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Douglas B. Larkin is a Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at Montclair State University in New Jersey. His main research concerns the preparation of science teachers for culturally diverse classrooms, and issues of equity and justice in teacher preparation. He worked as a high school physics and chemistry teacher for ten years—most recently in Trenton, NJ—and also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching physics and mathematics in Kenya and Papua New Guinea. He received his Ph.D. in Teacher Education in 2010 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

His most recent book, “The Reasons Teachers Stay: Lessons from High-Retention Schools, Districts, and Communities,” was co-authored with Suzanne Poole Patzelt and published in Spring 2026. He serves on the Board of Directors for NARST, as well as for the Knowles Teaching Initiative. He is PI on a Noyce Track 1 undergraduate scholarship grant (co-PI Dr. Mika Munakata, Dept. of Mathematics) at Montclair State University with funding from the National Science Foundation.

Specialization

Dr. Larkin's current research agenda is shaped by a desire to strengthen the structures that support equitable and effective secondary science education in a variety of contexts. Unfortunately many reform efforts concerned with equity often seem to bypass secondary school teachers—a situation he aims to address in his work. His research agenda and expertise follows four thematic strands:

1. Equity and justice-centered high school science teaching
2. Science teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention
3. School science departments as sites for science education reform.
4. Antiracist teacher preparation

Resume/CV

Office Hours

Fall

Monday

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Spring

Monday

2:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Links

Montclair State University does not endorse the views or opinions expressed in a faculty member's webpage or website. Consistent with the principles of academic freedom, the content provided is that of the author and does not express the opinions or views of Montclair State University.

• The Reasons Teachers Stay: Lessons from High-Retention Schools, Districts, and Communities (Douglas Larkin and Suzanne Poole Patzelt, Harvard Education Press, 2026)
• Teaching Science in Diverse Classrooms Real Science for Real Students (Routledge, 2nd Edition 2025)
• Deep Knowledge: Learning to Teach Science for Understanding and Equity (Teacher's College Press, 2013)
• Publications (via Research Gate)
• Barnard Noyce Teachers Scholars Program STEM colloquium series. "Meeting Students Where They Are: Learning to Teach Science Using Students’ Cultural Resources"
• Teacher Quality Assessment (Wikipedia page created by TETD 807 class)
• Doug Larkin's page on Teachers Pay Teachers
• ORCID page
• Scholarship and Creative Works @ Digital Commons
• Induction and Mentoring Programs for the Retention of Science Teachers (IMPREST) website
• MSU Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program

Documents