Queen's University
A to Z
FACULTY OF
Education

Christopher DeLuca

Assistant Professor of Classroom Assessment, Graduate Faculty
BSc (Toronto), BEd, MEd, PhD (Queen's)

Contact Information

Room: A218
Phone: 613-533-6000 x 77675
Email: cdeluca@queensu.ca

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

  • Pre-service and in-service teacher education in assessment and evaluation
  • Integration of classroom assessment across the curriculum to support student learning
  • Validity theory in educational assessment, programming, and research
  • Contemporary qualitative research methodologies
  • Inclusivity, diversity, and equity in education
  • Contemporary theories and frameworks of curriculum

Biography

Dr. DeLuca (PhD, Queen’s University) is an Assistant Professor and Graduate Faculty member in Classroom Assessment and Curriculum Studies at the Faculty of Education, Queen’s University. He holds a Masters and Bachelor degree in Education (MEd, 2005; BEd, 2004, Queen’s) and an undergraduate degree in Science (BSc, 2003, University of Toronto). Previously, Dr. DeLuca was an Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida (Tampa, USA) and has worked in the area of policy research in London, England.

Dr. DeLuca’s research examines the complex intersection of curriculum and pedagogy as operating within frameworks of educational assessment and educational inclusivity. His work largely focuses on supporting teachers in negotiating these two critical areas of their practice. Specifically, Dr. DeLuca’s research centers on the following core areas of study:

  • Assessment and Teacher Education: Inquires into how pre-service and in-service teachers learn to engage the complexities of educational assessment in relation to the evolving assessment culture in today’s classrooms. The specific focus of this research is on developing pedagogical and curricular structures to support teachers in navigating the current accountability context of education whist leveraging assessment as a pedagogically beneficial tool to enhance student learning. For more information, see the research spotlight. This line of research also examines pedagogical structures that support broader teacher learning beyond assessment. To this end, Dr. DeLuca has examined the value of specific learning structures (e.g., collaborative inquiry, instructional rounds, curriculum clusters) in promoting teacher development across a variety of professional competencies.

  • Curriculum Theory and Inclusivity in Education: Research on conceptions of inclusivity in education and on the pedagogical and programmatic structures that enable inclusive curricular contexts for students and teachers. Specifically, this line of research focuses on facilitating inclusive learning spaces for at-risk youth, students with exceptionalities, and other marginalized groups (e.g., LGBT/queer, race, gender). Dr. DeLuca’s research on inclusivity largely draws on curricular theories including complexity, resilience, and identity theory.

  • Educational Program Alignment and Validity: The purpose of this line of inquiry it to construct a framework to conceptualize and evaluate complex educational program aims in relation to program practices and structures. In particular, this research draws on qualitative and hermeneutic practices to reposition validity as an interpretive methodology for understanding the coherence between program intentions and program practices. One specific aspect of this scholarships focuses on the effectiveness of admission structures to yield valid decisions that align with program intentions. Specifically, Dr. DeLuca’s research on admission systems emphases equitable admission policies and practices with the aim of leveraging admission structures as a means to enhance diversity within teacher education programs and subsequently, the teaching workforce.

Dr. DeLuca’s work has been published in national and international journals including, Journal of Teacher Education, Assessment in Education, Canadian Journal of Education, Educational Researcher, Assessment Matters, and Educational Assessment. Further, Dr. DeLuca’s research has been recognized through several awards including the Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies’ (CACS) Outstanding Dissertation Award, the Canadian Association for Teacher Education’s (CATE) Dissertation Excellence Award, and the Bateson New Scholar Award (Canadian Education Researchers’ Association, CERA). Dr. DeLuca is currently co-editor with Dr. Theodore Christou of the Journal for the Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies (JCACS) and an active member of CACS and CERA. More locally, Dr. DeLuca is a member of the Queen’s Assessment and Evaluation Group and teaches in both undergraduate and graduate streams at the Faculty of Education, Queen’s University.

Selected Recent Publications

Refereed Papers

DeLuca, C., & Bellara, A. (in press). The current state of assessment education: Aligning policy, standards, and teacher education curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education.

DeLuca, C. (in press). Toward an interdisciplinary framework for inclusivity in education. Canadian Journal of Education.

Pyle, A., & DeLuca, C. (2013). Assessment in the kindergarten classroom: An empirical study of teachers' assessment approaches. Early Childhood Education Journal.

