For the Record, Feb. 20, 2026

For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and honors of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Recent presentations, publications and honors include the following:

Presentations

On Feb, 12, 2026, Sheng Lu, professor and graduate director of Fashion and Apparel Studies, spoke at the 2026 OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector, held in Paris, France. Lu participated in the session titled "Supply Chains 4.0: Due Diligence Implications of E-commerce-Driven Business Models" and shared his research on the ultra-fast fashion business model and its implications for responsible sourcing practices. Focusing on emerging labor, human rights and environmental challenges facing the global apparel and footwear sector, the forum brought together over 800 in-person participants and more than 1,200 virtual attendees from governments, businesses, trade unions, international organizations and academia worldwide.

Scott Passalugo, a biomechanics and movement science doctoral student, presented at the Delaware Army National Guard's 51st annual Safety and Occupational Health Conference on Feb. 7 at the Smyrna Readiness Center. At the conference, Passalugo, who manages UD's Veterans and College Athletes Together (VCAT) exercise intervention, talked about concussion injuries in the military. He also highlighted the importance of exercise on brain health.

Publications

Lauren P. Bailes, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development's (CEHD) School of Education, published "Ready but Waiting: The Role of Gender, Race, and Experience in Principal Applications" in Educational Researcher with coauthor Sarah Guthery. Bailes' scholarship focuses on the ways in which organizational, social-cognitive and leadership theory promote the success of school leaders and K-12 students.

Benjamin James, assistant professor in CEHD's School of Education, published a report titled "Supporting Multilingual Learners in Community Colleges: Lessons From City Colleges of Chicago" with coauthors Kylie A. Kenner, Julia Raufman, Jorge Mahecha and George C. Bunch through the Community College Research Center within Teachers College at Columbia University. James specializes in language and literacy education and teacher preparation for working with multilingual learners in K-12 schools.

Bita Moradi, a Ph.D. in education student in CEHD's School of Education, and Stephanie Del Tufo, assistant professor in the School of Education, published "Teacher and School Predictors of Middle School Educators' Self-efficacy for Instructing in Culturally Diverse Classrooms" in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. Moradi and Del Tufo specialize in language and literacy education. Moradi also published "A Mixed-methods Study on the Role of a Professional Development Program in Shifting Teaching Self-efficacy, Confidence, Practices, Knowledge, and Need for Support of K-12 Educators Teaching Multilingual Learners" with Adrian Pasquarella, associate professor in CEHD's School of Education, Nigel Caplan, professor in the College of Arts and Sciences' English Language Institute, Samantha Shewchuk, research associate in CEHD's Center for Research in Education and Social Policy, and Jamie Janick, project manager in the English Language Institute.

Honors

Erica Litke, associate professor in CEHD's School of Education, received the prestigious 2026 Early Career Award from the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators in February. This award recognizes a mathematics teacher educator who, while early in their career, has made distinguished contributions and shows exceptional potential for leadership in one or more areas of teaching, service and/or scholarship. Litke's research considers mathematics teaching as an object of study, with the aim of improving the learning opportunities offered to students and making mathematics classrooms more equitable and affirming spaces. She focuses on describing and analyzing instructional practice using observation instruments, connecting instructional quality to broader policy-related issues in education and developing teacher knowledge and practice through professional learning.

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