Rate My Professor Bailey Nafziger

Bailey Nafziger is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Science Education in the Department of Elementary and Special Education at Georgia Southern University’s College of Education, Statesboro Campus, where she has served since 2022. She earned her Ed.D. in Leadership and Practice from the University of North Dakota in May 2022, with a dissertation titled “Prioritizing Gifted Pedagogy in Middle School Honors Courses: A Delphi Study.” Nafziger holds an M.A. in Science Education from Northern Arizona University, completed in May 2017 with a thesis on “Promoting Elementary Science Through Distributed Leadership,” and a B.S. in Elementary Education with a Middle School Science specialty from The College of St. Scholastica in May 2012. Prior to her faculty role, she worked as a Gifted Specialist at Queen Creek Unified School District from 2019 to 2022, developing and facilitating curriculum for gifted students in grades 2 through 6, coordinating testing, and supporting general education teachers. She also taught middle school science at Queen Creek Unified School District from 2017 to 2019 and at Florence Unified School District from 2012 to 2017, implementing culturally relevant pedagogy to engage diverse learners.

Nafziger’s research focuses on gifted pedagogy, culturally relevant science education, STEM sensemaking, preservice teacher self-efficacy, and professional learning for critical and creative thinking. Her publications include “I’m So Hungry”: Assessing STEM Sensemaking Through Data-Informed Writing in the Journal of STEM Teacher Education (2026, co-authored with A. M. Moldavan and K. Brkich); Examining Growth in Preservice Science Teaching and Learning Self-Efficacy Using Mixed Methods in the Journal of Research in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education (2025, with A. M. Moldavan and A. C. Brady); Values of Gifted Specialists as a Professional Identity in Georgia Educational Researcher (2024, with S. Kaesler); and Leveraging Faculty Strengths: Building Awareness for Twice-Exceptional Learners. She has led professional development initiatives, such as gifted education endorsement courses at Queen Creek Unified School District and science instruction series at Florence Unified School District. Nafziger received the district-wide Teacher of the Month award in 2017 from Florence Unified School District and secured grants totaling over $4,000 for classroom resources from 2015 to 2020.