Dr. Alison G. Dover is a passionate advocate for equity and social justice in education. As a Professor in the Department of Secondary Education at California State University, Fullerton, she inspires future educators by teaching innovative secondary methods and leading the Master of Science in Transformative Teaching in Secondary Education program. With a doctorate in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Dr. Dover brings a wealth of experience from her time teaching English Language Arts and service learning in diverse urban school districts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Dr. Dover collaborates extensively with students, educators, and school communities across the nation to champion culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies in K-12 and teacher education. Her research addresses the challenges and opportunities of teaching for social justice within accountability-driven educational systems. She is the author of Radically Inclusive Teaching with Newcomer and Emergent Plurilingual Students: Braving Up (2022) and Preparing to Teach Social Studies for Social Justice: Becoming a Renegade (2016), both published by Teachers College Press. Her work has also appeared in leading academic journals, including The Journal of Teacher Education, Urban Education, and Teaching and Teacher Education, among others. Dr. Dover’s expertise has been featured on NPR, highlighted by state and local media outlets, and featured in education podcasts.  Currently, Dr. Dover serves as Co-Editor of the American Educational Research Journal, the flagship journal of the American Educational Research Association. 

At CSUF, Dr. Dover directs the MS in Transformative Teaching Program and the Summer Institute on Transformative Teaching. She also co-leads enrichment programs for newcomer and emergent plurilingual students in Southern California, such as the award-winning Language Explorers program. Since its launch in 2016, this program has served over 1,400 students and 120 educators, earning prestigious honors such as two California School Board Association Golden Bell Awards and the Orange County Department of Education Cultural and Linguistic Responsiveness Award.

Dr. Dover has secured more than $800,000 in research funding to advance equity-focused education, including a Spencer Foundation Research-Practice Partnership Grant that empowered newcomer students to act as co-researchers, shaping educational policy and practice. She also co-led a statewide study on the racial climate of teacher education programs, funded by the California Teacher Education Research and Improvement Network and the Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity.

Through her teaching, research, and leadership, Dr. Dover is transforming education into a space where equity and inclusion thrive. Click here to access her full CV.