Tsehsien Kelly (Lee) Vaughn '91, M.Ed. '94, Ph.D.

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Tsehsien Kelly (Lee) Vaughn '91, M.Ed. '94, Ph.D., was appointed interim dean for the School of Education at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California, effective May 16.

Vaughn earned a bachelor of arts in Chinese (East Asian languages/cultures) and a master of education at UCLA, then received a master of arts in Asian American studies from San Francisco State University in 2002 and a doctorate in education from Stanford University. For the past 16 years she has been a member of the education faculty at NDNU.

From the announcement by Provost Greg White, M.A. '84, Ph.D. '88:

Since joining NDNU’s faculty in 2008, Dr. Vaughn has driven many programs forward by improving both curriculum content and delivery of program content. Such improvements have been the hallmarks of her academic research and practice, starting with the evaluation of representations of Asian unaccompanied immigrant youth (parachute kids), gender relations in math learning, effective language development for English language learners, and social-emotional competencies in middle and high schools.

Dr. Vaughn is recognized for her initiatives to support and engage in the improvement of the practice of teaching and the assessment of teacher performance. She is active in teacher education initiatives at the state level, serving on state organizations and committees. In collaboration with faculty at many other universities, she has conducted research and presented findings that demonstrate significant racial disparities in a high-stakes assessment (CalTPA) that teaching credential candidates must pass in the State of California. This research is being used to advocate for the removal of the California Teaching Performance Assessment as a requirement for teacher credentialing.

On a local note, Kelly was selected by her peers this last month as the faculty member that exemplified the integration of outstanding teaching, research, and living out the Hallmarks in her life and work. For this, she won the Sr. Catharine Julie Cunningham Memorial Teaching and Research Award.

“My time as an M.Ed. student at UCLA was an instrumental part of this career growth,” Vaughn said. “I would like to thank two faculty members who were of great influence to me: The late Stuart Biegel and Cynthia Grutzik.”