Destini Braxton, Ph.D. is a Research Specialist in the School of Education and Learning Development at the University of Virginia. She worked as a special education mathematics teacher for five years for Richmond Public Schools. She received her Ph.D. in Education, Educational Psychology concentration, at Virginia Commonwealth University. As a special education teacher, she worked closely with students who were dually identified as English Language Learners and students with a disability. Her research examines how motivational beliefs, student emotions, and trust impact teacher-student relationships and engagement for underrepresented students in STEM while positively addressing the overrepresentation of Black and Latinx students with learning disabilities.

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