Stephanie Behm Cross
Associate Professor - Teacher Education Middle and Secondary Education- Education
Ph.D., Curriculum & Instruction—August 2008
College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityM.A.T., Curriculum & Instruction: Mathematics Education—May 2003
College of Human Resources & Education
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Certified to teach mathematics grades 6-12B.A., Interdisciplinary Studies—August 2001
College of Arts & Sciences
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Specializations
Urban teacher preparation
Third space collaborations in grant-funded work
Teacher residency models
Critical theories of race
Critical ethnography
Narrative Inquiry
- Biography
Stephanie Behm Cross is an associate professor at Georgia State University in the College of Education & Human Development. Her scholarly work focuses on urban teacher preparation, whiteness in K-12 and university settings, shared leadership and reimagined structures in grant-funded work, and collaborative work across institutions.
Cross’ most recent research, funded through a multi-year Department of Education grant, investigates the impact of a three-year residency program on teachers’ retention, satisfaction, and overall critical consciousness. Using critical ethnography, and drawing on both Critical Whiteness Studies and Critical Race Theory, Cross and her colleagues investigate the overall culture and justice-centered practices within the program, with a particular focus on understanding practices, policies, and forms of engagement that prioritize racial justice.
She also coordinates the Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning, Teaching and Teacher Education concentration and works closely with undergraduate students enrolled in Middle Level Education program. She teaches undergraduate courses on human diversity, power, and oppression in schools, innovative pedagogical practices, and critical issues in schools/schooling. She also teaches doctoral seminars in urban teacher education and research methods.
- Publications
Albright, T., Cross, S., & Davis, C. (Under contract). Critical Approaches for Teacher Residencies: Dreaming New Ways Forward in School, University, and Community Entanglements. Routledge. Edited book.
Cross, S. B., Albright, T., & Plane, L. (in press). Dedicated to disruption: A thank you note to abolitionist-oriented teacher residency faculty and staff. PDS Partners: Bridging Research to Practice, 19(1).
Cross, S. B., Albright, T., Plane, L. (in press). Teacher Residency Love Letters and Freedom Dreams: A Critical Examination of Teacher Residency Programs in the Context of School-University Partnerships and Justice-Centered Education. In J. Becks (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of School-University Partnerships. Cambridge University Press.
Davis, C., & Cross, S. B. (2024). Whiteness in the bones: Structures and practices in justice-oriented teacher preparation. Teaching and Teacher Education, 139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104433
Albright, T., Cross, S. B., & Davis, C. (2023). Freedom Dreaming: An abolitionist teacher residency. Urban Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420859231214165
Albright, T., Cross, S. B., & Davis, C. (2023). A teacher residency’s ecologies of support: Insulating against moral injury, exploitation, and pushout. The New Educator, 19(3), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/1547688X.2023.2197019
Cross, S. B., Dunn, A. H., Smith, R.*, & Hale, J.* (2023). The intersections of individuals and institutions: Critical engagement, consciousness, and whiteness in teacher preparation. The SOJO Journal of Educational Foundations and Social Justice, 9(1).
Favors, S., Neely, A., Chisholm, G., & Cross, S. B. (2021). Discomfort, resistance, and othering: A poetic inquiry into urban teacher preparation program redesign. Journal of African American Women and Girls in Education. https://doi.org/10.21423/jaawge-v1i3a33
Hackett, J., Williams, R., Davis, C., Cross, S. B., Behizadeh, N., Hearn, E. (2021). Tensions in designing a third space in a justice-oriented teacher residency: Toward an authentic collaborative for clinical practice. Peabody Journal of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/0161956X.2020.1864244
Davis, C. & Cross, S. B. (2020). When whiteness clouds mindfulness: Using critical theories to examine mindfulness in teacher education. Equity & Excellence in Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2020.1791769
Cross, S. B., Cannon, S. O., Williams, M. J., Hale, J. J., Donovan, M. K., Thomas, C. O., Chea, M., & Downey, C. A. (2020). Criticality and the narrative inquiry table: Travel stories and tensions. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 22.
Cross, S. B., Bayazit, N., & Dunn, A. H. (2019). Whiteness as a dissonant state: Exploring one white male student teacher’s experiences in urban contexts. Journal of Teacher Education, 70(4), 306-318.
Behizadeh, N., Thomas, C.*, & Cross, S. B. (2019). Reframing for social justice: The influence of critical friendship groups on preservice teachers’ reflective practice. Journal of Teacher Education, 70(3), 280-296.
Cross, S. B., Behizadeh, N., & Holihan, J.* (2018). Critically conscious or dangerously dysconscious?: An analysis of teacher candidates’ concerns in urban schools. The Teacher Educator, 53(2), 124-149.
Cross, S. B., Dunn, A. H., & Dotson, E. K. (2018). The intersections of selves and policies: A poetic inquiry into the hydra of teacher education. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 26(29), 1-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.26.2813
Cross, S. B. (2017). Whiteness in the academy: Using vignettes to move beyond safe silences. Teaching in Higher Education, 1-9. Available at http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/jhZTqIs6GcS8WNEybzMC/full.
Cross, S. B., & Thomas, C.* (2017). Mitigating new teacher burnout: How reimagined partnerships could support urban middle level teachers. Middle Grades Review, 3(1), 1-9. Available at: http://scholarworks.uvm.edu/mgreview/vol3/iss1/3.
Cross, S. B. (2016). Reexamining pitfalls of experience in urban teacher preparation. Journal of Urban Learning, Teaching, and Research, 12, 116-123.
Jett, C. C., & Cross, S. B. (2016). Teaching about diversity in black and white: Reflections and recommendations from two teacher educators. The New Educator, 12(2), 1-16.
Cross, S. B., & Dunn, A. H. (2016). “I don’t know of a better way to prepare to teach:” A case study of paired student teaching abroad. Teacher Education Quarterly, 43(1), 71-90.
Dunn, A. H., Dotson, E. K., Cross, S. B., Kesner, J., & Lundahl, B. (2014). Reconsidering the local after a transformative global experience: A comparison of two study abroad programs for preservice teachers. Action in Teacher Education, 36(4), 283-304.
(Full list of publications, presentations, and grant-funded initiatives available on my curriculum vitae)