Leadership.
• Fall 2013, Search Committee for Chair of Family Studies & Social Work
• 2012-2014, Member of Miami Freedom Summer Reunion Planning Committee
• 2012-2014, Faculty Advisor for Miami University student organization P.L.A.Y.
• 2012-Present, EHS Scholar Leaders Admissions Committee
• 2011-2013, EHS Research & Teaching Awards Committee
• 2009-Present, Faculty Affiliate, Center for Human Development, Learning, and Technology, Miami University
• 2009-2013, Urban Teaching Cohort, Curriculum Committee Member, Miami University
• Fall 2011, Search Committee for Assistant Professor in Education Policy
• Summer 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 – Faculty Leader – Summer Reading Program

Selected Service to the Community

• 2009-10 Butler County Family and Civic Engagement Team
• 2010-11 Price Hill Will!  Education Action Committee
• 2011-2012 Local School Decision Making Committee – Quebec Heights Elementary School, Cincinnati, OH
• 2012 – 2014 – Citizens Advisory Committee – Wyoming Board of Education, Wyoming, OH
• Co-Chair – Wyoming City Schools Benchmarking Committee 12-13
• Co-Chair – New Student Engagement Committee 13-14

Awards/Recognitions/Grants/Competitions

• 2015-16 – Nominee – 2016 E. Phillips Knox Distinguished Teaching Award
• 2015-16 – Joyce B. Farmer Distinguished Visiting Professor Award
• 2012-13 – Assigned Research Appointment (Fall 2012)
• 2011 - EHS Summer Research Award
• 2010-11 - Joyce B. Farmer Distinguished Visiting Professor Award
• 2010 - Emerging Scholar, The William L. Boyd National Educational Politics Workshop
• 2010 - Outstanding Dissertation Award – AERA Family, School, and Community Partnership SIG
• 2010 - Miami University Office for the Advancement of Scholarship - Faculty Research Award
• 2007-08 - Lynch School of Education Dissertation Fellowship Award
• 2006-07 - University Research Excellence Award, Boston College
• 2005-06 -2nd Place International Journal of Leadership in Education Graduate Student Manuscript Competition

Select Publications

Publications/Presentations

Edited Books

• Evans, M.P. & Knight-Abowitz, K. (Eds). (2015). Engagement and Leadership for Social and Political Change: New Directions for Student Leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Evans, M.P. & Hiatt-Michaels, D. (Eds.) (2015). The Power of Community-Based Educational Change. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Winton, S. & Evans, M.P. (2016). Conducting, consulting, mediating, supporting: How community-based education organizations engage with research to influence policy. Leadership and Policy in Schools. 15(1), 1-22.
• Evans, M.P., Newman, A. & Winton, S. (2015). Not your mother's PTA: Organizational hybridity in education special interest groups. Educational Forum. 79, 263-279.
• Evans, M.P. (2014). Soccer moms UNITE! Affluent families and the utilization of grassroots strategies for education reform. Interchange: A Quarterly Review of Education. 45(1), 85-114.
• Evans, M.P. & Radina, R*. (2014). Great expectations? A critical discourse analysis of title I school parent compacts. School Community Journal. 24(4), 107-126.
• Winton, S. & Evans, M.P. (2014). Challenging political spectacle through grassroots policy dialogues. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy. 156,1-30.
• Evans, M. P. (2013). Mapping social media networks in youth organizing. Journal of Information, Information Technology, and Organizations. 8, 67-82.
• Evans, M.P. (2013). Educating pre-service teachers for family, school, and community engagement. Teaching Education. 24(2), 123-133.
• Evans, M.P. & Didlick-Davis, C.* (2012). Organizing to end the school-to-prison pipeline: An analysis of grassroots organizing campaigns and policy solutions. e-Journal of Education Policy.
• Evans, M.P. (2011). Revisiting emotional geographies: Implications for family engagement and education policy in the United States, Journal of Educational Change. 12(2), 241-255.
• Evans, M. P. & Stone-Johnson, C. (2010). Internal leadership challenges of network participation, International Journal of Leadership in Education. 13(2), 203-220.
• Evans, M. P. & Shirley, D. (2008). The development of collective moral leadership among parents through education organizing. New Directions for Youth Development. 116, 77-91.
• Evans, M. P. (2007). Learning to teach about religion in public schools: Perspectives and experiences of student teachers in the Program for Religion and Secondary Education at Harvard Divinity School Religion & Education. (34) 3, 9-47.

