Rutgers GSE’s Christina Stephens Named 2026 NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow
Christina Stephens, assistant research professor at the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), has received the 2026 NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship for her research, “Preschool Settings that Support Dual Language Learners: Investigating Classroom Experiences, Quality, and Supports for Teachers.”
The National Academy of Education program funds just 25 exceptional early-career scholars addressing critical issues in education each year. Driven by her passion for studying the impacts of early childhood care and education on historically marginalized populations, Dr. Stephens will use this award to investigate how New Jersey preschools can best optimize learning for dual language learners (DLL).
This project examines preschool classroom environments, learning outcomes, and tools that strengthen teachers’ capacity to work with DLL students to improve access to high-quality educational opportunities for this growing population.
The project will pursue two aims using rigorous quantitative methods and a mixed methods-case study design. First, person-centered latent profile analysis examines how quality measures used to evaluate programs relate to DLLs’ learning outcomes in New Jersey’s state-funded preschool program. Second, the Classroom Assessment of Supports for Emergent Bilingual Acquisition (CASEBA) observational measure will describe preschool classroom quality as it relates to supporting DLLs, complemented by analysis of qualitative interviews with teachers who received tailored professional development aligned with this tool. Findings will inform policies and programs to improve quality, impacts, and the teacher workforce.
Dr. Stephens’ research investigates the impacts of early childhood care and education on families and children among historically marginalized populations. Her work has appeared in Early Childhood Research Quarterly and Early Education and Development, among other outlets. Previously, she was an Institute of Education Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Virginia and a Predoctoral Fellow at the National Research Center on Hispanic Children and Families. She holds a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
Learn more: https://naeducation.org/awardee/christina-stephens-baylor/
