Assistant Professor

Education

Higher Education Teaching

Assistant Professor of Education, Colorado College (2021-present)

Visiting Assistant Faculty, Indiana University School of Education (2018-2021)

Teaching Assistant for Dr. Thu Sương Thị Nguyễn, Indiana University School of Education, Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis, IN (2020)

Teaching Assistant for Dr. James Joseph Scheurich, Indiana University School of Education, Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis, IN (2019)

Adjunct, Indiana University School of Education, Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis, IN (2016)

Special Education Online Hybrid Program Graduate Mentor, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio (2014-2015)

PK-12 Teaching

District-Wide Behavior Specialist, Grades 1-6, Indianapolis Public Schools Indianapolis, Indiana (2013-2015)

Intervention Specialist, Pre-School Program for Children with Disabilities, Spring Branch Independent School District, Houston, Texas (2012-2013)

Serious Emotional Disturbances Intervention Specialist, Grades 2-6, Lakota Local Schools, West Chester, Ohio (2008-2012)

Reading Intervention Specialist, Grades 3-4, Harlem RBI DREAM Charter School, New York, New York (Summer 2010)

Resident Counselor and School Liaison, Grades 7-12, Bunker Hill Haven for Boys (residential facility for adjudicated youth), Hamilton, Ohio (2005-2010)

Specific Learning Disability Intervention Specialist, Grades 2-3, Edgewood City Schools, Trenton, Ohio (2005-2007)

Intervention Specialist, Grades 2-3, Ramstein Elementary School, Ramstein Air Force Base, Ramstein, Germany (Fall 2004)

Research & Teaching Interests

Disability Studies in Education, Urban Education Studies, Relational Models of Disability in Education, Critical Special Education, Relational Pedagogies

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

Santamaría Graff, C., Coomer, M.N., Thorius, K.K., Skelton, S.M. (2022). Challenging the language of law and policy through practice: Working for personal and collective agency. Multiple Voices: Disability, Race, and Language Intersections in Special Education, 22(1), 1-5.

Fitch, F., Hulgin, K., & Coomer, M.N. (2021). How ‘special needs’ vouchers silence and deny the right to inclusive education (LRE): Segregation by choice or fraudulent concealment? International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education.

Coomer, M.N., Beneke, M.R., & Mueller, C.O. (2021). D/discourses of Childhood Mental Health and Disability: From Individual Pathology to Relational Wellness. In M. O’Reilly and N. Lester (Eds.) Palgrave Encyclopedia of Critical Perspectives on Mental Health.

Coomer, M.N. & Stinson, C. (in press). Invisibilizing Race and Gender in Special Education. In C. Mayo (Ed.) Oxford Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality in Education.

Hulgin, K., Fitch, F., & Coomer, M.N. (2020). Optimizing a critical  juncture: Trauma, neoliberal education and children’s agency. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy. doi: 10.1080/15505170.2020.1729903

Coomer, M.N. (2019). Deconstructing difference and inclusion  in educational research: Reflections on the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in  Education  Special Edition on Difference. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 32(2).

Graham, J. & Coomer, M.N. (2018). When schooling hurts: Professional school counselors as mitigates for school-based trauma. Journal of Global Engagement and Transformation, 2(1). https://everypiecematters.com/jget/volume02issue01/when-schooling-hurts-professional-school-counselors-as-mitigates-of-school-based-trauma.html

Book Chapters

Santamaría Graff, C., Price, J. F., & Coomer, M. N. (2022). Technology as a bridge to co-create learning environments for equity and inclusion for students with intersectional identities. In F. E. Obiakor & J. Bakken (Eds.), Using Technology to Enhance Special Education. Advances in Special Education, Volume 37

Coomer, M.N. (2022). Erased and renamed: Re- racialization and the white commodification of color. In C. Hayes, J. Manlove, & E. Silverman (Eds.) Critical storytelling: Dismantling white supremacy one doctoral student at a time. Dio Press.

Coomer, M.N., Johnson, A.C., Aronson, B., & Reyes, G. (in press). Coalition with/in the Boundaries: A Radical Love Response to Neoliberal Debilitation in Special Education. In D. Hernandez-Saca, C. Voulgarides, & H. Pearson (Eds.) Understanding the boundaries between disability studies and special education through consilience, self-study, and radical love.

