Sara Doolittle, Ph.D.

Sara Doolittle received her Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Oklahoma. She enters into higher education after a 24-year career as a secondary English teacher. Her academic research focuses on the intersection of the law, race and schools with a particular focus on 19th-century school segregation law. Her work on legal challenges to Oklahoma territorial segregation law has appeared in History of Education Quarterly. Informed by her 20-year career as a public educator, her research also focuses on 20th and 21st-century educational finance litigation. Employing both qualitative historical methodology as well as quantitative legal analysis, her work attends to the broader inequities in educational access.

• Foundations of American Education
• Child Psychology
• Classroom Management

A proud product of an entirely public education, Doolittle graduated from Norman High School and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas, majoring in English and graduating Phi Beta Kappa with honors.

Her master’s degree is in English curriculum studies from the University of Colorado.

She received her Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Oklahoma. 

She is certified in secondary English education in both Oklahoma and Colorado and holds a secondary principal certification in Oklahoma. 

Most recently, Doolittle was awarded the 2023-24 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Post Doctoral Fellowship. This support will allow her to transform her research into a book on the legal challenges to educational access brought by Black pioneers in Oklahoma Territory. A 2019-20 recipient of the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Research Development Award, she has also been selected for the AERA Division F mentorship program and the History of Education Doctoral Summer School sponsored by the leading organizations in the history of education.

A lover of the outdoors, you can find Doolittle hiking, walking, gardening or just puttering in her backyard. She loves to cook and organize parties, operating a catering business for many years on the side. Finally, she adores her family; her husband Greg, her four step-children, and their 10-year-old son who will start fifth grade this year. 

Publications
Doolittle, S. (2018). Contingencies of place and time: The significance of Wilson v. Marion and Oklahoma Territory in the history of school segregation. History of Education Quarterly, 58, 392-419.

Selected Presentations

Panel Presentations
Doolittle, S., Johnson, J., & Ozias, M. (2019, October). Struggle, supremacy and sovereignty: The role of education in Oklahoma’s history. Panel presented at the History of Education Society 59th Annual Conference, Columbus, Ohio. 

Doolittle, S., & Taylor, B. (2019, October). What, who, how, so what: Close reading of a passage. Panel presented at the Get Fit Conference, Norman Public Schools, Norman, Oklahoma.

Doolittle, S., Hoggatt, E., & Grubb, M. (2019, October). Do I have to present?: Sparking effective student presentation skills. Panel presented at the Get Fit Conference, Norman Public Schools, Norman, Oklahoma.

Doolittle, S., Johnson, J., & Sourie, E. (2017, November). “Going to the territory”: Early education in Oklahoma. Panel presented at the History of Education Society 57th Annual Conference, Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Doolittle, S. & DeWitt, S. M. (2017, October). Choice and voice: Giving rise to authentic student research. Panel presented at the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English Fall Conference, Edmond, Oklahoma.

Velazquez, M., Sourie, E., & Doolittle, S., (2016, August). Invisible land: The early legal battle for integrated schools in Oklahoma Territory. Panel Presentation at the International Standing Conference for the History of Education 38: Education and the Body, Chicago, Illinois.

Paper Presentations

Doolittle, S. C. (2023, April). Educational Rights and the West: Oklahoma State Formation and the Legal Challenges for Educational Funding. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting Chicago, IL.  

Doolittle, S. C. (2022, April). Educational rights and the west: Oklahoma Territory (1889–1907) and legal challenges for black educational access. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting San Diego, CA. 

Doolittle, S. C. (2021, June). The legal battle for schools: Oklahoma Territory and its role in the fight for educational access. Paper presented at the International Standing Conference for the History of Education 42: Looking from Above and Below: Rethinking the Social in the History of Education, Orebro, Sweden. [held online]

Frick, W. C., & Doolittle, S. C. (2020, November). School system reform within urban municipality revitalization: A case exploring intergovernmental relations. Paper presented at the International Organization of Social Sciences and Behavioral Research (IOSSBR) Fall Conference. San Antonio, Texas. [held online]

Doolittle, S. (2020, Apr 17 - 21) The Constitutional challenge: Oklahoma Territory (1889–1907) and its role in school segregation law [Paper Session]. AERA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. http://tinyurl.com/wamar6b 
(Conference Canceled)

Doolittle, S. (2018, April). Contesting segregation: The early legal battle for educational access in territorial Oklahoma. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New York City, New York.

Doolittle, S. (2016, October). Lighght: The huh? ah-ha! approach to teaching poetry. Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English Fall Conference, Norman, Oklahoma.