Laura Chávez-Moreno

Laura C. Chávez-Moreno is an award-winning researcher, qualitative social
scientist, and assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, in
the Departments of Chicana/o and Central American Studies and Education. She
received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education
in Curriculum and Instruction.
Prof. Chávez-Moreno researches, writes, and teaches about Chicanx/Latinx
education. She works at the intersection of education, pedagogy, language,
literacy, and ethnic studies, particularly Chicanx/Latinx Studies. Her research has
been published in top-tier journals such as Review of Educational Research,
Educational Researcher, American Educational Research Journal, Research in the
Teaching of English, and Journal of Teacher Education.
Dr. Chávez-Moreno’s research has been recognized with multiple awards,
including from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division G
Social Contexts in Education; AERA Latinx Research Issues Special Interest Group
(SIG); AERA Bilingual Education Research SIG; American Association of Hispanics
in Higher Education; and National Association of Bilingual Education. Notably, she
was a fellow of the 2020–2022 cohort of NCTE Research Foundation’s Cultivating
New Voices among Scholars of Color, and she was awarded a 2022 National
Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. Most
recently the National Council for Teachers of English awarded the 2023 Alan C.
Purves Award to her article in Research in the Teaching of English,
“The continuum
of racial literacies: Teacher practices countering whitestream bilingual education.
”
Prof. Chávez-Moreno is sought after as a speaker by school districts, university
organizations, and teacher preparation programs. She draws from her research
and extensive teaching experience across a variety of educational levels—
including elementary, secondary, tertiary, teacher education, and older-adult
education. She served as a high school teacher of Spanish in the Philadelphia
Public School District for five years, wrote district curriculum, and served on
boards of community organizations. She is deeply committed to mentorship,
emphasizing support for students from underrepresented backgrounds and/or
those dedicated to social justice causes. Among her many service activities, she
has mentored undergraduate and graduate students through several
organizations, including the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. She grew up in Douglas,
Arizona, and Agua Prieta, Sonora, México.