Dwayne Ray Cormier, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Foundations of Education
Education
- Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction, The Pennsylvania State University
- M.A. in teaching, Xavier University of Louisiana
- M.Ed. in physical education, Florida A&M University
- B.A. in psychology, Edward Waters College
Research interest
Dr. Cormier examines the intersection between educators' stated beliefs, observable teaching/leadership practices, and student and family interactions implicated by the sociocultural gap. Precisely, I seek to understand how the sociocultural gap impacts teachers' cultural competence and critical consciousness, teacher-student relationships, educational opportunity gaps, and school culture. With the understandings listed above, I develop pedagogical tools that assess and codify educators' sociocultural gaps.
Career highlights
- The VCU Presidential Research Quest Fund (PeRQ), July 2021
- National Association for Professional Development Schools Partnership Voices!, June 2021
- National Association of Holmes Scholars Alumni (NAHSA) Member of the Month, December 2020
- National Association for Professional Development School (NAPDS) Outstanding Dissertation Award, February 2020
Recent publications
- Cormier, D. R. (2021). Assessing preservice teachers’ cultural competence with the cultural proficiency continuum q-sort. Educational Researcher, 50(1), 17-29. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X20936670
- Cormier, D. R. (2021). The cultural proficiency continuum dialogic protocol: An emergent tool for assessing and codifying preservice teachers’ cultural competence. School-University Partnerships, 14(1), 8-23.
Bio
Dr. Dwayne Ray Cormier’s research is focused on bridging the sociocultural gap between the social and cultural systems found within schools and students who are minoritized, marginalized, and otherized within schools and broader society. He has developed the Cultural Proficiency Continuum Dialogic Protocol, a pedagogical tool designed to examine and classify individuals or groups’ cultural competency and critical consciousness regarding the experiences in majority-minority students and families. He is also interested and experienced in developing equity-minded summer bridge programs aimed to develop and prepare underrepresented minority (URM) Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students’ academic and social skills to persist and transition through their higher education.
(804) 828-3738 [main number for Department of Foundations of Education]
cormierd2@vcu.edu