Nicholas S. Bell

Assistant Professor

Educational Psychology

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Titles:

Assistant Professor in Special Education

Academic Degrees:

Ph.D. in Education (Specializations: Sociocultural and Community-Based Approaches; and Education Statistics and Research Methods), University of Delaware

MEd in Literacy, West Chester University

BS in Special Education, West Chester University

Areas of Expertise:

Special Education, QuantCrit, Structural Equation Modeling, Teacher Preparation, Culturally Relevant Teaching (Math/Science)

Biography:

Dr. Nicholas S. Bell conducts research, using quantitative and qualitative methods; teaches STEM, special education, and statistics courses; and mentors PhD students. With his research, he has the overall aim of disrupting injustices in education (e.g., resegregation/educational redlining in special education) and studying the impact of justice-oriented solutions, actions,  and interventions. Dr. Bell’s research focuses on a) anti-racist special education practices and policies; b) high quality and justice-based teaching (e.g., culturally relevant and responsive teaching) in math and science for students identified with/out disabilities; c) the preparation of special education teachers’ equity knowledge, skills, and beliefs; and d) the application of QuantCrit in educational research. He uses a variety of research methods—including qualitative approaches, mixed methods, and advanced statistical models (e.g., structural equation modeling)—and research designs (e.g., quasi-experimental and experimental). In terms of grants, Nicholas was recently funded by the Spencer Foundation for a Racial Equity Grant and Conference Grant.

Selected Publications/Presentations:

Bell, N.S., Ford, D.Y., Carey, R.L., Scott, L., Collier, Z., Eisenman, L., & Vélez, V. (2025). Critical investigation of resegregation patterns in special education: Toward an anti-racist special education model. Exceptional Children. DOI: 0.1177/0014402925135872

Desimone, L.M., Bell, N.S., Lentz, A., Lee, K., & *Marianno, L. (2025). A holistic examination of how professional learning and curriculum relate to ambitious and culturally relevant instruction and student engagement. American Educational Research Association Open. DOI: 10.1177/2332858424131042

Bell, N.S., Desimone, L.M., Carey, R. & *Polanco, P. (forthcoming). Anti-Racist and ambitious teaching in math classrooms: A quantCrit analysis of students’ perspectives. Urban Education.

Bell, N.S., & Connor, D. (forthcoming). Civil rights violations in special education: Eliminating educational zones of resegregation. Urban Education.

Bell, N.S., Collier, Z., Vélez, V, & Ford, D.Y. (2024). CritSEM: Advancing QuantCrit to examine racialized resegregation in special education. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 1–34. DOI: 10.1080/19345747.2024.2408538

Bell, N.S., Soslau, E., & Wilson, C. (2022). The Student Teaching Equity Project: Exploring teacher candidates’ knowledge, skills, and beliefs. Journal of Teacher Education, 73(1), 23–36. DOI: 10.1177/00224871211039849