School of Education

Dr. Cristina Santamaría Graff, an educator for over thirty years, is an Associate Professor of Special Education in Urban Teacher Education in the School of Education at Indiana University, Indianapolis. Beginning her career in education as a bilingual education and bilingual special education teacher in elementary schools, Cristina has dedicated her professional life to learning from families and their expertise of their children. She brings her experiences to teacher education where she implements family-focused approaches that center family leadership in special education. She is nationally recognized for her work implementing Family as Faculty, a model through which family leaders are co-instructors in university courses who assist future educators in developing a critically conscious, humanizing approach to teaching. She currently is  an Associate Editor for the journal, Exceptional Children and recent Editor for the special education journal, Multiple Voices: Disability, Race, and Language Intersections in Special Education.

• University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (2009), Ph.D. Learning Disabilities with an emphasis in Bilingual/Multicultural Special Education
• University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (1999), M.A. Learning Disabilities with an emphasis in Bilingual/Multicultural Special Education
• University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA (1993), B.A. Spanish Literature Major, Education Minor
• Teacher Preparation Program (1994 - 1996), California State University at Long Beach (CSULB), Long Beach, CA, Bilingual Cross-Categorical Language and Academic Development (B-CLAD), Multiple Subjects Credential Program

• EDUC-K307 Methods for Teaching Students with Special Needs

• EDUC-K420 Assistive Technology in Special Education

• EDUC-K426  Assessment and Instruction

• EDUC-K448 Families, Schools & Society

• EDUC-465 Service Delivery Systems

• EDUC-K510 Assistive Technology in Special Education

• EDUC-K525 Survey of Mild Disabilities

• EDUC-K548 Families, Schools & Society

• EDUC-K553 Classroom Management & Behavioral Support

• EDUC-K565 Collaboration & Service Delivery

• EDUC-Y711 Advanced Qualitative Methods

• Bilingual Special Education

• Family as Faculty approaches

• Family Centered Universal Design for Learning

• Co-Decolonization (Methodologies)

