Rate My Professor Andrene Castro

Andrene J. Castro is an associate professor of Educational Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education, where she also serves as the departmental program coordinator for the Ph.D. in Education, Leadership, Policy, and Justice. She holds a Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning with a concentration in Race and Gender Studies from the University of Texas at Austin (2019), an M.S. in Urban Education and African Diaspora Studies from Florida International University (2010), and a B.S. in English Education from the University of South Florida (2005). Castro joined VCU in 2019 as a visiting assistant professor, advancing to assistant professor in 2020, and has held roles such as faculty research fellow at the Minority Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Equity Center (2021–2023) and research affiliate at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (2021–present). Prior to academia, she served as a policy intern at the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans (2016), instructor at Miami Dade College (2012–2014), and high school English teacher and department chairperson at Miami Southridge Senior High School (2005–2013).

Her research focuses on teacher labor markets, policies and leadership practices shaping school-community dynamics, the cultural politics of race in education policy, and critical policy analysis. Key publications include “Drawn into policy: A systematic review of school rezoning rationales, processes, and outcomes” (Review of Educational Research, 2023, co-authored with Siegel-Hawley, Bridges, and Williams), which earned the 2025 AERA Review of Research Award; “The right kind of leader”: Neoliberal antiracism and cultural straddling in the movement for educational DEI (Race Ethnicity and Education, 2025); Navigating racialized administrative burdens in teacher licensure and certification (Teachers College Record, 2024); and Teachers of color and precarious work: The inequality of job security (Labor Studies Journal, 2022). Castro has received the 2025 VCU National/International Recognition Award, VCU School of Education Award of Excellence for Early Career Faculty (2022–2023), David L. Clark Scholar (AERA Division L, 2016–2017), and Barbara Jackson Scholar (UCEA, 2016–2018). Her scholarship advances understanding of equity, segregation, teacher retention, and policy impacts in education.