The National Academy of Education (NAEd) announced today that it has named Jimena Cosso, assistant professor in the University of Maryland College of Education, as an NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow for the 2026 academic year. The highly competitive fellowship recognizes some of the nation’s most exceptional early-career scholars, who are making significant scholarly contributions to education research.
The fellowship, which begins in Fall 2026, will provide $70,000 in funding, as well as professional development and mentorship from senior scholars, to 25 scholars selected from a pool of nearly 500 applicants. NAEd, an honorary educational society, manages the fellowship with generous financial support from the Spencer Foundation. The fellowship has over 900 alums, including many of today’s leading education researchers.
In addition, the NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship supports 35 doctoral students, chosen from among nearly 500 applicants, with professional development, mentorship and awards of $27,500.
The award will support Cosso’s work to test how assessment language (English vs. Spanish) affects observed math performance, and to evaluate whether a widely used language-routing procedure (preLAS test) accurately identifies the language in which children's mathematical knowledge is best reflected. This project challenges deficit-oriented interpretations of DLL performance that may arise when children are assessed in only one language or routed into a single testing language without evidence that this choice yields the most valid estimate of their skills.
“I feel really honored to receive the NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship,” said Cosso. “This fellowship will give me the time and support to deepen my research on how the math knowledge of young Spanish-English dual language learners is assessed and how we can create fairer ways to understand, measure and support their math learning.”
Cosso directs the College of Education’s Home Opportunities for Latines in Advancing STEM (HOLA STEM) Lab, which recognizes and promotes positive experiences, practices and opportunities for Latine families to advance the development of their children’s early STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills. In addition to her work with developing more equitable early childhood assessments, Cosso studies contextual factors that shape early learning, especially in math.
“The NAEd/Spencer Dissertation and Postdoctoral Fellowships represent significant investments in the fellows and the future of education research,” said Okhee Lee, chair of the NAEd Professional Development Committee. “These fellowships are more crucial than ever given the recent dramatic declines in education research funding. ... It is a privilege to work with our new fellows who will contribute to education research and scholarship.”
Learn more about Cosso’s NAEd project and research interests.
