Cierra Presberry is a doctoral student in Michigan State University’s Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education program where she is also a King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellow. She holds an MA in Teaching and Curriculum as well as a BA in Special Education, both from Michigan State University where she also participated in the Ronald E. McNair Post- Baccalaureate Achievement Program. Her research examines the use of restorative justice with Black students and how the ways that it is taken up are affected by other aspects of schooling such as language, literacy, dis/ability, and parental engagement. Her work centers notions of equity, care, and liberation, particularly among institutions that serve marginalized students. As a former special education teacher, she has served elementary and secondary school students in Detroit. Throughout her graduate studies, she has supported pre-service educators by teaching undergraduate courses in the areas of literacy and social studies, in addition to working directly with teacher interns in their respective classrooms. She is interested in continuing to work with teacher preparation programs in order center previously silenced voices and perspectives within educational research, and to better prepare future teachers for work in urban schools. Most importantly, she is the proud mother of Tommy Jr.
