EDUCATION

Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania Ph.D. Educational Leadership Dissertation Title: “Communities discovering what they care about: Youth and adults leading school reform together”

Lesley University, Boston, Massachusetts M.Ed. Out of School Time Education and Leadership

Brown University, Providence Rhode Island B.A. South Asian Studies, B.A. History

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS: 

Books:

Brown, L.M., Biddle, C. & Tappan, M. (2022). Trauma-responsive schooling: Centering student voice and healing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Azano, A., Eppley, K., and Biddle, C. (Eds) (2021). Bloomsbury Handbook of Rural Education in the United States. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.

Peer-Reviewed Articles:

Biddle, C. & Kimball, E. (2025). Education as a rural, public good. Maine Policy Review, 34(2), 264-266.

Biddle, C. (2025). Rural school redesign: Enacting care and mutuality through responsive professional development. The Rural Educator, 46(4).

Davis, Z., Crandall, M., Leahy, J., Bell, K., & Biddle, C. (2025). Not all trails are straight: Residential aspirations of rural, queer college students. Journal of Rural Studies. Online first. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016725001135

Biddle, C. & Brezicha, K. (2025). Personalized learning policy and student voice: A statewide case study. Educational Policy, 39(6), https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048241305532

Frankland, M. & Biddle, C. (2023). “I don’t think they know what I do”: The role of the school counselor during 2020 COVID-related building closure.  Theory and Practice in Rural Education, 13(2), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.3776/tpre.2023.v13n2p1-28

McHenry-Sorber, E., Biddle, C., Buffington, P., Hartman, S., Roberts, J.K., and Schmitt-Wilson, S. (2023). The 2022-2027 National Rural Education Research Agenda: A Closer Look.  Peabody Journal of Education, 98(4), 448-465 (equal co-author contributions)

Brown, S.P. & Biddle, C. (2023). Testing a teacher “costs to caring” resilience model to identify burnout mediators.  Teaching and Teacher Education, 123(2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104078

Biddle, C. (2022). “We’ll probably all be in trouble for hugging a kid”: Rural teacher radicalism in addressing adverse childhood experiences. The Rural Educator, 43(3), 43-57. (blind review coordinated by editorial advisory board)

Bernsen, N., Crandall, M., Leahy, J., & Biddle, C. (2022). Community influences on youth educational aspirations in rural, resource-dependent places. Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 8(3), 189-207. 

Biddle, C. & Brown, L.M. (2020). Banishing “Siberia” and student seclusion: Supporting trauma-informed systems change in a rural school.Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership. [Online First: https://doi.org/10.1177/1555458920910771%5D

Biddle, C.,Sutherland, D.H. & McHenry-Sorber, E. (2019). On resisting “awayness” and being a good insider: Early career scholars revisit Coladarci’s Swan Song a decade later. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 35(7), 1-16.

Biddle, C. & Hufnagel, E. (2019). Navigating the “danger zone”: Tone policing and the boundaries of civility in student voice. American Journal of Education, 125(4), 487-520.

Biddle, C. & Mette, I. (2019). Using affinity networks to scaffold community collaboration: Methodological techniques to support the use of qualitative data in community-based research. The Qualitative Report, 24(2), 1186-1197.

Azano, A.& Biddle, C. (2019). Disrupting dichotomous traps and problem formation in rural education. The Rural Educator, 40(2), 1-13

Mette, I. M., Biddle, C., *Congdon, M, & *Mercado, A. (2019). Parochialism or pragmatic resistance? The role of community-engaged leadership, activist scholarship, and vulnerable rural ecologies within school reform.Australian and International Journal of Rural Education.

Biddle, C. (2019). Pragmatism in student voice practice: What does it take to sustain a counter-normative practice in the long-term?Journal of Educational Change, 20(1), 1-29.

Biddle, C., Mette, I., & Mercado, A. (2018). Partnering with schools for community development: Power imbalances in rural community collaboratives addressing childhood adversity.Community Development, 49(2), 191-210.

