Jill M. Gradwell, Ph.D.

Ph.D.  State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo
Museum Education, Teaching History, and High-Stakes Social Studies Testing

Professor and Coordinator of Social Studies Education

Dr. Gradwell has been teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in history, social studies education, and museum studies at Buffalo State since 2004. Her research centers on teaching, learning, and assessing history and has been featured in such academic journals as Theory and Research in Social Education, Social Studies Research and Practice, Journal of Social Studies Research, The Social Studies, Research in Middle Level Education Online, Middle School Journal, and Middle Grades Research Journal, and is the co-editor of the book, Finding history where you least expect it!:  Site-based strategies for teaching about the past.

Dr. Gradwell has secured over $600,000 in grant monies for Buffalo State through the U.S. Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She has served as the Book and Media Review Editor for the journal, Theory and Research in Social Education, a Pilot Evaluator of the New York State Social Studies Toolkit Project, and a U.S. President graphic novel series consultant for HarperCollins Children’s Books.

Dr. Gradwell has been the recipient of the Middle States Council for the Social Studies Harry J. Carmen Award and Buffalo State’s President’s Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity.

In the community, Dr. Gradwell and her classes have partnered with numerous cultural institutions like the Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo History Museum, Darwin Martin House, Forest Lawn, and the Hull Family Home and Farmstead to produce curriculum and outreach materials.  She has served on the boards of directors of the Roycroft Campus Corporation and the Holocaust Resource Center of Buffalo. She is currently a research associate for the Buffalo Museum of Science.

Recent Publications
Gradwell, J. M., Duffy, J., & Musolino, V. (2023). Shirley Chisholm: Trailblazer or catalyst for change? Social Studies Research and Practice, 18 (3), 268-281.

Gradwell, J. M. & Cappello, J.  (2022).  Strange Fruit:  The power of a protest song NCSS trade book investigation.  Social Studies Research and Practice, 17 (3), 266-273.

Gradwell, J.M., & Leacock, K.H. (Eds.). (2020). Finding history where you least expect it!: Site-based strategies for teaching about the past. American Alliance of Museums Series. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Gradwell, J. M., & Leacock, K.H. (2017). The object of the exercise:  Increasing the role of museums in the social studies classroom. In S. G. Grant, J. Lee, and K. Swan (Eds.), Teaching social studies: A methods book for methods teachers. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.                       
Gradwell, J. M., Rodeheaver, M., & Dahlgren, R. L. (2015). “Schools need to wake up!” Student participants’ calls for human rights education. Social Studies Research and Practice, 10(1), 1-20.

Rodeheaver, M., Gradwell, J. M., & Dahlgren, R. L. (2014). We are Dumbledore's Army:" Forging the foundation for future student upstanders. Journal of International Social Studies, 4(2), 57-72.

Gradwell, J. M., Acanfora, L. M., Lindsay, E., & Vaughn, K. (2014).  Queen of the Falls: A NCSS notable trade book lesson plan. Social Studies Research and Practice, 9(1), 189-201.                             

DeWitt, S., Patterson, N., Blankenship, W., Blevins, B. DiCamilo, L., Gerwin, D., Gradwell, J. M., Gunn, J., Maddox, L., Saye, J., Stodderd, J., & Sullivan, C. (2013). The lower-order expectation of high stakes tests: A six-state analysis. Theory and Research in Social Education, 41(3), 382-427.

Gradwell, J. M., & DiCamillo, L. (2013). A means to an end: A middle-level teacher’s purposes for using historical simulations. Middle Grades Research Journal, 8(3), 39-59.

Gradwell, J. M., & DiCamillo, L. (2013). “The second we stop growing we are dead”: Examining a middle grades social studies professional dyad. The Middle School Journal, 45(2), 3-11.

DiCamillo, L., & Gradwell, J. M. (2013). To simulate or not to simulate? Investigating myths about social studies simulations. The Social Studies, 104(4), 155-160.

Courses Taught at Buffalo State

SSE 200 Introduction to Secondary Teaching
HIS 300 Research and Writing Seminar
SSE 502 Teaching Social Studies
SSE 632/MST 632 Teaching with Historic Places
SSE 595 Research Methods in Social Studies Education
SSE 605 Topics for In-service Education