Tamara Sewell
Clinical Assistant Professor of Special Education
Teaching and Learning
https://calendly.com/tas8
Dr. Tamara Sewell is a linchpin in the Inclusive Childhood Teacher Residency at New York University. She is passionate about collaborative, responsive, and iterative teacher preparation program design. Dr. Sewell collaboratively facilitated and implemented the design of both the Secondary Students with Disabilities and Inclusive Childhood programs in the NYU Teacher Residency. Her area of expertise includes special education teacher preparation practices in early childhood through secondary education. She has served as a special education teacher, program director, IFSP/IEP service coordinator, teacher educator, and mentor. Her scholarship is focused on program design and ethical and meaningful standards of practice.
Selected Publications
D.B. Turk, S. Schlessinger, A. Babb-Guerra, F. Pignatosi, & T. Sewell (October 2025). Mentorship, Advocacy, and Evaluation: Preparing Equitable, Justice-Oriented Teachers and Transforming School Communities, In Albright, T., Behm Cross, S., & Davis, C. (Eds.). Critical Approaches for Teacher Residencies: Dreaming New Ways Forward in School, University, and Community Entanglements (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003562030
Turk, D., Sewell, T., Kinney, K., Wiedower, T., Law, R. (2025, August). UPCEA Webinar: From Theory to Practice: Integrating AI‑Driven Scenarios [Webinar]. Hosted by UPCEA. Retrieved from https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/4995903/8C7B71991F75B177898079D93F9C967A
Babb-Guera, A., Pignatosi, F., Sewell, T., Schlesinger, S. & Turk, D. (Accepted 2023, December).Advocacy, Mentorship, Evaluation: Preparing Equity-Centered Teachers and Transforming School Communities - The NYU Teacher Residency. Presented at the Critical Turn in Teacher Residency Convening, Georgia State University College of Law, Park Place Northeast, Atlanta, GA.
Caldwell, S., Sewell, T., & Wiedower, T. (2022, November). A team of teams; Iterative instructional design in a learner-centered online urban teacher residency. Presented at the Online Learning Consortium (OLC) Accelerate Conference, Orlando, FL.
Appel, M, Gulati, G., Pina, F., Sewell, T., & Shih, R. (2022, March). Careers in Education Virtual Panel. Invited as part of the First Generational Harvard Alumni’s (FGHA) Career Series. https://firstgeneration.sigs.harvard.edu/
NYU TR Identity Statement Subcommittee (2021). NYU Teacher Residency Identity Statement: Who We Are and How We Operate. In NYU Steinhardt’s NYU Teacher Residency Resident Teachers Handbook 2021-2022 (pp. 6-7). Retrieved from https://hc-enrollment-assets.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/NYU-Steinhardt/Teacher+Residency/Program+Info/NYU+Teacher+Residency+Handbook.pdf
Sewell, T. (2021). Teacher Mentor Competencies & Expectations [Webinar]. Retrieved from https://teachereducation.steinhardt.nyu.edu/mentor-resources/
Grossberg, E. & Sewell, T. (2021). Teacher Residency National Teacher Mentor Training: The observation cycle [Webinar]. Retrieved from https://teachereducation.steinhardt.nyu.edu/mentor-resources/
NYU Teacher Residency. (September 17, 2021). How the NYU Teacher Residency evolves each year. NYU Teacher Residency Blog. https://teachereducation.steinhardt.nyu.edu/teacher-residency-evolves/
Rosenkrantz, H. (2021). Special education: Can it be reshaped to fulfill its original promise? CQ Researcher, Vol. 31 (21). http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2021061100&type=hitlist&num=0
NYU Teacher Residency. (March 17, 2021). The need for educators, diversity, and international preparation in special education. NYU Teacher Residency Blog. https://teachereducation.steinhardt.nyu.edu/special-education-insights/
NYU Teacher Residency. (September 23, 2020). NYU Teacher Residency Alumni Profile: Finding Your Authentic Self in Teaching. NYU Teacher Residency Blog. https://teachereducation.steinhardt.nyu.edu/alumni-mayu-ishikawa/
NYU Teacher Residency. (February 11, 2020). How residency directors support aspiring teachers. NYU Teacher Residency Blog. https://teachereducation.steinhardt.nyu.edu/how-residency-directors-support-aspiring-teachers/
Sewell, T. (2012). Are we adequately preparing teachers to partner with families? Early Childhood Education Journal. 40(5), 259-262.