Below are recently published works. If you are unable to access any of my work, please email me at sandova [at] clemson [dot] edu.
Sandoval, C. (2026). Problems of practice and practicing problems: Examining problem work in educational improvement. American Educational Research Journal, 0(0). | Link
Solving problems is at the core of research-practice partnerships and educational improvement efforts, and “problems of practice” are their animating artifacts. But “problems of practice” are typically described as an object that is established at the beginning of a partnership or improvement effort, with little attention to what happens to this problem as the work unfolds.
This paper gets inside what happens to “problems of practice” long after such a problem has been identified, how the problem continues to shape improvement work, and the conditions under which “problems of practice” lead to powerful, engaging problem solving.
Sandoval, C., & Neri, R. C. (2024). Toward a continuous improvement for justice. Frontiers in Education, 9. | Link
In this exploratory paper, my colleague and I conceptualize what it means to center educational justice in continuous improvement. Drawing on critical scholarship in the learning sciences, we draw a distinction between equity and justice, where equity is concerned with reducing disparities in what we call dominant outcomes—e.g., standardized test scores, attendance—and justice is concerned with affirming the dignity of minoritized learners. We illustrate these distinctions and aim to push the field of continuous improvement to take up more critical stances by examining a prominent case in improvement science.