DeLuca, C., Chavez, T., Cao, C., & Bellara, A. (2013). Changing Conceptions of Assessment: Pedagogies for Pre-service Assessment Education. The Teacher Educator, 48(2), 128-142.

DeLuca, C. (2012). Preparing teachers for the age of accountability: Toward a framework for assessment education. Teacher Education Yearbook XXI: A Special Issue of Action in Teacher Education, 34(5/6), 576-591.

DeLuca, C. (2012). Promoting inclusivity within teacher education programs. Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, 38(5), 551-569.

DeLuca, C. (2012). Selecting inclusive teacher candidates: Validity and reliability issues in admission policy and practice. Teacher Education Quarterly, 39(4), 7-32.

DeLuca, C., Chavez, T., & Cao, C. (2012). Establishing a foundation for valid teacher judgments: The role of pre-service assessment education. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, Special Issue: Moderation Practice and Teacher Judgment, 1-20.

DeLuca, C., Luu, K., Youyi, S., & Klinger, D. (2012). Assessment for learning in the classroom: Barriers to implementation and possibilities for teacher professional learning. Assessment Matters, 4, 5-29.

Klinger, D. A., Volante, L., & DeLuca, C. (2012). Building teacher capacity within the evolving assessment culture in Canadian Education. Policy Futures in Education, Special Issue: Developing Sustainable Assessment Cultures in School Learning Organisations, 10(4), 447-460.

DeLuca, C. (2011). Interpretive validity theory: Mapping a methodology for the validation of educational assessments. Educational Research, 53(3), 303-320.

Koch, M., & DeLuca, C. (2011). Narrative case description: An approach to validation in the context of high-stakes assessments. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, Special Issue: High-stakes Assessments, 19(1), 99-116.

DeLuca, C. (2010). The capacity of assessment in arts education. Encounters in Education, Special Issue: Navigating the UNESCO Roadmap for Arts Education: Current Directions in Research and Best Practice, 11, 3-12.

DeLuca, C., & Klinger, D. A. (2010). Assessment literacy development: Identifying gaps in teacher candidates’ learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 17(4), 419-438.

DeLuca, C., Klinger, D. A., Searle, M., & Shulha, L. M. (2010). Developing a curriculum for assessment education. Assessment Matters, 2, 20-42.

Ogden, H., DeLuca, C., & Searle, M. (2010). Enhancing pre-service teacher education through authentic arts-based learning: A musical theatre experience. Teaching Education, 21(4), 367-383.

DeLuca, C., Poth, C., & Searle, M. (2009). Evaluation for learning: A cross-case analysis of evaluator strategies. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 35, 121-129.

DeLuca, C. (2008). Issues in including students with disabilities in large-scale assessment programs. Exceptionality Education International, 18(2), 38-50.

Klinger, D., DeLuca, C., & Miller, T. (2008). The evolving culture of large-scale assessments in Canadian education. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 76, 1-34.

Books and Chapters

DeLuca, C. (in press). Evaluating university admission policy and practice: A neoinstituional perspective. In V. Stead (Ed.), International Perspectives on Higher Education Admission Policy: A Reader. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

DeLuca, C., Hutchinson, N. L., Versnel, J., Dods, J., & Chin, P. (in press). Bridging school and work: A person-in-context model for enabling resilience in at-risk youth. In S. Billett, J. S., Thomas, C. Sim, S. Hay, & J. Ryan (Eds.), Experiences of school transitions: Policies, practice and participants.New York, NY: Springer. 

DeLuca, C., deLagran, M., Ferguson, E., & Ho, S. (2011). The Equity Leadership Project: Preparing Socially inclusive Educators. In B. J. Porfilio, & H. Hickman, Critical-service Learning as a Revolutionary Pedagogy: An International Project of Student Agency in Action.Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Klinger, D. A., & DeLuca, C. (2010). Admission to Canadian universities. In Vlaardingerbroek, B., & Taylor, N. (Eds.), Getting into Varsity: Comparability, Convergence, and Congruence (pp. 93-116). New York: Cambria Press.

Professional Affiliations

  • Consortium of International Researchers on Classroom Assessment
  • Canadian Society for the Study of Education
  • American Educational Research Association
  • Canadian Educational Researchers’ Association
  • Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies
  • Canadian Association for Teacher Education
  • Florida Educational Research Association
  • National Council on Measurement in Education

Courses Taught

Graduate

Undergraduate

Continuing Teacher Education