Biography

Dr. Brianne Morettini received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in Teacher Education & Professional Development, her M.S.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania in Teaching, Learning, & Curriculum, and her B.A. from the University of Richmond in Rhetoric and Communication Studies. Currently, her research interests pertain to the study of pre-service teachers' experiences in teacher education programs. In particular, she studies reasons why people decide to teach, the expectations that pre-service teachers have of the teaching profession, and the impact that clinical practice experiences have on teacher candidates' views of the teaching profession. Additionally, she has conducted research on STEM professionals' decisions to change careers and teach. She uses her research to develop responsive teaching techniques for undergraduates at Rowan University's College of Education. She currently teaches undergrad elementary courses, undergraduate early childhood courses, master's courses, and Ph.D. courses. Dr. Morettini serves on several dissertation committees and works closely with the Ph.D. in Education candidates. Dr. Morettini has also received external funding in the form of a multi-year grant to support beginning teachers.

Accardo, A., Morettini, B., & Hedges, E. (2026). UDL Takes a Village: University Faculty Reflections on Accountability and Infrastructure. To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development.

Morettini, B. W., Accardo, A., Prentice, K. & Alharbi, H., (2025). The professor of the future: Perspectives of university faculty implementing Universal Design for Learning. To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development 44(1): 4. https://doi.org/10.3998/tia.5596 

Drelick, A., Freedman, J., McCann, N., & Morettini, B. (2023). Examining the Impact of Disability Studies in Education-Infused Curriculum on Attitudes Towards Inclusion in a U.S. Secondary Teacher Education Programme. International Journal of Inclusive Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2023.2289569 

Morettini, B. & Luet, K. (2021). “Why does this make me so angry?: Using self-study to uncover hidden epistemological frames for academic identity development. Alternation Special Issue on Academic Identities as Epicentres for Social Cohesiveness in Higher Education, 28(2) 65 – 88. https://doi.org/10.29086/2519-5476/2021/v28n2a4

Morettini, B., Tulino, D., & Zion, S. (2021). Exploring the myth of school-university partnerships: Untangling district resistance and academic capitalism. Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education, 20(3). 136 – 163. https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/taboo/vol20/iss3/9 

Morettini, B. (2021). Forms of resistance: Insights into beginning teacher development. International Journal of Educational Research Open.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2021.100041

Morettini, B., Luet, K., & Vernon-Dotson, L. (2020). Building beginning teacher resilience: A story from a grant-funded mentoring program. The Educational Forum, 84(1), 48 – 62. 
https://doi.org/10.1080/00131725.2020.1679933

Morettini, B. (2024). Community Asset Mapping: Identifying Sources of Community Cultural Wealth. In C. Harrington (Ed.), Creating Culturally Affirming and Meaningful Assignments. Routledge. 

Morettini, B., & Vernon-Dotson, L. (2023). Leading from the ranks: Teacher leader sensemaking of a district-supported mentorship initiative (pp. 237 - 256). In D. Fowler & M. Raehll (Eds.), On Leadership: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Information Age Publishing. 

Morettini, B., Abraham, S. & Wilson-Hill, Z. (2022). The Stories We Live By: Storytelling to Support Anti-Racist Pedagogies (pp. 129 - 149). In G. Jean-Marie & S. Browne (Eds.), Reconceptualizing Social Justice in Teacher Education. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16644-0_7 

Morettini, B. (2022). Creating community through meaningful interactions: A framework to support critical pedagogy and social justice (pp. 141 - 158). In E. Mikulec & T. Ramalho (Eds.), Enacting Critical Pedagogy Online. Peter Lang. 

Morettini, B. (2022). Reimagining My Role: Relational Teacher Education in a Remote Urban and Inclusive Teacher Education Course.  In A. Martin (Ed.), Self-studies in Urban Teacher Education: Preparing U.S. Teachers to Advance Equity and Social Justice (pp. 151 - 166 ). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5430-6_9 

Grants Awarded

Morettini, B. (Principal Investigator). (2024-2025). The Relational Teacher Development Project. Profs for a Purpose initiative, Rowan University ($500). 

Morettini, B., & Accardo, A. (Principal Investigators). (2022-2026). New Jersey’s Southern Learning Resource Center: LRC-S at Rowan University. Trenton, NJ: EDGAR, 34. CFR Part 76.708 (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004: No. 19E00022).  $5,000,000. 

Morettini, B. (Principal Investigator). Accardo, A., Blake, C., Cox, W., & Duke-Bryant, K. (2022-2023). The Professor of the Future: Implementing UDL in Higher Education. CATALYST initiative, Rowan University. ($25,000)

Morettini, B., Luet, K., Vernon-Dotson, L. (Principal Investigators).  (2015-2018). The Beginning Teacher Project: Building Capacity and Professional Learning. U.S. Department of Education, Improving Teacher Quality Partnership (ITQP) Title II, Part A, Subpart 3, of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), P.L. 107-110 (CFDA 84.367B). ($534,609).

Morettini, B. (Principal investigator). (2014). Becoming a teacher: How pre-service teachers envision their future role(s) in the classroom. Rowan University’s Seed Grant. ($1,800).