Kristen Campbell Wilcox is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Educational Theory and Practice Department at the University at Albany. Her areas of research interest are in the use of qualitative methods at the intersections of language, culture, and cognition in multicultural contexts. In this vein, she has investigated the impacts of high stakes tests in diverse educational settings and best practices at the elementary and middle school levels. Her analysis of the ways language, culture, and cognition come into play in college-level second language classrooms received the Department of Educational Theory and Practice Outstanding Dissertation Award in 2005. She has taught English as a second and foreign language at the Kindergarten through doctoral levels in the United States and Puerto Rico, in addition to coordinating second and foreign language programs in a Brazilian K-12 International School. 

Selected Publications:

Wilcox, K.C. (2009). Cognitive dimensions of writing across subject areas: A summary of ongoing research with ELLs. Idiom, 39(1), 10-21.

Wilcox, K.C. (2008). Book Review: Pathways to Multilingualism: Evolving Perspectives on Immersion Education. Teachers College Record.

Wilcox, K.C. (2008). What makes high schools work: Findings from the 2007-8 high school best practice study in New York State. Albany, NY: Albany Institute for Research in Education, University at Albany.

Wilcox, K.C. (2008). White Plains High School case study. Available at http://www.albany.edu/aire/.

Wilcox, K.C. (2008). Warrensburg High School case study. Available at http://www.albany.edu/aire/.

Wilcox, K.C., & Angelis, J. (2008). What makes middle schools work: Findings from the 2006-7 middle school best practice study in New York State. Albany, NY: Albany Institute for Research in Education, University at Albany.

Wilcox, K.C., & Baker, L. (2007). Methodological approaches toward the study of best practices in elementary schools. Cambridge Scholars Press.

Wilcox, K.C. (2007). Conceptualizing culture in ESL classrooms. Idiom, 37(2).

Freeman, M., Mathison, S., & Wilcox, K.C. (2006). Performing parent dialogues on high-stakes testing: Consent and resistance to the hegemony of accountability. Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies, 6(4), 460-473.

Wilcox, K.C. (2005). What makes elementary schools work. Albany, NY: Albany Institute for Research in Education, University at Albany.

Wilcox, K.C. (2005). Cultural dissonance in the ESL classroom: A study of two college classrooms. Unpublished Dissertation, University at Albany, Albany, NY.

Wilcox, K.C. (2005). New York Framework Case Study: Ulysses Byas. Available at http://www.just4kids.org/

Wilcox, K.C. (2005). New York Framework Case Study: Gotham Avenue. Available at http://www.just4kids.org/

Wilcox, K.C. (2005). New York Framework Case Study: Traphagen. Available at http://www.just4kids.org/

Wilcox, K.C. (2005). New York Framework Case Study: George M. Davis. Available at http://www.just4kids.org/

Wilcox, K.C. (2004). Doing the Best on the Tests: A Suburban Elementary School's Response to High Stakes Tests. Available at www.crsep.org.

Mathison, S., Freeman, M., & Wilcox, K. (2004). Creating a Culture of Preparedness: One Suburban Middle School's Experiences with High Stakes Testing. Available at www.cresp.org.

Mathison, S., Freeman, M., Wilcox, K., & Sauer, L. (2002). High stakes testing in K-12 schools: An annotated bibliography. Available at www.eval.org.

Wilcox, K.C. & Ryder, R. (2002). Standardized testing and improving educational opportunity in Brazil. The Educational Forum, 66(3), 214-219.

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles:

Wilcox, K. C. (in press). Civic responsibility in higher performing middle schools. Education and Urban Society.

Wilcox, K. C. (2009). The impact of student beliefs on the effectiveness of video in developing cross-cultural competence. CALICO Journal, 27(1).

Wilcox, K. C. (2007). Listening to dissonance in ESL classrooms. Critical Inquiry in Language Studies. 4 (4). 265-282.

Freeman, M., Mathison, S., & Wilcox, K. C. (2006). Performing parent dialogues on high-stakes testing: Consent and resistance to the hegemony of accountability. Cultural Studies: Critical Methodologies, 6(4), 460-473.