• Community Engagement and Partnership

• MultiCrit approaches to identity

• Family centered approaches

• Universal Design for Learning

• Asset Pedagogies

• Critical Pedagogy

• Critical Consciousness and Praxis

• Critical Race Theory

• MultiCrit

• Dis/Crit

• Immigration

• Critical Community Engagement

• Critical Service Learning

• Decolonizing Methodologies

• Indigenous Epistemologies

• Spirituality and Education

• Santamaría Graff, C. & Aceves, T. C. (in press). Centering BIPOC multilingual family voices in educator professional training. In E. J. Johnson & L. A. Murillo (Volume Eds.), Critical Perspectives on Family Connections in Multilingual Education: Celebrating Successes and Confronting Challenges. Information Age Publishing.
• Santamaría Graff, C., & Ballesteros, M. (2024). Movement toward critical consciousness and humility through Family as Faculty approaches. Journal of Transformative Education, 22(2), 114-136. Journal Link
• Santamaría Graff, C., & Segarra-Hansen, A. (2024). Teaching disabled youth at the intersections of race, ethnicity, and language: Best practices for student success. In J. Bakken (Volume Ed.), Teaching students with disabilities: Best practices for student success. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
• Santamaría Graff, C. (2023). Family as Faculty: Learning from Latinx immigrant families in a special education teacher preparation course. In M. Caspe & R. Hernández (Eds.), Family and Community Partnerships (pp. 135-142). Information Age Publishing.
• Santamaría Graff, C., & Artiles, A. J. (2023). Engaging the intersection of language and ability differences: Toward more equitable family-centered models. In D. Nieto, K. Escamilla, E. Almanza, T. Hogan, and J. Rodríguez (Eds.), ¡Qué BUENO! A history of advocacy and care for culturally and linguistically diverse education. Velázquez Press: El Monte, CA.
• Weaver, L., Warren-Gordon, K., Cristofulli, S., Kuban, A., Lee, J., & Santamaría Graff, C. (2023). Sense(making) & Sensibility: Reflections on an interpretivist inquiry of Critical Service Learning. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement (JHEOE), 27(1), 203-220.
• Santamaría Graff, C., Price, J. F., & Coomer, M. N. (2023). Technology as a bridge to co-create learning environments for equity and inclusion for students with intersectional identities. In F. E. Obiakor & J. Bakken (Eds.), Using Technology to Enhance Special Education. Advances in Special Education, Volume 37. Bingley, UK: Emerald.
• Santamaría Graff, C. (2022). Family as Faculty: An approach to centering families’ expertise for the benefit of youth with disabilities. In T. W. Farmer, E. Talbott, K. McMaster, D. Lee, and T. C. Aceves (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Special Education (pp. 308-321). Routledge Press.
• Santamaría Graff. C. (2022). Mothers of color of children with dis/abilities: Centering their children’s assets in Family as Faculty projects. In F. Waitoller & K. A. K. Thorius (Eds.) Sustaining disability: A disabilities crosspollination to asset pedagogies (pp. 126-143). Teachers College Press.
• Santamaría Graff, C. (2021). How do we arm ourselves with love? Examining “armed love” through   educators’ critical conversations in an online platform. In D. J. Davis (Ed.), United we stand: The role of spirituality in engaging and healing communities. (1st ed., chapter 15). Contemporary Perspectives on Spirituality in Education Series. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Book Link
• Santamaría Graff, C., & Manlove, J. (2021). Beyond the color lines: A Duoethnography ofmultiraciality and unhooking from whiteness. In C. Hayes, I. M., Carter, & K. Elderson (Eds.), Chapter 13 (pp. 230 – 261). Unhooking from Whiteness: It’s a Process. Boston, MA: Brill Publishers.
• Santamaría Graff, C. (2021). Co-investigation and -Education in Family as Faculty approaches: A (re)positioning of power. Theory Into Practice, 60(1), 39 – 50. DOI: 10.1080/00405841.2020.1829380.
• Teemant, A., Borgioli Yoder, G., Sherman, B. J., & Santamaría Graff, C. (2021). An equity framework for  family, community, and school partnerships. Theory Into Practice, DOI:   10.1080/00405841.2020.1827905
• Santamaría Graff, C., & Sherman, B. (2020). Models of School-Family Relations. In U. Sharma and S. Salend (Eds.). Inclusive and Special Education. New York: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.ORE_EDU-01247.R2
• Santamaría Graff, C., Manlove, J., Stuckey, S., & Foley, M. (2020). Examining pre-service special education teachers’ biases and evolving understandings about families through a Family as Faculty approach. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 65(1), 20-37. Article Link
• Santamaría Graff, C. (2019). The unbearable whiteness of being. In E. Hurd (Ed.). Reflexivity of Pain and Privilege (Section 1, pp. 21-46). Brill Publishers.
• Santamaría Graff, C., & Boehner, J. (2019). Forming a mutually respectful university/parent-to-parent organization community partnership through a “Family as Faculty” project. Engage!: Urban University Community Journal, 1(1), 46 - 63. DOI: 10.18060/22816
• King Thorius, K. A., & Santamaría Graff, C. C. (2017). Beyond remediating: Repositioning and empowering students with dis/abilities in schools and classrooms through Peer Assisted Learning Strategies. Intervention in School and Clinic, 1 - 8.
• Santamaría Graff, C., & Kozleski, E. B. (2014). Calcifying sorting and segregating: Brown at 60. Multiple Voices for Ethnically Diverse Exceptional Learners, 14(2), 52-67.
• Santamaría Graff, C., McCain, T., & Gomez-Vilchis, V. (2013). Latina resilience in higher education: Contributing factors including seasonal farmworker experiences. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 12(4), 334 – 344. DOI 10.1177/1538192713494212
• Santamaría Graff, C. & Vazquez, S. L. (2014). Family resistance as a tool in urban school reform. In E. B. Kozleski & K. King Thorius (Eds.), Ability, equity, and culture: Sustaining inclusive urban education reform (pp. 80 – 104). New York: Teachers College Press.