Biddle, C. (2017). Trust formation when youth and adults partner for school reform: A case study of supportive structures and challenges.Journal of Organizational and Educational Leadership, 2(2), 1-15.

Biddle, C. & Azano, A. (2016).Constructing and reconstructing the “rural school problem”: Rurality and rural education research over the past century. Review of Research in Education, 40(1), 298-325.

Mette, I., Biddle, C., Mackenzie, S.V. & Harris-Smedberg, K. (2016). Poverty, privilege and political dynamics of rural school reform: Unraveling leadership in invisible America. Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, 19(3), 62-84. 

Biddle, C. & Mitra, D. (2015). Implementing middle school youth-adult partnerships: A study of two programs focused on social change. Middle Grades Review, 1(2), 1-18.

Biddle, C. & Schafft, K.A. (2015). Axiology and anomaly in the practice of mixed methods research: Pragmatism, valuation and the “transformative paradigm”. Journal of Mixed Methods Research. 9(4), 320-334.

Schafft, K.A. & Biddle, C. (2015). Opportunity, ambivalence and the purpose of schooling in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region. Human Organization, 74(1), 74-85.

Schafft, K.A. & Biddle, C. (2014). School and community impacts of hydraulic fracturing within Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region and dilemmas of educational leadership in gasfield boomtowns Peabody Journal of Education, 89(5), 670-682.

Schafft, K.A. & Biddle, C. (2013). Place and purpose in public education: District mission statements and educational (dis)embeddedness. American Journal of Education, 120(1), 55-76

Book chapters:

Biddle, C. & Zuckerman, S. (forthcoming). Asset-based approaches to preparing school leaders for rural contexts: Ruralizing the National Educational Leadership Preparation Standards. In P. Grant and J.K. Roberts (Eds), Asset-based approaches to theory and practice in rural education: Leveraging local strengths in a globalized world. Routledge.

Azano, A., Flowers, J., Coady, M. & Biddle, C. (2025). Trends influencing the future of rural education research in the United States. In J. Johnson & H. Hobart (Eds), International Handbook on Rural and Remote Education. Routledge.

Biddle, C., & Frankland, M. (2024). Leading “survival learning”: Rural school leaders during COVID-19. In S. White, J. Downey, & M. Fuqua (Eds) Leading rurally: Lessons on leadership in rural education. Routledge.

Biddle, C. (2021). “Rural educational leadership.” In A. Azano, K. Eppley, and C. Biddle (Eds). Bloomsbury Handbook of Rural Education in the USA. New York: Bloomsbury.

Biddle, C. & Brown, L.M. (2021). “Trauma-informed education in rural schools.” In A. Azano, K. Eppley, and C. Biddle (Eds). BloomsburyHandbook of Rural Education in the USA. New York: Bloomsbury.

Biddle, C. & Mitra, D. (2020). “Community advocacy and activism.” In A. Urick, D. DeMatthew & T. Ford, Maximizing the Policy-Relevance of Research for School Improvement. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Frankland, M., *Mercado, A., & Biddle, C. (2019). “Negotiating culturally responsive leadership in remote, rural settings.” In E. Crawford & L. Dorner (Eds), Educating Immigrant Children. NY: Routledge.

Biddle, C., Mette, I., Brown, L. Tappan, M., Ray, B. & Strickland, S. (2018). “Addressing rural, wicked problems through collaboration: Critical reflections on a school-university-community design process.” In R.M. Reardon & J. Leonard (Eds), Making a positive impact in rural places: Change agency in school-university-community collaboration in education. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Biddle, C., & Mette, I. (2017). “Education and Information.” In J. Sherman, A. Tickamyer, & J. Warlick (Eds), Rural poverty in the United States. New York: Columbia University Press.

