Melissa Rae Goodnight is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology as well as Educational Policy, Organization, and Leadership (0% Appointment) and LAS Global Studies (0% appointment) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment (CREA). Prior to joining the College of Education, she was a lecturer in Global Studies, teaching courses in interdisciplinary research and human rights. She received a PhD in education from the University of California Los Angeles with emphases in comparative education and evaluation. Dr. Goodnight began doing health and educational work abroad as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Kingston, Jamaica. She has also taught and done extensive fieldwork in India. Her transnational scholarship and teaching focus on research design, monitoring and evaluation, social justice theories, and education for underserved and historically marginalized communities. Currently, she is engaged in several local and national evaluation and research projects related to diversity and equity in the areas of higher education, K-12 schooling, and public health.

My transnational research focuses on issues of validity, representation, equity, and social justice in the use of different theories (e.g., feminist, critical race, and culturally responsive) and methodologies for conducting evaluation and educational research. I research evaluation developed in and for Global South contexts to construct theory “from the ground” and expand current views of evaluation’s meaning, practice, and consequences. Much of my recent work has been based on extensive fieldwork in India. My published studies tackle key concerns with the equitable access to and operation of education systems in India and the United States, while illustrating my interest in working across the methodological spectrum. In a 2017 article in Compare, I explore the translation of critical race theory for analyzing the persisting social justice issues within India’s school system. In an upcoming co-edited book, Theories Bridging Ethnography and Evaluation: Transformative, Intersectional, and Comparative Connections (Emerald Insight Studies in Educational Ethnography series), I explain the potential of combining ethnographic and evaluative work to transform educational programs and systems.

I teach courses on qualitative inquiry, writing for social research, and evaluation. I enjoy working with students from different disciplines and fields of practice who are interested in the design, implementation, and research and evaluation of education and social programming. I also value advising students on cross-cultural fieldwork, social theory, and research design.

My experiences with social justice pedagogy and writing instruction have shaped how I approach teaching in the following ways:

• Creating an affirmative learning space for students of all identities is an explicit, ongoing value that frames course discussions, tasks, and learning materials.
• Texts are chosen and assignments are designed to promote students’ development as social scientists, writers, and critical and ethical thinkers.
• Everyone has valuable knowledge and experiences: I strive for humility in sharing what I know with others and in learning from what others know.
• Collective and individual reflection are essential to my teaching practice and to students’ participation in my classes.
• Conversations with students about their learning priorities impact my instructional decisions.
• My courses' main forms of assessment are discussion and writing.