Invited Journal Articles

• Evans, M.P. (2014). Natural enemies or natural allies? The evolution of participant self-interest in community based organizations. Journal of Family Diversity in Education. 1(1), 21-39.

Book Chapters

• Evans, M. P. (2015) The power and potential of community-based educational change. In M. P. Evans & D. Hiatt-Michaels (Eds.). The Power of Community-Based Educational Change. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. pp. 11-17.
• Evans, M.P. (2014). Latino families and the development of grassroots networks of care for students with disabilities. In L. Lo & D. Hiatt-Michaels (Eds.). Promising Practices to Empower Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families of Children with Disabilities. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. pp. 51-65.
• Evans, M. P. (2012). Enhancing educator agency through the development of boundary spanning capacities. In R. Flessner, G. Miller, J. Horwitz & K. Patrizio, (eds). Agency Through Teacher Education: Reflection, Community, and Learning. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 73-83.
• Evans, M. P. & Kamine, D. (2011). It takes a village: Family engagement in community schools. In H. Kreider (ed.), Family Involvement in Out of School Time. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. 121-134.
• Evans, M.P. (2011). Learning to organize for educational change. In C. Hands & L. Hubbard (Eds.), Including Families and Communities in Urban Education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. 139-160.
• Shirley, D. & Evans, M. P. (2007). Community organizing and no child left behind. In Marion Orr (Ed.), Transforming the City: Community Organizing and the Challenge of Political Change, Manhattan, KS: University Press of Kansas.
• O'Keefe, J., & Evans, M. P. (2004). Catholic schools serving children in poverty. In R. Haney & J. O'Keefe (Eds.), Catholic Schools for Children and Youth in Poverty. Washington, D.C.: National Catholic Education Association.

Book Sections/Features

• Evans, M.P. (2013). Teachers’ lounge: Families & Communities. In Hall, G., Quinn, L., & Gollnick, D. Introduction to Teaching. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Evans, M. P. (2001). Thematic unit: Simulated city. In C. Collins-Block, Teaching the Language Arts: Expanding Thinking through Student-Centered Instruction (3rd ed., pp. 281-285). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Evaluation Reports

• Hargreaves, A., Shirley, D., Evans, M. P., Stone-Johnson, C. & Riseman, D. (2006). The long and short of school improvements: Summary of the evaluation report of the Raising Achievement Transforming Learning project of the specialist schools and academies trust. London, UK: SSAT.

Invited Book Reviews

• Evans, M. P. (2012). Reviewed work(s): Organizing for Educational Justice: The Campaign for Public School Reform in the South Bronx. By Michael B. Fabricant. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. Pp. 273. Social Service Review. 86(4), 695-697.

Editorials/Commentaries

• Evans, M.P. & Saultz, A. (July 6, 2015). "The Opt-Out Movement is Gaining Momentum", Education Week, 34(34), p. 20. 
• Evans, M.P. (2012). "Cincinnati Public Schools leaving many students underserved", The Cincinnati Enquirer, November 16, 2012.

Manuscripts under review

• Saultz, A. & Evans, M.P. (Under Review) Toward a new social movement in public education: A district level analysis of the opt out phenomena. Educational Researcher
• Evans, M.P. (Under Review) Urban parent leader perspectives on improving teacher family engagement practices. The Urban Review
• Evans, M.P. & Negorsha, T. * (Under Review) Reviewed work(s): Transforming Teacher Education for Social Justice. By Eva Zygmunt & Patricia Clark. New York: Teachers College Press, 2016. pp. 138. Teachers College Record

Manuscripts in Preparation

• Evans, M.P. Democracy, power and agenda setting in community-based organizations. In S. Sheldon & T. Turner-Vorbeck (eds.). The Handbook of Family, School, Community Partnerships in Education.
• Evans, M.P. & Baker-Doyle, K. The ebb and flow of grassroots networks for educational change. Research in Social Movements, Conflict, and Change.

