Christine Hancock (fd5388)

• Ph.D., Special Education, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
  • Specialization: Early Childhood Unified

• M.A., Early Childhood Studies, Boise State University, Boise, ID

• B.A., English, Phi Beta Kappa, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA

I am a faculty member in the Teacher Education Division. I focus on our Early Childhood Education programs, which prepare candidates for Michigan teaching certification in Birth-Kindergarten general and special education. I engage in research, teaching, and service related to inclusive early childhood and early childhood special education. 

Office Hours: By Appointment

My work--whether in the past as a preschool teacher or now as a researcher and teacher educator--is always informed by my commitments to inclusive education and meaningful partnerships. I bring my previous experiences carrying out home visits with families experiencing poverty to my studies of how power dynamics shape the ways home visitors and families talk with one another and make decisions about how to best support children. 

295 Education Bldg.

• Family-Professional Partnerships and Power Dynamics
• Shared Decision-Making
• Home Visiting
• Discourse analysis

My scholarship draws on sociocultural and discourse theory to explore power dynamics between families and early childhood educators. I focus on how to transform hierarchical relationships and foster equitable decision-making between home visitors and families marginalized by factors such as race, ability, and class. I also partner with home visitors and families by implementing participatory methods, working in solidarity with them to identify their solutions for how to improve decision-making and family partnerships.

• 2023: College of Education Faculty Innovation Award, with A. L. Miller and P. Arya, for the research project CyCLE: Collaboratively Co-Designed Literacy Experiences
• 2020: American Educational Research Association Family, School, and Community Partnerships Special Interest Group Outstanding Dissertation Award, Honorable Mention

• Hancock, C. L. (2023). Families of Infants and Toddlers Designing Professional Development for Early Childhood Educators (FIT PD). PNC Foundation. Principal Investigator. $20,000.

• Hancock, C. L. (2023). CyCLE: Collaboratively Co-Designed Literacy Experiences. Bridge Funding. Office of the Vice President for Research & College of Education, Wayne State University. Co-Principal Investigators A. L. Miller & P. Arya. $8,000.

• Hancock, C. L. (2022). CyCLE: Collaboratively Co-Designed Literacy Engagement. Social Sciences Research Support Program, Wayne State University. Principal Investigator. Co-Principal Investigators A. L. Miller & P. Arya. $10,000.

• Hancock, C. L. (2021). Project RED: Reflecting on Equitable Decisions. Early On Center for Higher Education Faculty Grant, Clinton County Regional Educational Services Agency. Principal Investigator. $7,000.

• Hancock, C. L. (2020). Project DECIDE: Parent and Home Visitor Decision-Making to Enhance Development of Children Experiencing Poverty. University Research Grant Program, Wayne State University. Principal Investigator. $10,000. 

Selected Service to the Field 

• Member, Editorial Board of Journal of Early Intevention, 2024-present

• Member, Editorial Board of Young Exceptional Children, 2019-present

• Member, Research Committee, Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children, 2020-2024

Selected Service to the Community

• Advocated for amending state legislation so that all early childhood student teachers can qualify for the Michigan Future Educator Student Teacher Stipend Program, resulting in State Senate Bill 83

• Member, Michigan Test for Teacher Certification Early Childhood General and Special Education (Birth–Kindergarten) Content Advisory Committee, 2021-2024 

Selected Refereed National or International Presentations (2022-present)

• Hancock, C. L. (2024, September). Who leads home visit decision-making, and how? A qualitative study. Presentation at the International Conference of the Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood, New Orleans, LA.
• Morgan, C. W., & Hancock, C. L. (2024, September). Imagining alternate possibilities for family-professional partnerships. Presentation at the International Conference of the Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood, New Orleans, LA. 
• Love, H. R., Morgan, C. W., Kilincci, E., & Hancock, C. L. (2024, February). Taking another look: Applying critical frameworks and methods to EI/ECSE research. Presentation at the Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention, San Diego, CA.
• Hancock, C. L. (2024, February). Transcribing talk to uncover complexities of family-professional partnerships. Presentation at the Conference on Research Innovations in Early Intervention, San Diego, CA. 
• Hancock, C. L. (2023, November). Engaging early interventionists in reflection on decision-making. Presentation at the International Conference of the Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood, Minneapolis, MN. (Refereed)
• Hancock, C. L. (2023, November). Any questions? Rethinking communication for decision-making with families. Presentation at the International Conference of the Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood, Minneapolis, MN. (Refereed)
• Hancock, C. L. (2022, September). Power, paperwork, and decision-making with families during home visits. Presentation at the International Conference of the Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood, Chicago, IL.
• Hancock, C. L. (2022, September). Cultivating early interventionists’ reflection on decision-making with families. Presentation at the International Conference of the Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood, Chicago, IL.
• Hancock, C. L. (2022, April). Ideologies of poverty and implications for partnerships with families during home visits. Presentation at the International Conference of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.

