Letitia Basford

Letitia Basford is a professor in the School of Education & Leadership and serves as Chair of the division. She became a teacher educator to advance transformative teaching practices and policies that promote equity and access, and she remains deeply committed to these goals. Letitia supports teacher candidates in designing engaging lessons and assessments, differentiating instruction for diverse learners, and creating interactive learning experiences that foster authentic student engagement.

Letitia’s current research focuses on the experiences of K–2 teachers implementing Science of Reading-informed literacy curricula and university faculty integrating High-Impact Practices into their courses. Her previous scholarship has examined teachers’ experiences advocating for inclusive curricula, a family’s journey through the school-to-prison pipeline and the kinds of schools that effectively disrupt it, and the educational experiences of Somali and Hmong youth attending culturally specific charter schools.

Her work has been published in journals including The Urban Review, Review of Research in Education, Journal of School Choice, and Association of Teacher Education, as well as in books such as Six Lenses for Anti-Oppressive Education, From Education to Incarceration: Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline, and Proud to Be Different: Ethnocentric Niche Charter Schools in the US. She brings her scholarship into her classes, while also drawing on the rich experiences and perspectives that her students contribute to the learning community.

Before coming to Hamline, Letitia taught English as a Second Language to middle and high school students and worked as a teen-parent educator in California. Outside of teaching, she enjoys spending time with her two daughters and husband, traveling, listening to music, and being in nature.