Wilcox, K.C. & Ryder R. (2002). Standardized testing and improving educational opportunity in Brazil. The Educational Forum, 66(3), 214-219.

Books and Book Chapters:

Wilcox, K.C. & Angelis, J. (2009). Best Practices from Higher Performing Middle Schools. TC Press.

Wilcox, K. C. (2008). Re-authoring: Language learners and shifting identities. In M. Mantero, C. P. Miller & J. L. Watzke (Eds.), Readings in language studies (Vol. 1, pp. 25-43). St. Louis, MO: International Sociey for Language Studies, Inc.

Wilcox, K. C., & Baker, L. (2006). "What works" in best practice research: Methodological approaches toward the study of best practices in elementary schools. In M. Firmin & P. Brewer (Eds.), Ethnographic and qualitative research in education (Vol. 2). Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press.

Presentations:

"Creative Methods in ESL Classroom Research". Invited presentation for the Annual International TESOL Conference, Seattle, WA, 2007.

"School Ethos and Best Practices in Elementary Schools". Invited presentation for the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Chicago, IL, 2007.

"Listening to Dissonance in ESL Classrooms". Invited presentation for the International Society of Language Studies Annual Conference (ISLS), Honolulu, HI, 2007.

"Conceptualizing Culture in the ESL Classrooms". Invited presentation for the New York State TESOL Conference, Saratoga Springs, NY, 2006.

"Methodological Approaches toward the Study of Best Practices in Elementary Schools". Invited presentation for the Annual Ethonographic and Qualitative Research in Education (EQRE) Conference, Cedarville, OH, 2006.

"Using the Listening Guide Method for Interpreting Second Language Classroom Data". Invited presentation for the Annual Ethnographic and Qualititave Research in Education (EQRE) Conference, Cedarville, OH, 2006.

"Video in the Second Language Classroom: A Design for Developing Cross-Cultural Competence". Invited presentation for the Annual TESOL Conference, San Antonio, TX, 2005.

"Hegemony in English Language Teaching". Invited presentation for the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Montreal, Canada, 2005.

"Cultural Dissonance int he College ESL Classroom". Invited presentation for the Annual New York State TESOL Conference, Syracuse, NY, 2004.

"Eliciting Children's Experiences with State Tests: Challenges and Rewards". Invited presentation for the Ethnographic and Qualitative Research in Education Annual Conference (EQRE), Albany, NY 2004.

"Thinking Critically about 'Critical Thinking' in Teacher's Beliefs about State Standardized Testing". Invited presentation for the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Diego, CA, 2004.

"I Hear When. I Don't Hear What": Performing Parental Dialogues on High Stakes Testing. Invited presentation for the Family, School, Community Partnership SIG business meeting at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Chicago, IL, 2003.

Turning the Tables in the ESL Classroom. BRAZTESOL convention, Curitiba, Brazil, 2000.

Fall 2009 Courses:

ETAP 501, Class #26580 - The Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (3 Credits)
Design of lesson plans, construction of test items: analysis of content to be taught, collection of resources used in teaching, analysis of linguistic development of students, techniques for developing and evaluating audiolingual, reading, and writing skills. Includes an "application module" with students learning English as a second language.

ETAP 652F, Class #24918 - Teaching World Languages in a Secondary School (3 Credits)
Focus is on current research, theory, and practice in world language instruction for adolescents. Designed for beginning and advanced classroom teachers, the course promotes inquiry into major contemporary issues concerning world language instruction; developmental needs, standards and assessments, methods for promoting engaged and critical reading and speaking, and the role of culture.

ETAP 777, Class #23896 - Qualitative Research Methods
(3 Credits)
Qualitative research methods and issues with focus on ethnographic techniques; participant observation and interviewing: analyzing, interpreting, and collecting data. Attention to problems generic to fieldwork; emphasis on formation of research questions (entry into field settings, ethical issues in fieldwork, qualitative analysis and theory building).