Biddle, C. & Schafft. K.A. (2016). “Educational and ethical dilemmas for STEM education in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale Gasfield Communities“. In R. Duschl & A. Bismack (Eds), Reconceptualizing STEM education: The central role of practices. Routledge. Braser, K., Davis, L., Glenna, L., Kelsey, T., McLaughlin, D., Schafft, K.A., Babbie, K.,

Biddle, C., Delessio-Parson, A., Rhubart, D., Suchyta, M. (2015). “Communites experiencing shale gas development”. In W. Hefly & Y. Wang (Eds), Economics of unconventional shale gas development: Cases and impacts. Springer Publishing, pp. 149-178.

Schafft, K.A. & Biddle, C. (2014). “Education and schooling in rural America“. In C. Bailey, L. Jensen & E. Ransom (Eds), Rural America in a Globalizing World: Problems and Prospects for the 2010s. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press.

Non-refereed, public scholarship:

Hartman, S., Roberts, J.K, Wilson, S., McHenry-Sorber, E., Buffington, P. and Biddle, C. (2023). The 2022-2027 National Rural Education Research Agenda: A Closer Look. The Rural Educator. (equal contribution by authors)

Brown, L., Biddle, C. & Tappan, M. (2022). Student-led social-emotional learning. Educational Leadership. Retrieved from: https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/student-led-sel

Biddle, C., Brown, L.M. & Tappan, M. (2022). Letting student voice lead the way. Educational Leadership, 79(9). Retrieved from: https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/letting-student-voice-lead-the-way

Biddle, C., Tappan, M., Brown, L.M. (2022). Schools should make students’ wishes come true. Here’s how. Education Week. Retrieved from: https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-schools-should-make-students-wishes-come-true-heres-how/2022/04

Tappan, M., Brown, L.M. & Biddle, C. (2022). Rural Maine families need mental health support. Portland Press Herald. Retrieved from: https://www.pressherald.com/?p=6450179

Tinkham, K. & Biddle, C. (2022). Across Maine, we can do better to connect with our youth. Portland Press Herald. Retrieved from: https://www.pressherald.com/2022/03/31/maine-voices-across-maine-we-can-do-better-to-connect-with-our-youth/

Biddle, C., Brenner, D., McHenry-Sorber, E. & Azano, A. (2022). Introduction to the special issue on race and rurality. The Rural Educator, 43(1), 1-3.

Brenner, D., Biddle, C., & McHenry-Sorber, E. (2020). Rural education and election candidates: Three questions. The Rural Educator, 41(2), 73-74.

Biddle, C. (2017). Four ways we can all support students in poverty.Bangor Daily News.

Biddle, C. & Hall, D. (2017). How education is failing rural America. Education Week, 36(18), 22-23.

Biddle, C. & Schafft, K.A. (2014). The sameness of mission statements. The School Administrator, 9(71), 14-15

GRANTS

2025. “Project REACH.” PI: Kathleen Gillon; Co-PI: Catharine Biddle. USDA-NIFA New Investigator Seed Grant, $300,000. (Funded December 2025).

2025. “Rural THRIVE: The Rural Educator Resilience Project.” PI: Catharine Biddle. Nellie Mae Foundation General Operating Support Grant. $75,000 (Funded November 2025).

2025. “National STEM Teacher Corps Pilot Program: EDU EPSCoR DCL: Rural Advancement of Students in STEM via Excellent Teacher Support: A Statewide Maine Alliance (Rural ASSETS).” PI: Susan McKay; Co-PIs: Catharine Biddle, Giovanna Guidoboni; Jon Doty; Franziska Peterson. National Science Foundation, $5,000,000 (Submitted September 2024; Funded).

2025. “Maine SMART Seed Grant.” PI: Lydia Horne; Co-PI: Catharine Biddle, Sandra De Urioste-Stone, Korah Soll, Val Peacock, Sara King. $15,000 (Submitted April 2025; Funded).

2025. “Rural Educator Network Community of Practice.” PI: Catharine Biddle. Rural Schools Collaborative. $5,000 (Submitted April 2025; Funded).

