Bio

Cammie Justus-Smith joined DELTA in June 2026 as a Postdoctoral Research Scholar on the Research and Analysis team. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Science and an M.A.T. in Science Education from the University of Virginia (2008), as well as a Ph.D. in Education with a concentration in Research, Assessment, and Evaluation from Virginia Commonwealth University (2026).

Before joining DELTA, Dr. Justus-Smith worked as a graduate assistant, adjunct instructor in research methods and assessment, and evaluation research assistant at VCU’s Institute for Collaborative Research and Evaluation. Prior to graduate school, she spent several years as a middle school science teacher and microschool founder. Her background includes teaching and evaluation work across a range of educational and community contexts, with a focus on teachers, students, and instruction across K-12 and higher education.

Dr. Justus-Smith’s research interests center on evaluation, community-engaged scholarship, and alternative learning environments. Her dissertation examined microschools through a case study of a local alternative learning environment. She is also actively engaged with the American Educational Research Association, where she is the Past-Chair (2026-2027) of the Graduate Student Council, and is a member of VCU’S Centroid Machine Learning Lab. She also participates in a variety of scholarly and community-based professional networks. Outside of work, Cammie enjoys spending time with her son, friends, and animals, including her dwarf rabbits and giant dog.

 

Scholarly Publications

Chang, C. N., Saw, G., Justus-Smith, C., Hui, J., & Culbertson, R. (2026). Career confidence during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis: The role of individual development plans and mentoring support in STEM graduate students. In F. D. Hudson (Ed.), The COVID information commons: Research insights from the Coronavirus (p. 251-262). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-06125-6

Justus-Smith, C., Wang, T. W., & Heyward, G. (2026). Choice Within Limits: A Machine Learning Perspective on School Choice. Journal of School Choice, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/15582159.2026.2652472

Justus-Smith, C. (2025). Rethinking education: A personal journey with ungrading. In C. Ricci & G. Riley (Eds.) The ungraded classroom: Feedback, reflection, and authentic learning. (p. 95-103). Ricci Publishing.

Suárez, M. I., Strunk, K. K., Furr, K. N., Tuxbury, K. L., Justus-Smith, C., Nicolai, K. D., Racelis, T. L., Frierson, M., Díaz, E., Boateng, O. A., Thea, & Grigg, J. P. (2025). QuantCrit at the intersections: a systematic review of gender and sexuality in QuantCrit research. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, 65, 101549. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2025.101549

Justus-Smith, C. (2024). Deschooling teachers: a pathway to self-directed education. On the Horizon: The International Journal of Learning Futures, 32(2/3), 101-114. https://doi.org/10.1108/OTH-04-2024-0020

Chang, C. N., Hui, J.  Justus-Smith, C., & Wang, T.W. (2024). Navigating STEM careers with AI mentors: a new IDP journey. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2024.1461137

Chang, C. N., Justus-Smith, C., Malagon-Palacios, L., & Hui, J. (2023). The use of the individual development plan at minority-serving institutions. Frontiers in Education, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1258273

 

Selected Presentations

Justus-Smith, C. and Goldin, K. (2026, June 25). Community-engaged dissertation research: Navigating reciprocity, access, and sustainability in school and community partnerships. Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium Summit, Richmond, VA, United States.

Justus-Smith, C. and Youngquest, G. (2026, April 8-12), Not movers, not leavers: Rebuilding the teaching profession amid changing educational landscapes. [Structured Poster Session]. American Educational Research Association 2026 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

Milner, H. R., de Miranda, M. A., & Justus-Smith, C. (2026, April 8-12), Selecting a Graduate Program – What field/discipline? Where? and When? [Undergraduate Student Education Research Training Workshop – Panelist]. American Educational Research Association 2026 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

Burton, S., Porter, K., & Justus-Smith, C. (2026, April 8-12), Navigating Power and Conflict: Fostering Growth Through Difficult Conversations in Graduate School. [Panel Discussion – Chair]. American Educational Research Association 2026 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

Cowin, K., Dominguez, N., Middleton, E., & Justus-Smith, C. (2026, April 8-12), Beyond the Handshake: Building Meaningful Mentoring Networks in Academia and Beyond [Panel Discussion – Chair]. American Educational Research Association 2026 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

Emerson, A., Hughes, M., Hong, X., Justus-Smith, C., & Middleton, E.  (2026, April 8-12), Caregiving While Studying: Toward Just and Equitable Graduate Education [Panel Discussion – Panelist]. American Educational Research Association 2026 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

Hahn, M., Lebovitz, B., Middleton, E., Wilson, M., & Justus-Smith, C. (2026, April 8-12), Listening, Learning, and Leading: Graduate Students in AERA [Panel Discussion – Chair]. American Educational Research Association 2026 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA, United States.

Justus-Smith, C. (2026, March 18), How might machine learning systems unintentionally reproduce educational inequalities? Ethics, Equity, and Algorithmic Bias. [Presentation]. Centroid Applied Machine Learning Lab, Richmond, VA, United States.

Hinton, T., Stanley, M., Hostetter, L., Tracy, M., Justus-Smith, C., & Gatty, F. (2025, June 26). A tale of two school divisions: Research-informed strategic planning. [Summit session]. Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium Summit, Richmond, VA, United States.

Leatherwood, D., Suarez, M., Vincent-Ruiz, P., Strunk, K., & Justus-Smith, C. (2025, April 23-27). Navigating critical quantitative methodologies: Mentorship and strategies for graduate scholars. [Panel Discussion – Co-Chair]. American Educational Research Association 2025 Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, United States.

Shelton, S. and Justus-Smith, C. (2025, April 23-27). Queering qualitative research: Expanding boundaries in innovative scholarship [Fireside Chat – Chair]. American Educational Research Association 2025 Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, United States.

Senechal, J., Justus-Smith, C., Ellison, M., Heyward, G., & Johansen, K. (2024, November 14). Community-engaged research: Shifts in processes, practices, and power. [Professional Development Learning Session]. Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Education, Richmond, VA, United States.

Justus-Smith, C., Ellison, M., Senechal, J., Johansen, K., & Heyward, G. (2024, June 13). Community-engaged research: Shifts in processes, practices, and power. [Summit session]. Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium Summit, Richmond, VA, United States.

Justus-Smith, C. (2024, April 11-14). Exploring deschooling and teacher transformation in self-directed education spaces. [Symposium session]. American Educational Research Association 2024 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, United States.

Chang, C. N., Hui, J.  Justus-Smith, C., & Wang, T.W. (2024, April 11-14). AI-supported mentoring in higher education: Optimizing myIDP with large language models. [Roundtable session]. American Educational Research Association 2024 Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, United States.