William J Davies

Will Davies earned a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from Boston University and a M.Ed. in Education Policy and Planning (EPP) from the University of Texas at Austin. After four years of teaching English as a foreign language in South America, Will spent five years working as a bilingual elementary classroom teacher (Spanish/English) and three more as a campus literacy specialist in Central Texas public schools. Since 2018, he has worked with Breakthrough Central Texas. This local educational non-profit supports first-generation college aspirants with comprehensive advising, leadership development, and academic support from 6th grade through postsecondary completion. As their Director of Policy and Research, he is responsible for executing Breakthrough's research and advocacy activities across institutional and legislative domains, focusing explicitly on equipping secondary and postsecondary students with the skills and knowledge to directly influence the educational policymaking process. He also leads the collection, management, and analysis of data to improve the organization's services. Since 2019, Will has also worked as a research analyst for a federally funded research project called Building a Green Texas: Activating a New Generation of Sustainability Leaders. The initiative partners the University of Texas system, Texas school districts, sustainability professionals, municipal governments, and community-based organizations to strengthen climate resiliency through the development of green building pipelines and active environmental education for youth from the communities most impacted by climate change and least represented in green careers. He helps with program design and implementation, supporting the evaluation team of Dr. Miriam Solis (School of Architecture) using Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) methods. His personal, academic, and professional experience working with experts across a wide variety of disciplines has helped him develop methodological skills and theoretical knowledge that improve his understanding of how environmental, economic, social, and geographic contexts impact schooling and educational opportunities for minoritized youth and communities. As a doctoral candidate in the Educational Policy and Planning program, Will's research has often focused on the sociopolitical context of bilingual education, especially the rapid discursive shift around and expansion of dual language bilingual education (DLBE) and its meaning for the access and experience of minoritized students and families. His dissertation research focuses on how principals across diverse DLBE implementation contexts understand their programs' purpose and target population, and what implications that has for how they interpret and enact language policy on their campuses.