Bentley 2018 Page 1 of 7 LYDIA C. BENTLEY Lydia.c.bentley@vanderbilt.edu P.O. Box 331094 Nashville, TN 37203 (703) 919-9799 EDUCATION Department of Teaching & Learning, August 2011- September 2017 PhD in Development, Learning, and Diversity The Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations, Fall 2009- Spring 2011 PhD Student, completed 42 credits (comparable to an M.A.) and passed qualifying exams University of Virginia, Curry School of Education, Northern Virginia Center Special Education Licensure/ Endorsement in Learning Disabilities Program, April 2008 Masters of Education in Special Education, June 2009 Georgetown University, College of Arts and Sciences, Washington, DC Bachelor of Arts, May 2000, Cum Laude Major: Sociology Minor: History Alpha Kappa Delta, National Sociological Honor Society SELECTED FELLOWSHIPS & HONORS National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA NSF SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship ($138,000), 2017-2019 Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN Bonsal Applied Education Research Award ($10,000), 2016-2017 Graduate Teaching Fellowship ($24,000), 2016-2017 Experimental Education Research Training (ExpERT) Predoctoral Fellowship ($20,000 per year), 2011-2013 Provost s Graduate Fellowship ($10,000 per year), 2009-2013 American Educational Research Association (AERA), Washington, DC AERA Minority Dissertation Fellowship in Education Research ($19,000), 2015-2016 University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), Charlottesville, VA Barbara Jackson Scholar, 2009-2011 PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS Publications McGee, E.O., Bentley, L.C. (2017). The Equity Ethic: Black and Latino College Students Reengineering their STEM Careers Toward Justice. American Journal of Education, 124(1), https://doi.org/10.1086/693954.
Bentley 2018 Page 2 of 7 McGee, E.O., Bentley, L.C. (2017). The Troubled Success of Black Women in STEM. Cognition and Instruction, 35(4), pp. 1-25. McGee, E. O., White D. T., Jenkins A.T., Houston S., Bentley, L.C., Smith, W., Robinson, W. (2016). Black engineering students motivation for PhD attainment: passion plus purpose. Journal for Multicultural Education, 10(2), pp.167-193. Robinson, W.H., McGee, E. O., Bentley, L.C., Houston II, S.L., and Botchway, P.K. (March/April 2016). Addressing Negative Racial and Gendered Experiences that Discourage Academic Careers in Engineering. Computing in Science & Engineering. Bentley, L. (May 17, 2013). Teach for America s Mission, Vision, and Core Values: A Closer Look (Commentary). Teachers College Record. Retrievable from http://www.tcrecord.org, ID Number: 17126 Smrekar, C., & Bentley, L. (2012). Education and Diversity. In D. Coates (Ed.), Oxford Companion to American Politics (pp. 310-318). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Smrekar, C., & Bentley, L. (2011). HOPE VI Neighborhoods & Neighborhood Schools: Understanding How Revitalized Neighborhoods Influence School Environments. Peabody Journal of Education, 86(4), 416-435. Smrekar, C., & Bentley, L. (2011). Social Context of Education. Oxford Bibliographies Online: Education. doi: 10.1093/obo/9780199756810-0039 Conference Presentations & Papers Bentley, L. C., McGee, E.O., Robinson, W. H., Houston, S., & Botchway, P.K. (2016, April). Engineering at the intersection: Black women's experiences in engineering doctoral programs. Paper presented at the annual AERA conference, Washington, D.C. Robinson, W.H., McGee, E.O., Bentley, L.C., Houston II, S.L., Botchway, P.K., & Roy, R. (2015). Racial and Gendered Experiences that Dissuade a Career in the Professoriate. IEEE Conference Publications (RESPECT 2015). McGee, E.O., Robinson, W.H., Bentley, L.C., & Houston II, S.L. (2015, June). Diversity Stalled: Explorations into the Stagnant Numbers of African American Engineering Faculty. Paper presented at the annual American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conference, Seattle, Washington. McGee, E.O., & Bentley, L. (2015, April). STEM High Achievers that Care: Black and Latino College Students Reengineering their Careers Toward Justice. Paper presented at the annual AERA conference, Chicago, Illinois. Bentley, L. (2013, April). Effects of Music Interventions on Academic and Cognitive Skills: A Meta-analysis. Paper presented at a roundtable session at the annual AERA conference, San Francisco, California. Bentley, L. (2011, May). Teacher working conditions in post-conflict contexts: The case of Southern Sudan. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), Montreal, Canada. Smrekar, C., & Bentley, L. (2010, October). HOPE VI Neighborhoods & Neighborhood Schools: Understanding How Revitalized Neighborhoods Influence School
