Who we are

Vittoria (Vicki) Daiello PhD, is Associate Professor of Art & Design Education in the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) and Co-Director of the Action Research Center in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services, and Information Sciences  (CECH-IT).  Daiello is an affiliate faculty member in Educational Studies/ Educational & Community-based Action Research (CECH); and affiliate faculty in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (A & S). Daiello has also completed coursework in mediation and conflict resolution and she holds a certificate of professional achievement in applied compassion from the Center for Compassion & Altruism in Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University.

Daiello's research, teaching, and mentoring extend across disciplines and institutions. Current  “collaborations include the cross-college and multi-institution research group "Narrative Medicine, Compassionate Arts, & Healing (NMCAH), a network of UC and community interdisciplinary scholars, writers, artists, educators, physicians, and activists whose individual or overlapping research seeks to promote equity, inclusivity, and healing in education, health institutions, public spaces, and communities through narrative, storytelling, and the arts.  

As coordinator of the Pre-Art & Design Education Certificate (PADE) in DAAP, Dr. Daiello’s research emphasizes arts-based reflective practices and applied compassion pedagogies in support of inclusive education dialogues and anti-oppressive classroom communities. Daiello's research, teaching, and creative work are entwined, taking shape in iterative, cumulative artmaking and writing processes that trace subtle structures of affective engagement across educators’ and students’ learning experiences.

Miriam Raider-Roth Ed.D,  is a Professor of Educational Studies and Educational/Community-Based Action Research and the co-director of the Action Research Center  in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, Human Services and Information Sciences (CECH-IT). She received her doctorate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, earned her masters at the Bank Street College of Education, and her BA from the University of Michigan. She teaches graduate courses in action research, feminist qualitative methodology, and relational theory. 

Dr. Raider-Roth is also the Director of Mandel Teacher Educator Institute (MTEI),  a 2-year program that strengthens the Jewish community by developing educational instructional  leaders–teachers of teachers–who are spearheading powerful and innovative professional development experiences for their institutions and communities. She coedited a special issue of the Journal of Jewish Education(2019, vol. 85, no. 2) focusing on practitioner research with MTEI participants and graduates. 

Raider-Roth’s  research interests include how relational learning communities contribute to educational leaders’ transformative learning in professional development settings. She takes great pleasure in collaborating with practitioners and leaders in studying their own practice, learning collaborative action research processes that can change the nature of teaching, learning and leadership in their organizations. 

Dr. Raider-Roth is author of Professional Development in Relational Learning Communities: Teachers in Connection (2017, Teachers College Press) and Trusting What You Know: The High Stakes of Classroom Relationships (2005, Jossey-Bass).

Steve Kroeger, a US special educator and action researcher for thirty years, uses his current research to focus on supporting voice. Steve is involved in national and international projects including the Palestinian West Bank, and Ireland. While teaching, graphic narrative emerged as a powerful medium of expression. A recent work, a cartoon titled Mr. Talkie is a graphic narrative (comic) co-developed and co-produced with Brian Higgins (Sligo, Ireland) and Jess Mannion (Atlantic Technological University). Three Mr. Talkie comics together describe a young man’s desire to enter a relationship with a woman and the learning that occurred over time. On other fronts Steve volunteers in a food pantry doing Spanish translation. This experience stirred thinking about abundance and scarcity of food. Comics helps tell the stories of people who are doing the amazing work of collecting, growing, cooking, distributing, educating, and serving in our regional Food Shed. His first co-published comics were co-produced with a group of five Latina women and three non-profits in Texas, who wanted to tell their story and advocate for breast feeding practices. 

Links of interest: 

You can find Steve’s daily comic on Substack: Hand Drawn.

Sembrando Amor Zine Studio Kroner: Food Shed Show Sembrando Amor ARTICLE

Dr. Susan Watts-Taffe is a Professor of Literacy Education in the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services. She is a former Special Education teacher and Reading Specialist and currently teaches courses focused on literacy learning for children and youth who experience difficulty with reading and writing. Her scholarship centers on vocabulary teaching and learning, disciplinary literacies, and teacher professional development, with an eye toward bridging theory and practice. Currently, Dr. Watts-Taffe is the Director/Principal Investigator of Youth Built Change, an NIH funded project engaging high school students and their teachers in community based participatory research and the disciplinary literacies associated with scientific research.

Youth Built Change (YBC)

YBC is a program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH R25MD019150-01; Dr. Susan Watts-Taffe, PI) to foster interest, understanding, researcher self-efficacy, & workforce development related to careers in STEM, social science research, and behavioral health. YBC brings together faculty from across the University of Cincinnati and from Emory University, along with interested community partners, to support high school students in a year-long research process investigating topics related to mental health, substance abuse and addiction in their local communities. YBC student researchers use their experiences and observations to develop their own research questions, design studies, collect and analyze data, and present their findings in both academic and community settings. The basis of YBC is that engaging students in research with real-world implications will increase the likelihood that students choose careers in STEM, social science, or behavioral health that allow them to use science to make a difference in their communities.

Elizabeth is an Associate Professor at the University of Cincinnati whose work focuses on action research, equity, and the advancement of signed language interpreting. A RID Certified interpreter since 2000 and educator since 2005, she brings more than two decades of professional, academic, and international experience to the field.

