Rebecca M. Callahan

Biography

Rebecca Callahan's primary research interests and expertise are in the areas of educational research from a sociological perspective and educational linguistics. In particular, her work examining the estimated effects of ESL placement and primary language maintenance on college preparatory outcomes addresses demographic issues of Educational Inequality and Opportunity. Callahan’s research to date has examined the relationships between school context, social and academic processes, and teachers' pedagogical practices on the academic and civic development of bilingual adolescents as they transition from high school into young adulthood. Currently, she is PI on an NSF funded study, Design Technology and Engineering education for English Learners, exploring teachers’ capacity in both STEM and EL instruction. This work draws from prior psychological and cognitive research on bilinguals’ problem advantage to better optimize elementary bilingual students’ STEM achievement and integration through engineering design and problem solving. Dr. Callahan’s work has received funding from the National Science Foundation, and the American Educational Research Association. Her recently published work appears in American Educational Research Journal, Educational Policy, Social Science Quarterly, Theory and Research in Social Education, and Educational Administration Quarterly.

Education and Transition to Adulthood research Group (ETAG) website