Bentley 2018 Page 3 of 7 Environments. Paper presented at the annual convention of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), New Orleans, LA. Smrekar, C., & Bentley, L. (2010, June). The impact of HOPE VI housing programs on neighborhood schools. Presented at the Ethnographic & Qualitative Research Conference, Cedarville University, OH. POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH A Mixed-Methods Investigation into Underrepresentation in STEM, National Science Foundation Award 1714303 Principal Investigator, September 2017-August 2019 I am currently funded by the NSF SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to conduct a mixed-methods study on which Dr. Richard Pitt (Vanderbilt Sociology) is a co- Principal Investigator. This study will advance knowledge within the field of postsecondary STEM education in general, and engineering education in particular, by addressing multiple unanswered questions and current gaps in scholarship with respect to at least four potential influences on URM engineering students experiences and trajectories during their first two years of college: (1) pre-college influences; (2) interactions with college faculty and peers; (3) social cognitive factors; and (4) engagement with STEM learning opportunities and structures. PRE-DOCTORAL RESEARCH, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Black College Students Choice of STEM Major: Analyzing Influences on Their Decision-Making Process, Dissertation Research supported by the AERA Minority Dissertation Fellowship and the Peabody Bonsal Applied Education Research Award Principal Investigator, 2016 Spring-2017 Spring (expected completion) My dissertation research is aimed at producing a deeper understanding of how Black college students who are initially interested in STEM upon college entrance choose to declare (or not to declare) and persist (or exit) from STEM majors. My goal is to add to the knowledge base which can inform educational programs and interventions that promote higher numbers of Black (and other underrepresented minority) college students entering and completing STEM degrees. Under-represented Populations in STEM Higher Education (multiple projects), Dr. Ebony McGee s Research Graduate Research Assistant, September 2013-Spring 2016 Diversity Stalled: Explorations into the Stagnant Numbers of African American Engineering Faculty (NSF Grant Award #1361025); Beyond the Basics: Race and Gender Conscious Mentoring for Black Faculty Candidates in Engineering (NSF Grant Award #1444908). The goals of these interrelated projects were to produce (a) a deeper understanding of the challenges facing Black and other underrepresented minorities in engineering PhD programs, (b) a better appreciation of their perspectives and resilience, and (c) an increased provision of pathways for them to enter the engineering professoriate. My primary contributions to these projects included the following: (1) leading a three-person team responsible for coding, analyzing, presenting, and disseminating data/results pertaining to our Black female study participants; (2) assisting with proposal writing and
Bentley 2018 Page 4 of 7 submission; (3) developing survey instrument and interview protocols; (4) collecting and analyzing qualitative data; (5) assisting with results reporting and publishing; (6) serving as a database and project manager/ administrator of a 3-7 person team; and (7) helping to plan, coordinate, and implement a diversity retreat for 10 national scholars which culminated in the Panel Discussion on Diversity in STEM - an event open to the university and local community held on 06/02/2015. Successful Asian, Black and Latinos in Science and Mathematics. I contributed to analyzing qualitative data collected from undergraduate STEM students and helped to interpret and present results in both video (posted on the website https://my.vanderbilt.edu/ebonymcgee/) and written form. Experimental Validation of the Tools of the Mind Prekindergarten Curriculum (IES Grant #R305A090533), Peabody Research Institute (multiple Principle Investigators) Graduate Research Assistant, Aug 2011- Summer 2013 For this large scale randomized control trial, I collected data (administered standardized tests to students), assisted with data management, and employed statistical methods such as multilevel modeling to analyze quantitative data with SPSS software. In addition, I conducted and presented (to the Teaching and Learning Department) descriptive analyses about Tennessee pre-k English Language Learning (ELL) students which revealed the following: (1) the degree to which the math and reading gap between ELL students and non-ell students diminished by kindergarten, (2) that the level of entering English language ability did not moderate the relationship between ELL status and academic growth, and (3) the heterogeneity among the ELL students, with respect to their entering language levels and academic gains. The impact of HOPE VI housing programs on neighborhood schools (and other policy-related projects), Dr. Claire Smrekar s Research Graduate Research Assistant, August 2009- August 2011 These research projects pertained primarily to the social context of education and public policy issues. I contributed to this work in the following ways: recruiting participants, conducting interviews, analyzing data, and reporting and publishing of results. Our qualitative research examined, for example, how two adjacent communities, one HOPE VI and one Section 8, sharing a local school, shaped parents social interactions and social networks. Development and Application of a Conceptual Framework and Instruments to Study Middle School Math Teachers Induction (the AIM project), Video Coder, Summers 2010 & 2011 I coded instructional videos of middle school math teachers (identifying and rating aspects of their performance) as part of this Instructional Quality Assessment project. POST-SECONDARY INSTRUCTION Vanderbilt University, Center for Teaching, Nashville, TN Graduate Teaching Fellow, July, 2016, to June, 2017