2024. “Strengthening Maine’s Rural Education Workforce.” PI: Ezekiel Kimball; Co-PI: Catharine Biddle. U.S. Department of Education Congressionally Directed Spending. $3,300,000 (Submitted February 2023; Funded March 2024).

2023. “Rural Routes: Rural Reimagining of Opportunities for Undergraduate Teacher Education in STEM.” PI: Ezekiel Kimball. Senior Personnel: Catharine Biddle. National Science Foundation Noyce Scholars Application. $100,000. (Submitted September 2023; Funded).

2023. “Advancing healthy communities and ecologies for rural youth.” PI: Karen Eppley; Co-PIs: Catharine Biddle. The Pennsylvania State University, $5000 (Submitted October 2023; Funded).

2023. “Creating a regional multi-tiered system of support for the Midcoast.” PI: Jessica Berry Co-PI: Catharine Biddle, Carolyn Sullivan, Mark Munger. Maine Juvenile Justice Advisory Group Supporting Community-Based Alternatives to Justice System Involvement. $50,000 (Submitted May 2023; Funded).

2023. “Rural Teacher Corps at the University of Maine”. PI: Catharine Biddle Co-PI: Ezekiel Kimball. Rural Schools Collaborative CATALYST Grant, $25,000 (Submitted May 2023; Funded).

2021. “Creating a healthy rural eco-system for community vitality.” PI: Emily Newell. Co-PIs: Eklou Amendah,  Catharine Biddle, Kathleen Gillon. UMaine Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Consortium Grant (Internal), $30,000 (Funded February 2021).

2020. “Leading through crisis: School leader decision-making about basic needs provision for students in the context of social and spatial inequality.” PI: Catharine Biddle. Co-PI: Maria Frankland. Spencer Foundation COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant, $49,718 (Funded June 2020).

2019. “Meeting students where they are: Addressing diverse experiences of childhood adversity in rural schools and communities.” PI: Catharine Biddle.American Educational Research Association Education Research Service Project Grant, $4,968 (Funded May 2019).

2018. “Planning for uncertainty: The role of school and community institutions in preparing the next generation for a new economy.” PI: Catharine Biddle; Co-PIs: Mindy Crandall, Kathleen Bell. UMaineInterdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Collaboratives Grant (Internal), $25,540 (Funded January 2018) “Bangor Savings Bank Faculty Travel Support.”

HONORS/AWARDS

Presidential Public Engagement Achievement Award, University of Maine, 2023
Presented to a faculty member by UMaine’s President for exceptional public engagement

Dean’s Service and Engagement Award, University of Maine, 2023
Presented to a faculty member by the COEHD for distinguished service to the University and Maine

Faculty Mentor Impact Award, University of Maine, 2023
Presented to a faculty member in each of UMaine’s five colleges for outstanding student mentoring

Howard A. Dawson Best Research Paper Award, National Rural Education Association, 2019, 2021 and 2022
Presented to the author(s) of the best research paper submitted to the NREA Annual Meeting

Distinguished Service Award, National Rural Education Association, 2022
Presented for the preparation of the National Rural Education Research Agenda 2022-2027

Faculty Mentoring Award, University of Maine, 2018
Presented to a faculty member in each of UMaine’s five colleges for outstanding student mentoring

Mark R. Shibles Award, University of Maine, 2017
Granted to untenured faculty who have distinguished themselves through research, teaching and service

Invited Author Award, Eastern Evaluation and Research Society, 2015
Recognizes exceptional scholarship by an early career scholar in the field of program evaluation

College of Education Graduate Student Recognition Award, The Pennsylvania State University, 2014
Recognizes an advanced graduate student’s outstanding contributions to research and teaching

David L. Clark Seminar Scholar, University Council on Educational Administration, 2011

Critical Language Scholarship (Hindi), U.S. State Department, 2011

University Graduate Fellowship, The Pennsylvania State University, 2010-2011