Dr. Cuba wins SOE Distinguished Dissertation Award

Melissa Cuba, Ph.D., is the recipient of the VCU School of Education Distinguished Dissertation Award for the 2019-20 academic year.

Dr. Cuba’s dissertation was entitled "An Intersectional Analysis of Disproportionality of Dual Language Learners in Special Education in Virginia: A Mixed Methods Study." She will be recognized during the school’s graduation ceremony this December.

The SOE Distinguished Dissertation Award is awarded each academic year to a Ph.D. in Education student who has exhibited excellence in their dissertation research and dissertation defense for that academic year. Faculty within the school nominate students from the various concentrations in the Ph.D. in Education program, and an award committee selects the recipient based on the substantive quality of their work and the significance to their discipline.

Dr. Cuba is a Holmes Scholar of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education; an evaluation specialist with the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC), a research center affiliated with SOE; and a member of the school’s teaching faculty. She completed her Ph.D. in Education, Concentration in Curriculum, Culture, and Change this spring.

Learn more about Dr. Cuba’s research:
Melissa Cuba: English learners and special education in Virginia