Lisa M. Dorner

Lisa M. Dorner is a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Missouri-Columbia and a Faculty Fellow at the Cambio Center. Her work centers on language policy, educational equity, and the integration of immigrant families in new destination communities. She is a leader in dual language education research and policy, co-founding the Missouri Dual Language Network and co-editing a major volume on critical consciousness in bilingual education.

• PhD and MA in Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University
• Fulbright Specialist to Colombia (2018)
• Principal Investigator on U.S. Department of Education and Spencer Foundation grants

Her research focuses on language policy and planning, educational policy implementation, and immigrant childhoods, using qualitative and mixed methods to explore how policies are enacted in schools and communities. She examines how dual language programs can promote equity and how educators and families navigate systemic challenges, especially during crises such as the pandemic.

Her recent publications and projects emphasize raciolinguistic justice, critical consciousness in education, and research-practice partnerships. She has led ethnographic studies on pandemic response in schools, highlighting the role of external partnerships and structural inequities. Her edited volume Critical Consciousness in Dual Language Bilingual Education (2022) offers case studies that challenge dominant narratives and promote anti-racist practices.

Her scholarly work appears in leading journals such as American Educational Research Journal, Educational Policy, and TESOL Quarterly. She has developed graduate curricula, including the Graduate Certificate in Global Education and Leadership, and teaches doctoral courses in research design and qualitative methods.

• Fulbright Specialist to Colombia (2018)

Lisa Dorner advises graduate students and collaborates with a broad network of scholars, including Drs. Deb Palmer, Claudia Cervantes-Soon, and Trish Morita-Mullaney. She leads major funded projects that connect research with practice, such as the Spencer Foundation-supported initiative on building equity in Midwestern dual language programs. She also organizes webinars and community engagement efforts through the Cambio Center and CARLA to foster practitioner-researcher collaboration.

She is actively involved in public scholarship, maintaining a personal blog where she reflects on writing, identity, and social boundaries. Her recent retreat on academic writing underscores her belief in the personal and transformative nature of scholarly communication.