Bentley 2018 Page 5 of 7 Led orientations for Teaching Assistants, (e.g., Physics/Astronomy graduate students; August 2016) Co-led workshops for graduate students and post-docs (a total of 3 on topics such as teaching statements and microaggressions) Assisted (e.g., helped to choose readings and generate discussion questions) with a Professional Learning Community consisting of PhD students, faculty, and administrators on the topic of social class (monthly meetings each semester) Provided instructional consultation services to graduate students and post-docs. Consults were 30 minute- 1 ¼ hour appointments during which I collaborated with clients to address various issues (e.g., designing a syllabus) or observed and provided feedback on clients college course instruction. Taught the Certificate in College Teaching Seminar 8-week course for PhD students and post-docs (1 section in the fall, 2 sections in the spring) Collaborated with the LGBTQI Office to coordinate and facilitate a series of 4 weekly workshops on the topic of inclusivity in the college classroom. Guest Lecturer in graduate courses, 2014-2017 EDUC 7500 Interrogating Race and Racism through Research in Education and the Social Sciences. The topic is Measures that study the impact of racial identification and racism Beyond Racial Microaggressions on 11/15/17. EDUC 7500 Critical race theory: Race and racism in education. Topics included the following: Intersectionality of Race, Class and Gender on 9/14/16; Critical race theory and Diverse Racial & Ethnic Identities on 10/05/16. EDUC 3080 Diversity and Equity in Education. Topics included the following: Critical Race Theory on 3/23/15; Theorizing Grit on 4/13/15 EDUC 3900 Race, Identity, and Agency in Education. The topic was New Directions in Race and Identity in Education Research in February, 2014. Co-Instructor and Teaching Assistant for undergraduate courses, 2013-2015 Co-instructor for EDUC 2920 Social and Philosophical Aspects of Education, with Dr. Ebony McGee, Spring 2015. I shared equally in all responsibilities (e.g., planning, instruction, evaluation). Teaching Assistant for EDUC 2920 Social and Philosophical Aspects of Education, under Dr. Ebony McGee, Spring 2013. I assisted with the evaluation of undergraduate student work and the development of classroom lectures/presentations. K-12 TEACHER EDUCATION & PREPARATION University Mentor of Student Teacher-Candidates, Fall 2013- Spring 2014
Bentley 2018 Page 6 of 7 Provided pedagogical support and feedback for undergraduate seniors and masters students before and during their student teaching placements in secondary social studies classrooms Teaching Assistant for SSED 2360/3360 Practicum in Secondary Education III (aimed at future teacher-candidates), Fall 2013 Assisted with evaluation of undergraduate and graduate student work Facilitated large and small group discussions during class and helped to prepare and review instructional plans for class Teaching and Learning in Urban Schools (TLUS) Capstone Evaluator, March 2013 Provided evaluative feedback on written final projects from K-12 teachers participating in the master's degree in TLUS program TEACHING K-12 STUDENTS Fairfax County Public School System, Fairfax County, VA Elementary and Secondary Special Education Teacher, 2004-2009 Designed and modified curriculum, coordinated and implemented individualized learning plans, provided instruction and monitored learning progress of exceptional students in mathematics, science, reading, and writing. PROFESSIONAL SERVICE & AFFILIATIONS University Service, Vanderbilt University Invited Conference Speaker, Programs for Talented Youth, December 2017 Led a break-out session on underrepresented minority students in STEM as part of this conference for prek-12 teachers and administrators. Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Teaching & Learning Dept., Spring 2016 Appointed as one of the inaugural members of a joint faculty and student committee concerned with recruitment, promotion, and retention of students and faculty of color. Manuscript Review Journal of Negro Education. December, 2013- Present Anthropology & Education Quarterly. August, 2015 Association Membership American Educational Research Association (AERA). Active Member. OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE Volunteer with World Relief (a Non-profit International Development Organization) Teacher Trainer in Sudan, Summer (two weeks), 2008 Presented developmentally appropriate teaching methods to a small (less than 50 attendees) conference of Sudanese Sunday School teachers. Micro Finance Researcher in Mozambique, January 2004- June 2004
Bentley 2018 Page 7 of 7 Collected and analyzed data on micro finance organization s national field operations. ICMA-Retirement Corporation (Retirement Investment Company for Municipal Employees), Washington, DC Special Product Analyst- Operations Division, October 2001- October 2003 Investor Services Associate- Investor Services Division, October 2000- June 2001