Daniel I. Dawer (he/him) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. His research uses sociological methods to understand how educators, students, families, and communities experience and respond to the implementation of accountability-driven education reforms such as state takeover and school turnaround, as well as how schools and communities can work together to lead equitable and democratic school improvement.
Daniel completed his BA in English and Plan II Honors at the University of Texas at Austin and his Ed.M. at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to his graduate work at UT, he taught in Austin-area public schools for over a decade. Daniel was recognized as a District Secondary Teacher of the Year in 2014 and is a recipient of the Donald D. Harrington Doctoral Fellowship.
Research interests include accountability policy implementation, state takeover, school turnaround, teachers' work and working conditions, organizational theory, grassroots organizing for education
Sarah L Woulfin (Supervisor)Uses lenses from organizational sociology to study how district leaders, principals, coaches, and teachers implement policy
Commission Member, Commission on the State Takeover of Houston ISD, (2025 - Present)
Graduate Student Representative, Districts in Research and Reform SIG, AERA(2024 - Present)
Dawer, D. I. (2026). "We're teaching them to follow orders": English language arts teachers' responses to state takeover. Teachers in a world in transition (pp. 52–68): Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003678885-5.
Dawer, D. I. (2026). Review: What We Stand to Lose: Black Teachers, the Culture They Created, and the Closure of a New Orleans High School by Kristen L. Buras. E3W Review of Books, 26, 60–61.
Dawer, D. I. & Timm, T. (2026). Contaminated spaces: A critical policy analysis of historical school siting policy and environmental racism in Detroit and Houston. Journal of Spatial Equity and Education, 1(1), 62–85. doi:10.66981/001c.167462.
Dawer, D. I. (2025). "We are not your colony": Policy discourses and resistance in Texass takeover of Houston Independent School District. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 33. doi:10.14507/epaa.33.8508.
Dawer, D. I. (2025). Review: Designed to Fail: Why Racial Equity in School Funding Is So Hard to Achieve.. E3W Review of Books, 25, 62–63.
Dawer, D. I. & Woulfin, S. L. (2024). From oyster reefs to turnaround schools: an educational restoration model for the COVID-19 era. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 24(2), 312–329. doi:10.1080/15700763.2024.2303678.
Dawer, D. I. (2023). Review: Moving Across Differences: How Students Engage LGBTQ+ Themes in a High School Literature Class. E3W Review of Books, 23, 16–17.
Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Award, Teachers' Work/Teachers' Union SIG (2026)
Jean Anyon Graduate Student Paper Award, Grassroots Community and Youth Organizing for Educational Justice SIG (2026)
Semifinalist, NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship, National Academy of Education and Spencer Foundation (2026)
David L. Clark Scholar, University Council for Educational Administration, AERA Divisions A and L (2025)
Donald D. Harrington Graduate Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin (2022 - 2027)
District Secondary Teacher of the Year, Pflugerville ISD (2014)
Testing Ground: The Logics of State Takeover and Resistance in Houston, Rice University, Houston, Texas (2026)
