Katie Bernstein
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Mail code: 5411Campus: Tempe
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As an applied linguist and former early childhood teacher, Katie Bernstein studies the language and literacy learning of linguistically diverse students and the contexts that shape that learning.
At the smallest scale, her work examines the social interactions of young children as contexts for learning. By looking closely at what young children say and do—and how they say and do it— Professor Bernstein's research provides a window into what young students understand about language, literacy, their peers, and themselves.
At slightly larger scales, Dr. Bernstein has examined how teacher and principal beliefs shape students' learning opportunities, both in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) contexts and English-medium schools.
At the largest scale, she also studies how language education policies are created, interpreted, and implemented--in ways than can promote or hinder equity.
Dr. Bernstein's primary research methods are qualitative, ethnographic, and discourse analytic, while her collaborative work mixes methods in innovative ways, drawing on the distributed expertise of her research teams.
Professor Bernstein has been published in TESOL Quarterly, Applied Linguistics Review, Language Policy, and Linguistics and Education.
Her 2022 collaborative article--Moving away from the 4-hour block: Arizona’s distinctive path to reversing its restrictive language policies--won the 2024 Research Article Award from the American Association of Applied Linguistics.
Dr. Bernstein was PI of a 2023-2025 Spencer Research-Practice Partnership Grant with Childsplay Theatre Co. (Tempe, AZ) and Phoenix Elementary School District #1 Early Childhood Program (Phoenix, AZ). Together, investigated how drama can support opportunities to learn during story time, particularly for culturally and linguistically diverse students with exceptionalities.
She is currently co-PI of a 2024-2028 Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Grant from the US Department of Education, again in partnership with Childsplay Theatre Company, working to create and test professional development approaches for early childhood special education teachers to learn the drama-based strategies developed during the Spencer grant.
- Ph.D. Education (Language, Literacy and Culture), University of California-Berkeley
- M.A. Education (Language, Literacy and Culture), University of California-Berkeley
- B.A. Linguistics, Duke University
Guiding Research Questions:
- How can drama-based instruction support the language and literacy development of all students, including multilingual students and students with disabilities?
- What do preschool teachers believe about language learning and linguistic diversity, and how do those beliefs relate to teachers' own histories?
- How do principals of dual language schools think about the purpose of dual language education and how do those ideas shape their school?
- How is language policy made at state levels? How do school principals and teachers also act as language policy makers?
Bernstein, K.A., Moen, T., Van Huisstede, L., Pierce-Rivera, M., Vargas, R. #, Manning, K. #, Galindo, K. #, Rotheram-Fuller, E., Restrepo, M.A. (2026). Drama-based instruction for young multilingual students with disabilities: A case study. Bilingual Research Journal, 0(0), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2025.2599940
Bernstein, K. A., Brown, L.*, Kaveh, Y. M., Yuhas, B.*, & Pazhouhi, S.* (2025). The perils of policy workarounds: Lessons from Arizona’s return to “English-only” policy. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 24(3), 742-748. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2024.2446860
Durán, L., & Bernstein, K. A. Names y nombres: Names as gateways to biliteracy in multilingual early childhood classrooms. (2024). Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 24(3), 523-550. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984241276304 [PDF]
Van Huisstede, L., Marley, S. C., Bernstein, K. A., Pierce-Rivera, M., Schmidt, A.*, Millinger, J#., Kelley, M. F., Restrepo, M. A., Vargas Cesario, C.*. (2024).Drama during story time supports preschooler’s understanding of story character feeling states. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, Online First. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984241240413 [PDF]
Bernstein, K. A., Van Huisstede, L., Marley, S. C., Gao, Y.*, Pierce-Rivera, M.*, Ippolito, E.*, Restrepo, M. A., Millinger, J#., Brantley, K#., & Gantwerker, J. (2024). Gesture like a kitten and you won’t forget your tale: Drama-based, embodied story time supports preschoolers’ narrative skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 66, 178–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2023.10.004
Schmidt, A. C.*, Pierce-Rivera, M.*, Van Huisstede, L., Marley, S. C., Bernstein, K. A., Millinger, J#., Kelley, M. F., & Restrepo, M. A. (2023). What’s the story with storytime?: An examination of preschool teachers’ drama-based and shared reading practices during picturebook read-aloud. Early Childhood Education Journal, 52, 1525–1543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-023-01554-z
