Faculty Profiles

Nancy Valdez-Gainer

M.A. -University of Texas at Austin, Bilingual & Bicultural Studies
B.S. -University of Texas at Austin, Applied Learning & Development

MED in Curriculum and Instruction

University of Texas at Austin, 2013

BS in Applied Learning and Development

University of Texas at Austin, 2001

Valdez-Gainer, Nancy. Tomás Rivera Children's Book Award, Community Action Pulse Fund Grant, Private / Foundation / Corporate, $10000. (Submitted: November 15, 2025, Funded: January 2026 - April 2026). Grant.
Valdez-Gainer, Nancy. Tomás Rivera Children's Book Award, Faculty Senate- University Lecturer Series, Texas State University, $3000. (Submitted: January 2025, Funded: September 2025 - December 2025). Grant.
Valdez-Gainer, Nancy. Texas State University. (Funded: September 15, 2024 - November 15, 2024). Grant.
Valdez-Gainer, Nancy. Texas State University. (Submitted: February 1, 2024, Funded: September 1, 2024 - Present). Grant.
Valdez Gainer, Nancy. University Lecturer Series Grant, Texas State University, Institutional (Higher Ed), $1500. (Submitted: February 1, 2023, Funded: August 1, 2023 - Present). Grant.

Kinard, T. A., Bryan, N., Kinard, T. A., Gainer, J. S., Valdez-Gainer, N., & Volk, D. (2026). Play Is Never Neutral: Supporting or Disrupting Racist Literacies Children and Teachers Bring to Play. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984261489
Gainer, J. S., & Valdez-Gainer, N. (2025). Vamos al otro lado: Critical race content analysis of Chicanx children’s literature. Perspectives and Provocations Journal of the Early Childhood Education Assembly, 14, 1–22.
Valdez-Gainer, N. (n.d.). Celebrating Our Families and Communities through Cuentos: NCTE’s 2025 Outstanding Elementary Educator in the English Language Arts Award. Language Arts Journal.
Valdez-Gainer, N. (2023). Be in Coalition to See Humanity: NCTE’s 2023 Outstanding Elementary Educators in the English Language Arts Award. Language Arts, 101(2), 143-146.
Kinard, T. A., Gainer, J. S., Valdez-Gainer, N., Long, S., & Volk, D. (2021). Interrogating the “Gold Standard”: Play-Based Early Childhood Education and Perpetuating White Supremacy. Theory into Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2021.1911587