Coomer, M. N. & Mintus, K. L. (2019). Test anxiety: Participation and exclusion beyond the institution. In D. Loseke & S. Green (Eds.) Research in social science and disability (Vol. 11): New narratives of disability: Constructions, clashes, and controversies.

Coomer, M. N., Jackson, R. G., & Moore, T. S. (2019). Assessing curricular bias: Student resistance and the transformative classroom. In A. J. Samuels & G. Samuels (Eds.) International social studies forum series: Democracy at a crossroads: Examining the past and facing the future (pp. 113-134). Information Age Publishing.

Thorius, K. K., Moore, T. S., & Coomer, M. N. (2019). We can do better: Critically reframing special education research and practice at the intersections of disability and cultural and linguistic diversity for young children. In J. Bakken & F. Obiakor (Eds.) Advances in special education (Vol. 34): Special education for young learners with disabilities.

Conference Proceedings

Coomer, M.N., Thorius, K.K., & Campbell, C. (2023, April 13-16). Hermeneutical Justice for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders [Paper Session]. American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

Coomer, M.N., Murphy, E., & Taylor, D. (2023, April 13-16). Movement in School: A DisCrit Examination of Access to Social-Physical Activity for Students with EBD [Symposium]. American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

Silverman, E.H, Jeong, S., McKinnon-Crowley, S., Coomer, M.N., & St. Pierre, E.A. (2023, April 13-16). Reimagining Education and Method through the Lens of Rhizomatics [Symposium]. American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

Jeong, S., Silverman, E.H. & Coomer, M.N. (2023, April 13-16). Examining How Posthumanism Can Exist in Reimagining Disability, Inclusive Science Teaching and Learning Practices [Symposium]. American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

Santamar.a Graff, C.C., Price, J., & Coomer, M.N. (2023, April 13-16). Technology as a Bridge: Co-Creating Inclusive and Equitable Learning Environments for Students with Intersectional Identities [Poster Session]. American Educational Research Association,Chicago, IL.

Valtierra, K. & Coomer, M.N. (2022, November 4-6). The Inclusive Pedagogies Observation Protocol: A Tool for Fostering Anti-Oppressive Classrooms in Higher Education. International Conference on Urban Education [Roundtable], Cancun, Mexico

Leadership

National Service

Managing Editor, Multiple Voices: Disability, Race, and Language Intersections in Special Education (2020-Present)

Associate Editor, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (2021-Present)

Executive Council, American Educational Studies Association (2019-2021)

Consulting Editor, Multiple Voices: Disability, Race, and Language Intersections in Special Education (2019)

Editorial Assistant, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education Special issue on Difference (2019)

Reviewer, Young Exceptional Children (2019)

Reviewer, Equity Alliance Blog (2019)

Regional Service

Faculty Advisor, Honor Council, Colorado College (2022)

Invited Member, School Achievement and Accountability Committee, Pi.on Valley Elementary (District 12, Cheyenne Mountain School District) (2022)

Graduate Representative, Graduate Studies Committee, Indiana University School of Education-Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis (2019)

Graduate/Professional Student Government: School of Education Representative, Indiana University School of Education-Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis (Appointed) (2018)

Faculty Policy Council Student Representative (Elected), Indiana University School of Education-Indianapolis (IUPUI), Indianapolis (2018)

Professional Affiliations

American Educational Studies Association

Critical Race Studies in Education Association

Society for Disability Studies

American Educational Research Association

Council for Exceptional Children

Awards/Honors

AERA Disability Studies in Education SIG Outstanding Dissertation Award (2022)

AERA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Workshop Invitee (2020)

Graduate and Professional Education Travel Grant (2018)

Grants/Fellowships

Insight Development Grant (Co-PI), $50,000, pending (2022)

Social Science Executive Committee Grant, $5,000 (2022)

Christian A Johnson Endeavor Fund, $1,700 (2022)

Faculty Student Collaborative Research Grant, $4,000 (2022)

U.S. Department of Education Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) Program Grant (unfunded) (2020)

Spender Small Research Grant, Indiana University, $40,000 (unfunded) (2020)

Spencer/National Academy of Education Dissertation Fellowship Program, $27,500 (unfunded) (2020)

Regular Classes

ED101 Introduction to K-12 Classroom Culture

ED250 Disability & Activism in Educational Contexts 

ED255 Urban Education

ED360 Classroom Management

ED466/566 Data Driven Instruction for Diverse Learners in the 21st Century