Bernstein, K.A., Anderson, K.T., Close, K.* & Rodriguez Martinez, S. (2023). Teacher beliefs about multilingual learners: How language ideologies shape teachers’ hypothetical policymaking. International Multilingual Research Journal, 17(3), 191-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2023.2182094
Kaveh, Y. M., Bernstein, K. A., Cervantes-Soon, C., Rodriguez-Martinez, S.*, & Mohamed, S*. (2022). Moving away from the 4-hour block: Arizona’s distinctive path to reversing its restrictive language policies. International Multilingual Research Journal, 16(2), 113–135. https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2021.1973261
Bernstein, K. A., Alvarez, A., Chaparro, S., & Henderson, K. I. (2021). “We live in the age of choice”: School administrators, school choice policies, and the shaping of dual language bilingual education. Language Policy, 20(3), 383–412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-021-09578-0
Bernstein, K.A. (2020). (Re)defining success in language learning: Positioning, participation and young emergent bilinguals at school. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. https://books.google.com/books?id=MAr2DwAAQBAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&hl=en
Bernstein, K., Katznelson, N., Amezcua, A., Mohamed, S., & Alvarado, S.L. (2020). Equity/social justice, instrumentalism/neoliberalism: Dueling discourses of dual language in principals' talk about their programs. TESOL Quarterly, 54(3), p. 652-684. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.582
Bernstein, K. A. (2018). The perks of being peripheral: English learning and participation in a preschool classroom network of practice. TESOL Quarterly 52(4),798-844. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.428
Katznelson, N. & Bernstein, K. A. (2017). Rebranding bilingualism: The shifting discourses of language education policy in California's 2016 election. Linguistics and Education, 40, 11-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2017.05.002
Bernstein, K.A. (2017). Writing their way into talk: Emergent bilinguals’ emergent literacy practices as pathways to peer interaction and oral language growth. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 17(4), 485-531. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798416638138
Bernstein, K.A. (2016). “Misunderstanding” and (mis)interpretation as strategic tools in intercultural interaction between pre-school children. Applied Linguistics Review, 7(4), 471-494. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2016-0021
* student author
# P-12 educator or community partner author
GRowing Exceptional Arizona Teachers to meet the Needs of Early-childhood Students in Special-education (Project GREATNESS) (2025-2029)
- U.S Department of Education – Office of Special Education Programs
- Role: Co-PI (PI: Kathleen Farrand)
- $1,250,000.00
Development and Testing of EYEPlay Inclusion: An Innovative Approach to Providing Professional Development in Drama-Based Instruction to Teachers and Caregivers of High Communication Needs Children. (2024-2028)
- Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Department of Education, Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Grant
- Role: Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Scott Marley)
- $3,999,999.00
EYEPlay ADAPT: Expanding A University-Theater-School District Partnership to Support Early Literacy for Preschoolers with Diverse Abilities through Drama (2023-2025)
- Spencer Foundation (Research-Practice Partnership Grant)
- Role: Principal Investigator
- $399,388.00
Supporting Early Language Development of Preschool Children with Drama Integration (2018-2022)
- Department of Education – Arts in Education Grant
- Role: Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Scott Marley)
- $2,228,135.00
Courses
2026 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 691 | Seminar |
2025 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ECD 321 | FndLangLitCul Early Childhood |
2025 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| EPA 792 | Research |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
| BLE 537 | Linguistics for Educators |
| BLE 537 | Linguistics for Educators |
2024 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
2024 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| EPA 792 | Research |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 691 | Seminar |
2023 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| TEL 493 | Honors Thesis |
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| ECD 321 | FndLangLitCul Early Childhood |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
| ECD 321 | FndLangLitCul Early Childhood |
2023 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| EPA 792 | Research |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
2022 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 691 | Seminar |
| ECD 321 | FndLangLitCul Early Childhood |
2022 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| EPA 792 | Research |
2021 Fall
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 792 | Research |
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| DCI 799 | Dissertation |
| EPA 790 | Reading and Conference |
2021 Spring
| Course Number | Course Title |
|---|---|
| DCI 790 | Reading and Conference |
| EPA 792 | Research |