Dr. Shana E. DeVlieger (she/her) is an educator and researcher in the Department of Teaching and Learning at NYU Steinhardt. She has over a decade of experience teaching and mentoring students—from early childhood classrooms to graduate and professional programs—across the U.S. and international contexts. Her teaching centers on creating inclusive, humanizing learning environments that honor diverse ways of knowing and being.
At NYU, Dr. DeVlieger teaches Assessment & Intervention in Special Education, mentors emerging teachers in the Early Childhood/Special Education Teacher Residency program, and supervises undergraduate students in school–community partnership fieldwork. Her previous university teaching includes courses on child and youth work, attentional teaching practices, and school–community engagement for student athletes at the University of Pittsburgh.
Her doctoral research, funded through a prestigious IES–PIRT Fellowship, broadly examined the learning and well-being of early childhood caregivers. Her dissertation used mixed methods and a critical ecological lens to examine perinatal mental health and equity advocacy in early childhood education during a period of rapid policy change in the U.S..
She earned an Ed.M. in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard, an M.A.T. in Urban Education from USC, and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Urban and Early Childhood Teaching and Learning from NYU.
Selected Publications
Parr, A., DeVlieger, S., Cesare, C. (2025). A critical case study of white teacher candidates’ motivation and resistance during race-related transformative activities. Whiteness and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/23793406.2025.2495138
Doucet, F., Badu, S., DeVlieger, S. (2024). A Critical Discourse Analysis of NAEYC's developmentally appropriate practice texts: Shifting rhetoric and implications for advancing equity in family-school partnerships. Special issue: Re-engaging dialogue about the DAP debate: Implications for teacher education. International Journal of Early Years Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669760.2024.2356148
Dolcini-Catania, L., DeVlieger, S.*, Cyranowski, J. (2023). Clinical trainee perspectives on the implementation of trauma-focused training. American Journal of Psychotherapy. *Shared first authorship. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.20220047
DeVlieger, S., Dolcini-Catania, L., Willford, J., & Gallen, R. (2023). “Empowered and Driven to Help”: Learning about childhood trauma during preservice training. Journal of Trauma Studies in Education, 2(1), 79–107. https://doi.org/10.32674/jtse.v2i1.4735
Chen, C., Qin, X., DeVlieger, S., Farmer, T., (2022). Person-and process-centered analyses to guide tailored interventions and research-practice partnerships in special education. In Farmer, Talbott, McMaster, Lee, & Aceves, T. (2022). Handbook of Special Education Research, Volume I. New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003156857-20
Farmer, T., Serpell, Z., Scott, L., DeVlieger, S., Brooks, D., Hamm, J. (2022). The developmental dynamics of emotional and behavioral difficulties of youth of color: Systemic oppression, correlated constraints, and the need for targeted universalism. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. 30(2), 71-85. https://doi.org/10.1177/10634266211068892
Tumminia, M., DeVlieger, S., Colvin, S., Akiva, T., & Galla, B. (2022). A qualitative study of adolescents’ experiences of distress and well-being during intensive mindfulness practice. Mindfulness, 13, 1971–1983 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01932-5
Guyon‐Harris, K. L., Carell, R., DeVlieger, S., Humphreys, K. L., Huth‐Bocks, A. C. (2021). The emotional tone of child descriptions during pregnancy is associated with later parenting. Infant Mental Health Journal. 42:731– 739. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21936
Accepted and under review
Wu, T., Manchery, L., Myers, E., DeVlieger, S. (Chapter accepted; publication anticipated Spring 2026). Asian American Teacher Leaders Within a Multiracial Democracy: AANHPI Heritage Month in Elementary Schools as a Focal Point. Disrupting Systemic Inequities in Education: Critical Approaches to Teacher Leadership.
O’Connor, E., Neuhaus, R., DeVlieger, S., & Keefe, E.. Postpartum depression and anxiety co-occurrence in birthing and non-birthing couples: Evidence and implications from a Family Systems Perspective.
Parr, A., DeVlieger, S.. A qualitative approach to causal inquiry: Using causation coding to identify how transformative activities elicit white teacher candidates’ race-related learning. Presented at AERA 2024 Annual Meeting. https://doi.org/10.3102/2110682
DeVlieger, S.. A self-reflexive study of whiteness in teaching using Critical Discourse Analysis. Whiteness and Education. Whiteness and Education. Presented at AERA 2025 Annual Meeting. http://doi.org/10.3102/2232907
Selected technical reports and public works
DeVlieger, S., Badu, S., & Doucet, F. (2025, September). Advancing (“non-partisan”) equity in early childhood education: A critical discourse analysis of NAEYC’s advocacy messaging during the 2024 election (NYU Steinhardt Education Policy Working Paper Series). NYU Steinhardt. (Link)
Nested Institute (2025, September). Missed Screenings, Missed Support: A National Study of Perinatal Mental Health. White Paper (Link).
DeVlieger, S., (June 2025). Ep. 158 - Examining the effects of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on Perinatal Health. Parenting Understood Podcast. (Link)
DeVlieger, S. (2024). Education as a Living Organism: Insights from a Creative HAEd Event: Harvard Alumni Association (Link)
DeVlieger, S. (2024). Eclipsing ‘Reduce-Reuse-Recycle’: Having More Honest Conversations with Ourselves and Our Young People this Earth Day | Part 2. NYU Metro Center (Link)
DeVlieger, S. (2024). Eclipsing ‘Reduce-Reuse-Recycle’: Having More Honest Conversations with Ourselves and Our Young People this Earth Day | Part 1. NYU Metro Center (Link)
The Collaborative Education Research Collective (2023). Towards a Field for Collaborative Education Research: Developing a Framework for the Complexity of Necessary Learning. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Link)
