Cynthia Baeza
Credentials: WCER PhD
Assistant Professor of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas (starting in Fall of 2025).
Cynthia Baeza earned a Ph.D. in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at UW-Madison with a doctoral minor in Science and Technology Studies (STS). Her research interests include equity, race, language, and the teaching of bi/multilingual students classified as English learners (ELs) at the intersection of bilingual and science education.
Cynthia is a former elementary bilingual teacher with a background in Bilingual, STEAM, and Early Childhood Education. She is a founding member of a single-gender STEAM-focused school in Texas, where she served the roles of Dual Language Lead, Dual Language Teacher, and Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC) Chair. She has experience teaching, coaching, and supervising in-service teachers at the state, national, and international levels.
Awards and Fellowships:
Hartzman International Travel Award, School of Education Global Engagement Office, UW–Madison
Graduate Student Travel Award, Department of Curriculum & Instruction, UW–Madison
Jhumki Basu Scholar Award, Equity and Ethics Committee, National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST)
2024-2026 Top-Up Fellowship – Science & Technology Studies
2024 Milton Pella Science Education Fellowship
2024 Jhumki Basu Scholar Award
2023 The Centennial of the Republic of Türkiye Fellowship
2020-2024 Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) Fellowship
2020-2024 Education Graduate Research (Ed-GRS) Fellowship – University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Education
2023 Graduate Student Service Scholarship – University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Graduate School
2022 Graduate Student Research Grant – University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Funding in the Graduate School
2021-2023 Top-Up Fellowship for Graduate Students in Science & Technology Studies – University of Wisconsin-Madison, Holtz Center
2020-2024 Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) Fellowship – University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Graduate School
2020 International Research and Training Grant – University of Wisconsin-Madison, Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS)
Publications:
Kirchgasler, K. L. & Baeza, C. (under review). From Americanization to equity: A paradox of conditional inclusion in U.S. science education. Race Ethnicity and Education.
2024 Robinson, P., Baeza, C., González-Quizhpe, L., Robinson, A., Román, D., & Ward, K. Latinx science students’ sense of belonging in rural Wisconsin. The Journal of Extension, 61(3), 13.
2023 Baeza, C. Materiales para el kínder. In WIDA (Ed.), Marco de los estándares del desarrollo
auténtico del lenguaje español de WIDA: Kínder al 12o grado (pp. 76-99). Junta de Regentes del Sistema de la Universidad de Wisconsin.
2023 Baeza, C. Materiales para el 1er grado. In WIDA (Ed.), Marco de los estándares del desarrollo auténtico del lenguaje español de WIDA: Kínder al 12o grado (pp. 114-135). Junta de Regentes del Sistema de la Universidad de Wisconsin.
2022 Robinson, P., Baeza, C., Gonzalez-Quizhpe, L., Robinson, A., Roman, D., Ward, K. (in press). Latinx science students’ sense of belonging in rural Wisconsin. The Journal of Extension.
2021 Román, D. X., Castro, M., Baeza, C., Knab, R., Huss-Lederman, S., & Chacon, M. (2021). Resilience, collaboration, and agency: Galapagos teachers confronting the disruption of COVID-19. The Journal of Environmental Education, 52(5), 325-334.
Selected Conference Presentations:
Guha, A., Karumbaiah, S., Baeza, C., Castro, M., White, K., Román, D. X. (upcoming). Teacher perceptions on using AI to support multilingual teaching and learning. ESERA Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Barron, K., Karumbaiah, S., Baeza, C., Castro, M., Román, D. X. (upcoming). Systemic functional linguistics and translanguaging in K-12 science classrooms: A multiple case study. ESERA Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Barron, K., Tseng, N., Karumbaiah, S., Baeza, C. (upcoming). Evaluating Language Models Using Linguistic Variations in Multilingual Learners’ Writing: A Teacher Study. International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) Annual Meeting, Helsinki, Finland.
Baeza, C. Raciolinguistic hierarchies in bilingual science education: The role of ‘messages’ teachers receive. (upcoming). AERA Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.
White, K., Guha, A., Karumbaiah, S., Baeza, C., Castro, M., Román, D. X. (upcoming). Designing AI support for translanguaging in classrooms: Where theory and practices do and don’t align. AERA Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.
Baeza, C. Unpacking raciolinguistic ‘messages’ in bilingual science education: Insights from teachers in a Two-Way DLI program. (upcoming). AERA Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.
Baeza, C. Raciolinguistic hierarchies in bilingual science education: Investigating the ‘messages’ teachers receive. NARST Annual International Conference, Washington, DC.
Karumbaiah, S., Castro, M., Baeza, C., Román, D. X. Blurring the language boundaries: Developing translanguaging LLMs for multilingual classrooms. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) Conference, Costa Rica.
2023 Román, D. X., Castro, M., & Baeza, C. Resilience, collaboration, and agency: Galapagos teachers confronting the disruption of COVID-19. ESERA Conference, Cappadocia, Turkey.
2023 Baeza, C., Evans, S. (April). Bi/multilinguals in STEM Subjects: Racializing Language that Produces the Othering of ‘Not-From-Here’ Students. AERA Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Kirchgasler, K., Wu, C., Baeza, C., Román, D. (April, 2023). Racialized as Distant-from-Science: U.S. Science Education Research and the Pathologization of Linguistic Diversity. NARST Annual International Conference, Chicago, IL.
2022 Baeza, C., Rogers, K. (September). Collaborative Professional Development: Teachers of Multilingual Learners in Rural Areas. WIDA Annual Conference, Louisville, KY.
2021 Román, D. X., Baeza, C., Ward, K., Sawyer, R. (April). Whose Spanish in the Classroom? A Historical Analysis of Spanish Varieties Taught in U.S. Schools. AERA Annual Meeting (Virtual).