Her career is shaped by extensive international engagement, including service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya and Zambia, faculty work at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, and consulting roles with the Kenyan National Association of the Deaf, the Kenyan Sign Language Interpreter’s Association, and Discovering Deaf Worlds in the Philippines. These experiences inform her commitment to community-driven research and culturally responsive interpreter education.

Elizabeth’s scholarship focuses on action research as a tool for practitioner empowerment and systemic change. Her work explores how collaborative inquiry can strengthen educational and interpreting practices, promote equity, and support transformative learning. She also engages deeply with critical race theory, critical pedagogies, and relational teaching, examining how power, identity, and connection shape learning environments and professional preparation.

She is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Studies with a concentration in Action Research at the University of Cincinnati. With a background in interpreting, adult education, and international service, Elizabeth is dedicated to building more equitable, responsive, and community-engaged approaches to interpreter education.

Maddie graduated from Miami University in 2019 with a B.S. in Early Childhood Education. Following graduation, she worked as an elementary school teacher and K-2 team leader in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2023, she simultaneously obtained a graduate certificate in Anti-Racism and her M.Ed. in Urban Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). At UNCC, her work centered on school discipline policies and practices in K-8 settings. As a practitioner, she implemented restorative practices in her classroom and engaged in practitioner action research to further refine and improve her classroom practices.

Currently, Maddie is a doctoral student in the Educational Studies program at the University of Cincinnati. Her concentration within the program is Educational and Community-based Action Research. Influenced by her classroom teaching experience, Maddie is passionate about work and outcomes that seek equity and justice for K-12 students. She is particularly interested in restorative justice in education, teacher-student relationships, and the disruption of the school-prison nexus through participatory and arts-based research approaches, working alongside youth and practitioners in K-12 settings.

Heather is an educational researcher, teacher educator, and facilitator whose work focuses on participatory research, educational policy, and Montessori education. She is an Affiliate Researcher with the Action Research Center at the University of Cincinnati and currently serves as a Project Coordinator for Youth Built Change, where she supports youth-led community-based research on mental health and substance use.

Heather’s work centers on the belief that those most impacted by educational systems should play a central role in shaping them. She brings extensive experience in community-based participatory research (CBPR), youth participatory action research (YPAR), and mixed methods research, with a particular emphasis on translating research into meaningful action. Her recent projects have focused on early childhood education systems, youth leadership and well-being, and the role of educators as advocates for policy change.

Rabih Murr is an educator and Ph.D. candidate with nearly 20 years of experience in education. His work is shaped by his experiences as a student and teacher in the Lebanese educational context, where he has engaged with questions of power, inequity, and participation in educational change. He holds a BA in Literature and Linguistics and a master’s degree in education leadership and policy studies, and he is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati.

His scholarship employs qualitative and participatory methodologies to explore how education can serve as a space for ethical and relational engagement towards participatory community development, particularly in contexts where decision-making is centralized and distanced from those most affected. His work is inquiry-driven, contextually grounded, with a focus on the lived experiences of teachers and students, student voice, practitioner inquiry, and participatory approaches to educational change.

His current dissertation examines relational pedagogy in a Lebanese high school classroom, exploring how teachers and students engage with one another in moments that move beyond prescribed curricula, especially in a context of crisis.

Dr. Doug Stevens has been an Assistant Adjunct Professor in the School of Education at The University of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky University in the Department of Educational Leadership before joining University of Louisville in January, 2019 as Affiliate Faculty. He has taught educational foundation courses as well as graduate and doctoral level research courses for these three universities and the Educational and Community-based Action Research (ECAR) Center. 

His research interests include relational cultural theory, organizational theory and development, structured ethical reflection, action research, educational technology, pre-service teacher preparation, and urban educational leadership. His published works have been included in the High School Journal, The Educational Forum, the SAGE Handbook for Action Research, the Journal of Special Education Leadership, the Wiley Handbook of Action Research, and the International Journal of Reality Therapy. Dr. Stevens earned his Ph. D. in Educational Studies from the University of Cincinnati in 2014. In addition to his work at the university level, Dr. Stevens has taught English, career technology, and journalism in Cincinnati Public Schools since 1990. He recently retired from teaching ninth grade English at Hughes STEM High School in Cincinnati Public Schools, and is the recipient of the 2021 Excellence in Educational Leadership Award from the University Council for Educational Administration and the 2024-2025 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching and Student Faculty Relations at the University of Cincinnati.

Julie Marcoux is the Action Research Center Graduate Assistant, MTEI Graduate Assistant, and doctoral student at the University of Cincinnati where she is studying Educational and Community-Based Action Research. She holds a BA in Elementary Education and an M.Ed. in Education Psychology. Julie has over 20 years of experience in education having become a master teacher instructing career educators on best practices supporting students with learning disabilities. Most recently Julie served as the founding Assistant Head of Springer High School in Cincinnati designing the master academic program, career/college counseling, athletics, and student activities.

Julie is passionate about learning environments that support those with dyslexia, ADHD, and those who struggle with executive functioning and has dedicated her career to championing inclusivity. She is a learner, educator, motivator, and collaborator who is passionate about helping others gain the tools, confidence, and opportunities for finding success. She and her husband, Brett, have two daughters. Julie loves to exercise, travel, learn, and empower others to be their best self.