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  4. Christina A. Tillery

Christina A. Tillery

Ph.D. Student, School of Education
Program Area: Counselor Education and Supervision

EHeadshot of Christina A. Tillery for the VCU Holmes Scholars.ducation

  • Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision, Virginia Commonwealth University (May 2024)
  • M.Ed. in School Counseling, Virginia Commonwealth University (December 2016)
  • B.A. in History, The College of William and Mary, (May 2012)

Line of Research

Historically, Black girls are excluded from research regarding access to equitable schooling and access to mental health resources. My research interests include utilizing youth-participatory action research to create safe spaces for Black girls to increase access to mental health resources. Additionally, I am looking at school counselor leadership development specifically for Black fem-identifying school counselors.

Selected Research and Scholarship

Refereed Publications

  • Tillery, C., Crane, E., and Goodman-Scott, E. (2022). Tiered Supports for the Class of 2021 in Unprecedented Times: A High School Counseling Department's Journey. Professional School Counseling Journal. https://doi-org.proxy.library.vcu.edu/10.1177/2156759X221106806
  • Naff, D., Ainsworth, D., Crane, E., & Tillery, C. (2022). Responding to community pushback on school curricula. Richmond, VA: Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium.
  • Duyile, B.E., Tillery, C., Apugo, D. [In Press] “Now Tell My Mama I Belong in that Slow Class”: Reclaiming the Genius and Post-Secondary Options of Black Students with Disabilities. W. Hunter, J. Taylor, L. Scott, L. (Eds.) The Mixtape Volume 1: Culturally Sustaining Practices within MTSS featuring the Everlasting Mission of Student Engagement. Council for Exceptional Children

Refereed Presentations

  • Duyile, B., and Tillery, C.A. (2022, November) High Leverage Practices: Inter-professional Collaboration for Black Students with Disabilities. Southern Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference, Baltimore, Maryland.
  • Tillery, C. A., and Coghill, K. (2022, July) Sister Circles as Affinity Groups. American School Counselor Association Annual Conference, Austin, Texas.
  • Tillery, C.A. (2022, March 4). See Me: A Call to Action for High School Counselors Working with Black Girls [Poster Session]. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Conference, New Orleans, LA, United States.
  • Livingston, A., Tillery, C., Man, I. (2021, October 5 - 10). Taking Racism Out of Research: Developing an Anti-Racist Research Self-Efficacy Measure [Poster session].Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference, Atlanta, CA, United States.
  • Coghill, K. and Tillery, C.A. (September 2021) Schoolin’ Life: Using Experience as Education to Create Sister Circles in High School. Annual Tri-State Conference of Diversity and Inclusion (Virtual).
  • Tillery, C.A. (2021, July) She’s not forgotten: ending school pushout of Black girls. American School Counselor Association Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada.
  • Tillery, C.A., White, K. (2021, March) Effective Principal - School Counselor Relationships for Student Success. Virginia School Counselor Association Annual Conference, Virtual.
  • Tillery, C.A., Joseph, D., Travers, K. (2021, March). Level Up!: The Truth about being an Elementary, Middle and High School Counselor. Virginia School Counselor Association Annual Conference, Virtual.
  • Tillery, C.A. (2019, June). She’s not forgotten: ending school pushout of Black girls. Life Ready Conference, Henrico County Public Schools, Richmond, VA.
  • Tillery, C.A., Bazemore, S., Taylor, J.V., White, S., Wynne, L., (2018, October). Shattering glass ceilings: mentoring our next generation of female leaders. Virginia School Counselor Association Annual Conference, Hampton, VA.
  • Tillery, C.A. (2017, October). Welcome to the bad girls club: conflict resolution through media literacy for teen girls. Virginia School Counselor Association Annual Conference, Hampton, VA.
  • Tillery, C.A. (2016, October). Better counseling through classroom management. Virginia School Counselor Association Annual Conference, Hampton, VA.

Biography

Christina A. Tillery began her career in education as a rural social studies teacher, and after four years, she transitioned to a high school counselor in Henrico County, Virginia. She enjoys finding evidence-based and creative ways to help students develop academically, emotionally, and socially. Christina is a doctoral student at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Counselor Education and Supervision program in Richmond, VA. Her research interests include utilizing youth-participatory action research to create safe spaces for Black girls to increase access to mental health resources. Christina sees a significant need for collaboration between practitioners and counselor education researchers to develop equitable school counseling services for all students through her work as a practitioner and scholar. She is excited and hopeful for the future of the school counseling profession.

What does the Holmes Scholars Program mean to you?

As a practicing school counselor transitioning into academia, I prioritize increasing my professional involvement in the counselor education field. The Holmes Scholar program will allow me the safe space and community to develop my research skills and expand my self-efficacy. I genuinely believe in having a supportive village. I am excited to be a member of a program that is centered on connectivity and fellowship.

Curriculum Vitae