Fulbright scholars advance research globally

Four faculty members in the Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation have received Fulbright awards from the U.S. Department of State. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar program allows academic and research professionals to teach, conduct research, and carry out projects worldwide.

Audrey Beardsley — professor

Project: Innovative Measures – A Standards-Based Evaluation of Brazil’s Higher Education Value-Added Model
Location: Brazil

Beardsley will partner with Professor Kaizô Beltrão at Fundação Getulio Vargas to conduct an evaluation of Brazil’s nationally implemented higher education value-added model according to standards established by the American Educational Research Association and others. Brazil’s VAM, the largest of its kind in the world, is used nationwide to estimate how much that nation’s higher education institutions contribute to student learning over time, as measured using nationwide test scores. Beardsley’s goal with her project is to support Brazil’s efforts to strengthen educational quality and accountability while also generating globally relevant insights about the design, use and ethics of VAMs in higher education. “I am honored to be part of the Fulbright program, especially at a time when many U.S. global relationships are strained,” Beardsley says. “This project allows me to contribute my expertise in educational measurement while learning from Brazil’s pioneering approach to evaluating higher education, with the hope that our shared work advances research, policy and practice locally and globally.”

Jordan Causadias — clinical assistant professor
Project: MTSS Teacher Training to Address Learning Loss and Improve Rural Secondary Reading and Math Outcomes
Location: Panama

Panama is confronting a severe learning loss in literacy and mathematics caused by school closures and national protests. Partnering with Ciudad del Saber (City of Knowledge) and El Centro de Investigación Educativa, Causadias will pilot an adapted multi-tiered system of support model for secondary schools through a hybrid professional development program. Educators will gain practical, evidence-based strategies for reading (paired reading, fluency) and math (high-leverage interventions) delivered through in-person workshops and virtual modules. Her project will culminate in an open-access Spanish MTSS toolkit and a sustainable educator network to support long-term implementation. An award-winning school psychologist, Causadias has worked in public schools in Minneapolis, Chicago, Phoenix, Upstate New York, Madrid, Panama City and Quito. Her work spans school psychology, educator preparation, systems-level consultation and international collaboration focused on creating more inclusive and sustainable educational environments. She advocates for practical, evidence-based approaches that strengthen school-family partnerships, educator wellness and equitable access to learning opportunities.

Punya Mishra — professor

Project: Generative AI and Indian Education – Contextual Innovation in the World’s Largest Learning Laboratory
Location: India

Mishra is internationally recognized for his work in educational technology, the role of creativity and aesthetics in learning and the application of design-based approaches to education innovation. He was awarded the Fulbright-Nehru International Education Administrators Award, one of six prestigious Fulbrights that allow administrators in higher education and international education to build their institutional capacity to enhance study abroad and expand opportunities for international collaborations through faculty and student exchange, collaborative research projects and pursuit of innovative curricular design. Mishra will be hosted by Azim Premji University in Bengaluru for a project focused on India’s education system. The world’s largest with more than 300 million students, India’s school system is second only to the U.S. in the number of people using AI tools such as ChatGPT, yet very little of this use has been studied. Through writing and podcasting, Mishra will document how AI is being implemented and will analyze his results in academic articles, practitioner briefs and a book. He is interested in how AI widens access to learning, how it shuts people out, and what communities invent when adoption of expensive tools is prohibited by limited resources — questions that Mishra argues matter for American classrooms as much as Indian ones

“AI is entering education faster than any technology in history,” he says. “The question that matters most isn't whether it works, but for whom and on whose terms — where it widens access to learning, and where it shuts people out.  India is where those questions are being answered in real time, and the answers matter for American classrooms as much as Indian ones.

Stephanie Hollings Nasr — faculty associate

Project: Teaching English as a Foreign Language and Applied Linguistics
Location: Algeria

Hollings Nasr will collaborate with professors at Badji Mokhtar University in Annaba, the region’s largest public multidisciplinary university. Her project will focus on teaching English as a foreign language, applied linguistics and exploring new avenues for integrating global citizenship education within language teaching and applied linguistics. Hollings Nasr is an academic associate in MLFC’s Division for Advancing Education Policy, Practice and Leadership, teaching students in the Master of Education degree in global education program. Her course offerings have included Global Thinking in Education, Applied Inquiry in Global Education and Applied Project. She received her doctoral degree in comparative education, educational leadership and policy from Beijing Normal University. She also holds a master’s degree in international studies from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from ASU. Hollings Nasr’s numerous experiences, both professional and academic, inform her research interests in global citizenship, global education, environmental/sustainability education, higher education, international schools and international students.