UNC School of Education doctoral students Tia Byers and Darren Williams were recognized as 2025 David L. Clark Scholars by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA).
As Clark Scholars, Byers and Williams will participate in the 2025 David L. Clark Graduate Student Research Seminar in Educational Administration and Policy. This honor is awarded to outstanding doctoral students in PK-12 educational leadership, administration, and policy programs who have been nominated by their faculty. The seminar brings emerging educational administration and policy scholars together with noted researchers for presentations, discussion, and professional growth — taking place at the beginning of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, scheduled for April 23-27 in Denver.
The David L. Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar in Educational Administration and Policy, sponsored by UCEA and AERA, provides two days of presentations, generative discussions, and professional development opportunities. Organizers of the seminar aim to recognize outstanding doctoral students who are preparing for careers in PK-12 educational leadership and administration or those pursuing careers in PK-16 education policy research.
Explore more about each scholar and their research.
Tia Byers
As a third-year doctoral student in the School’s Policy, Leadership, and School Improvement Ph.D. concentration and a research associate at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), Byers conducts research alongside educators and students, ensuring their voices inform her work.
Byers, a double Tar Heel who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy Analysis and a Minor in Education, chose the UNC School of Education to explore her research interests under the mentorship of the School’s faculty. Her dissertation, advised by Lora Cohen-Vogel, Ph.D., explores the agency of Black families and caregivers amidst shifting school choice policies in a Southeastern school district. Byers’ broader research examines the socio-political impact of school assignment policies on their local communities.
Byers credits the support and encouragement from her advisor and faculty mentors for providing the confidence to apply for the Clark Seminar. She said she looks forward to collaborating with fellow Clark Scholars, sharing insights, and fostering mutual growth and confidence through the seminar experience.
“I’m thankful to be selected as David L. Clark Scholar,” Byers said. “Being a part of this cohort acts as an affirmation to my research and my work as a researcher. I hope my participation in the Clark Seminar introduces new perspectives that will further enrich my research.”
Darren Williams
Williams is a third-year doctoral student in the School’s Ed.D. concentration in K-12 Leadership, and a 2021 graduate of the School’s Master of School Administration program. In addition to serving as an assistant principal in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), Williams serves as a facilitator for Pathway to Practice NC, an online teacher licensure program operated by UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State, and sits on the board of the North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children.
Rooted in his experience as a special education teacher, Williams’ research, chaired by his advisor Chris Scott, Ed.D., investigates patterns of racial disproportionality in special education programs in one of the nation’s largest school districts. By analyzing data from a single district, his study addresses a gap in existing disproportionality literature, which has predominantly relied upon state- and national-level data. Williams employs a combination of inferential statistics and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping to explore the interplay of race, special education identification rates, school-level characteristics, and geographic location within and across the district.
Having worked in both low-performing and high-performing schools, Williams directly observed the impact school and community contexts had on students’ educational experiences. These observations led him to question how contextual factors influence special education identification, hypothesizing that relativity and bias significantly affect teachers’ perceptions of students’ abilities, ultimately influencing decisions to label students as “at-risk” or “disabled.”
“Research is iterative, so while my doctoral studies are coming to a close, I’m looking forward to participating in the David L. Clark Seminar and receiving feedback to inform my future work,” Williams said. “I’m seeking opportunities to publish components of my study in academic and research journals, and I’m hopeful that the developmental support and professional networks made available through participation in the Seminar will prepare me to do so.”
The David L. Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar in Educational Administration & Policy honors the life and work of David L. Clark, who was the Kenan Professor of Educational Administration at the School of Education before his death in 1998.
Clark devoted a career to the study of educational administration, seeking ways to create more humane, caring educational environments.
To learn more about the 2025 David L. Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar, click here.