Davis Clement

A photo of Davis Clement.

Assistant Professor

Leadership and Counseling

304U John W. Porter Building

734.487.0255

[email protected]

Education

  • Ph.D., Education Policy, Planning, & Leadership (William & Mary)
  • M.Ed., K-12 Administration (William & Mary)
  • B.A., History (Hendrix College)

Biography

Davis Clement, Ph.D., has over a decade of experience in education, leadership, and research. He was a middle school English and History teacher in Little Rock, Arkansas. He was the Armand J. and Mary Faust Galfo Dissertation Fellow at William & Mary, and was editor-in-chief of the William & Mary Educational Review for two years. His dissertation, "Education Reform as Moral Disengagement: The Racist Subtext of the State Takeover of Little Rock School District" blended social psychology, critical discourse studies, and Critical Race Theory to examine the underlying racism in the public discourse of white policy actors in the 2015 dissolution of the majority Black Little Rock School Board. For three years, he was a postdoctoral fellow with the University Council for Educational Administration at the University of Virginia and Michigan State University. At Virginia, he taught Family & Community Engagement, Education Politics, Policy, & Advocacy, and Academic Writing. He is currently Assistant Professor of K-12 Educational Leadership at the Eastern Michigan University College of Education, where he teaches The Principalship and Education Law. Dr. Clement examines the politics of education reform in other urban school districts, especially those in red states. He also studies the use of digital simulations in the preparation of school principals; the characteristics of school climate associated with deeper learning, trust, and joy in schools; and the attributes of highly diverse principal preparation programs.

Interests and Expertise

Research

  • Critical Race Theory in urban education policy and law
  • State takeover of school districts
  • Principal preparation pedagogy and program design
  • School climate, family/community engagement, principal support

Publications and Presentations

Selected Publications

  • Clement, D. (in press). Countering the discourse of denial: Moral re-engagement as critical white praxis. International Journal of Qualitative Research in Education.
  • Clement, D., Thornton, M. E., Nash, A., & Sanzo, K. (in press). Attributes of principal preparation programs that produce highly diverse pools of principal candidates. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 20(4).
  • Clement, D. (2020). Tools for the fight: Preparing leaders for antiracist policy action [Book review]. University Council for Educational Administration Review, 61(3), 19–21.
  • Clement, D., Thornton, M. E., Doiron, T., Young, M. D., Eddy-Spicer, D. H., Perrone, F., & Player, D. (2020). Program capacity for redesign in educational leadership preparation. Journal of Research on Leadership Education.
  • Dexter, S., Clement, D., Moraguez, D., & Watson, G. (2020). (Inter)active learning tools and pedagogical strategies in educational leadership preparation. Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 15(3), 173–191.
  • Clement, D. (2018). Legitimizing the dilettante: Teach For America and the allure of ed cred. Berkeley Review of Education, 7(2), 29–75.
  • Tschannen-Moran, M. & Clement, D. (2018, March). Fostering more vibrant schools. Educational Leadership (Issue: Leading the Energized School). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
  • Clement, D., Tschannen-Moran, M. & Erdogan, U. (2018). Vibrant schools: Measuring our highest aspirations for our students. In S. Cherkowski & K. Walker (Eds.), Perspectives on flourishing schools. Kelowna, BC: Center for Mindful Engagement.

Selected Presentations

  • Moraguez, D., Dexter, S., & Clement, D. (2021). Social justice competencies in principal preparation programs: An assessment of relative Emphasis, pedagogies, and needs [Paper Session]. AERA Annual Meeting, April 8–12.
  • Dexter, S., Clement, D., & Moraguez, D. (2020). Addressing the urgency of principal competency development: A needs assessment of educational administration pedagogies. Paper accepted to the University Council of Educational Administration Annual Convention. New Orleans, LA.
  • Dexter, S., Clement, D., & Moraguez, D. (2020, Apr 17–21) Powerful Learning Experiences That Develop Leaders' Ability to Use Improvement Science for Addressing Equity Issues [Paper Session]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA
  • Clement, D. & Thornton, M. (2020, Apr 17–21) A Critical Race Theory-Informed Critique of Principal Preparation Capacity and Pipeline Diversification [Roundtable Session]. AERA Annual Meeting San Francisco, CA.
  • Clement, D. (2019). Deniable plausibility: How Twombly and Iqbal protect the artful racism of education reform. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Convention, Division L. Toronto, ON.
  • Clement, D. (2019). Countering the discourse of denial: Lessons for principals from the takeover of Little Rock School District. Paper presented at the University Council of Educational Administration Annual Convention. New Orleans, LA.

Memberships

  • American Educational Research Association (AERA)
    • Division A: Administration, Organization, and Leadership
    • Division G: Social Contexts of Education
    • Division L: Education Policy and Politics
  • AERA Special Interest Groups:
    • Learning and Teaching in Educational Leadership
    • Leadership for Social Justice
    • Critical Examination of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class in Education
  • University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA)
  • Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP)
  • Politics of Education Association
  • Critical Race Studies in Education Association