Melinda C. Bier, Ph.D.
Teresa M. Fischer Professor of Citizenship Education
Director, Center for Character and Citizenship
Melinda C. Bier (Mindy) is the Teresa M. Fischer Professor of Citizenship Education and a Director for the Center for Character and Citizenship (CCC), at UMSL. Mindy’s expertise includes leading program evaluation, the design and adoption of K-12 educational innovations, and professional development for teachers and school leaders. Bier and her team created, pilot tested and applied a virtue-based model of Servant Leadership in the United States, Kenya, Mexico, and Brazil. Her current emphasis with the Kern Family Foundation is on developing virtue-oriented educational leaders in character education and advising Kern Family Foundation character education program grantees.
Mindy is currently leading research into whether a specific set of servant leadership virtues can be measurably increased in educational leaders, Cultivating Virtue for Leadership (CViL). Her previous work involved the development of a series of cross-disciplinary service-learning projects, Youth Empowerment in Action (YEA!). These projects all involve students in assessing the impact of interventions that combined media literacy and production, Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and social marketing, as well as policy analysis and advocacy to achieve student and community outcomes including health, character, and academic achievement. Mindy and Marvin W. Berkowitz co-author an on-going series of scientific literature reviews supporting the development of character in school age students, What Works in Character Education.
Prior to her UMSL positions on the UMSL faculty and as Research Director for the CCC, Mindy served as Program Officer with the James S. McDonnell Foundation (JSMF) where she administered the Cognitive Science in the Classroom Program and reviewed scientific research proposals. Before joining JSMF, Mindy was responsible for the daily operations of the Florida Department of Education’s regional professional development and resource center – the Space Coast Center for Excellence.
Mindy’s research investigating the ways in which low-income families could make use of digital technology to strengthen the school-home-community connection won an NSF Award and was highlighted in scholarly publications including Nature and The Scientist as well as in popular media such as USA Today, National Public Radio and local newspapers. She was an advisor to the American Association for the Advancement of Science and NSF on issues related to ethics in cyberspace and the use of human subjects in educational research. Mindy’s work has included consulting to Mathematica Policy Research on the Social and Character Development cross-site evaluation funded by IES; consulting to Caliber Associates on USDE Character Education and Civic Engagement Center; and directing the USDE-funded Character Education Partnership’s National Character Education Clearinghouse.
Mindy is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has her teaching certification in Social Studies. Mindy graduated with her PhD from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, FL.
Dr. Fatima Salas-Rodriguez is the Kern Family Foundation Post-doctoral Fellow at the Center for Character and Citizenship. She received her Master’s in Social Science Research and her PhD in Education and Psychology at the University of Navarra (Spain). Her research interests focus on topics related to school culture, educational leadership, and character education, such as servant leadership, school trust, teacher efficacy beliefs, teachers' well-being, and self-determination theory.
Although originally from Monterrey (Mexico), her fascination for other cultures has led her to study in countries such as Spain, Australia, and the United States, as well as volunteer in Belgium and Singapore. Her professional experience includes collaborating with K-12 educators and school leaders in both public and private educational institutions across Mexico and Spain.
Dr. Salas-Rodriguez is dedicated to serving teachers and principals in their noble purpose of nurturing the flourishing of human goodness. She firmly believes that for students to thrive, the well-being of educators and parents is paramount.
Publications
Salas-Rodriguez, F. and Lara, S. (2022). Unpacking collective teacher efficacy in primary schools: student achievement and professional development. Educational Research for Policy and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-022-09326-z
Salas-Rodriguez, F., Lara, S. and Martinez, M. (2021). Spanish version of the teachers' sense of efficacy scale: An adaptation and validation study. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.714145
Salas-Rodriguez, F. and Lara, S. (2020). Mapeo sistemático de la literatura sobre la eficacia colectiva docente (Systematic mapping of literature on collective teacher efficacy). Revista Interuniversitaria de Formación del Profesorado, 34(2), 11-36. https://doi.org/10.47553/rifop.v34i2.77678
Anastasia Hercules is a working class academic and first-generation college graduate with an undergraduate degree in history (minor in literature) and an MA in Education from the University of Southern Indiana. Anastasia also a Fulbright scholar and has international experience through IREX (teacher exchange) to India. She has also participated and led in multiple study abroad experiences including a cultural immersion experience in Trinidad and Tobago, student summer study abroad experiences in Costa Rica and study abroad leader training in China. Anastasia started her secondary teaching career in 2007 and has taught in a diverse range of classroom environments across 3 states. These diverse environments include public, private and charter schools; environments including urban, suburban and rural and ages from middle school students to adults. She has led professional development sessions at NCSS (National Council for the Social Studies) and multicultural awareness training for teachers and students. Most recently she has facilitated the Sue Shear Women’s Leadership Academny in 2022-23