*Graduate student

Conference Presentations (Peer Reviewed)

• August 2016 (under review), World Educational Research Association, Dublin, Ireland. "Political dissent as family engagement: Exit, voice and loyalty in the opt-out movement"
• April 2016, American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC. "The Ohio Opt-Out Movement and district diversity in pockets of dissent."
• November 2015, University Council for Educational Administration, San Diego, CA "The politics of opting out of standardized testing in Ohio."
• April 2015, American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. "Parent leader perspectives on improving family engagement practices in urban schools"
• April 2015, American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL. "The dynamic nature of collaboration networks in education organizing."
• November 2014, ESCXEL Project International Conference on School Networks, Lisbon, Portugal. "The Ebb and Flow of Collaborative Networks for Educational Change."
• April 2014, American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, PA. "Conducting, Citing, Disseminating: How Community-Based Organizations Use Research to Influence Policy"
• November 2013, University Council for Educational Administration, Indianapolis, IN. "Engaging multiple publics in educational leadership"
• November 2013, University Council for Educational Administration, Indianapolis, IN. "Educational Advocacy in the USA, Canada, and Britain"
• May 2013, American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA. "From Consumers to Advocates: The Role of Relationships in Building Parent Capacity to Support Achievement and Educational Change"
• May 2013, American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA. "Great Expectations? A Critical Discourse Analysis of Title I School-Parent Compacts in the Midwest"
• April 2013, Council for Exceptional Children, San Antonio, TX. "ELL Families and the Development of Grassroots Networks of Care"
• February, 2013, The Association of Teacher Educators, Atlanta, GA. "The Impact of Peer-to-Peer Teaching on Preservice Teacher Beliefs about Effective Instruction"
• April 2012, American Education Research Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada. "Not Your Mother’s PTA: Hybridity in Parent and Advocacy Organizations"
• April 2012, American Education Research Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada. "Social Media Knowledge Networks in Youth Organizing: A Social Network Analysis"
• April 2012, American Education Research Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada. "Educational Research by the People: The Role of Research in Community Based Organizations"
• March 2012, Lily Conference on College & University Teaching - Los Angeles, CA. "Inside the Black Box of Classroom Instruction: Determining the Impact of Peer-to-Peer Teaching.
• February 2012, The Association of Teacher Educators, San Antonio, TX. "Enhancing Educator Agency through the Development of Boundary Spanning Capacities"
• November 2011, American Educational Studies Association, St. Louis, MO. "Living on the Edge: Learning and Leading as Boundary Spanners in an Era of Accountability"
• April 2011, American Education Research Association, New Orleans, LA. "Does Class Matter? The Role of Social Class in Parent Advocacy Work"
• April 2010, American Education Research Association, Denver, CO. "The Evolution of Self-Interest through Participation in Education Organizing"
• February 2010, The Association of Teacher Educators, Chicago, IL. "Teacher Development through School and Community Collaboration"
• July 2009, National Research Conference on Child and Family Programs and Policy, Bridgewater, MA. “What's data got to do with it? How marginalized communities use research to impact education policy”
• April 2009, American Education Research Association, San Diego, CA. "Learning to Organize for Educational Change: One CBO's Efforts to Influence Educational Policy"
• April 2008, American Educational Research Association, New York, NY. "Preparing Teacher Candidates for the Challenges of 'Religious Illiteracy'"
• April 2007, American Education Research Association, Chicago, IL. "Preparing Teachers with an Attitude: Making Social Justice Visible"
• September 2006, European Conference on Educational Research, Geneva, Switzerland. "Utilising Network Capital in Support of Student Achievement"
• April 2006, American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA. "Leadership Challenges in the Raising Achievement Transforming Learning Network"