Refereed Journal Articles

• Hancock, C. L. (2024). Beyond open-ended: Tools to explore questions and power during decision-making with families. Early Childhood Education Journal. Advance online publication.
• Hancock, C. L., & Morgan, C. W. (2024). Disrupting inequitable family-professional decision-making: Alternate possibilities through a humanist frame. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. Advance online publication.
• Hancock, C. L. (2024). Possibilities and power during Early Head Start home visits: Comparing family- and home visitor-opened decision-making. Infant Mental Health Journal: Infancy and Early Childhood, 45(6), 609-628.
• Hancock, C. L., & Cheatham, G. A. (2024). How Early Head Start home visitors foster or impede shared decision-making with families. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 38(1), 80-103. 
• Hancock, C. L. (2023). Ideologies of poverty and implications for decision-making with families during home visits. Linguistics and Education, 78, 1-13.
• Hancock, C. L. (2023). Moving toward more meaningful family participation during home visit decision-making. Young Exceptional Children. 26(1), 42-54. 
• Love, H. R., & Hancock, C. L. (2022). Tensions as opportunities for transformation: Applying DisCrit Resistance to early childhood personnel preparation programs. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 23(4), 483-489. 
• Hancock, C. L., Morgan, C. W., & Holly Jr., J. (2021). Counteracting dysconscious racism and ableism through fieldwork: Applying DisCrit Classroom Ecology in early childhood personnel preparation. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 41(1), 45-56.
• Hancock, C. L., & Cheatham, G. A. (2021). Decision-making during early intervention home visits: From minimal to meaningful parent participation. Journal of Research in Childhood Education. 35(1), 68-90.
• Hancock, C. L. (2020). Fostering shared decisions to promote literacy: Strategies for talking with families. Michigan Reading Journal, 52(3), 44-51.
• Hagiwara, M., Palmer, S. B., Hancock, C. L., & Shogren, K. A. (2019). Sibling roles in family-school partnerships for students with disabilities during transition planning. Career Development and Transition for Exceptional Individuals, 42, 194-200.
• Hancock, C. L., & Miller, A. L. (2018). Using cultural historical activity theory to uncover praxis for inclusive education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 22, 937-953.
• Hancock. C. L., & Carter. D. R. (2016). Building classrooms that encourage positive behavior: The Preschool Behavior Support Self-Assessment. Young Children, 71(1), 66-73.
• Allred, K. W., & Hancock, C. L. (2015). Reconciling leadership and partnership: Tools to empower professionals and families. Young Children, 70(2), 46-65.
• Johnson, E. S., Hancock, C. L., Carter, D. R., & Pool, J. L. (2012). Self-regulated strategy development as a Tier 2 writing intervention. Intervention in School and Clinic, 48, 218-222.
• Allred, K. W., & Hancock, C. L. (2012). On death and disability: Reframing educators’ perceptions of parental response to disability. Disability Studies Quarterly, 32(4).

Refereed Book Chapters

• Hancock, C. L. (2022). Power and partnerships: Families, educators, and implications for school leaders. In C. O’Brien, W. R. Black, A. B. Danzig (Eds.), Who decides? Power, disability, and education administration (pp. 515-542). Information Age.
• Hancock, C. L., Beneke, M. R., & Cheatham, G. A. (2017). Discourse during IEP decision-making: Saying, doing, and being with families from diverse backgrounds. In C. M. Trivette and B. Keilty (Eds.), Knowing families, tailoring practice, building capacity: DEC Recommended Practices Monograph Series 3 (pp. 75-84). Washington, DC: Council for Exceptional Children, Division for Early Childhood.