Publications

Book

Donaldson, M. (2021). From oops to aha: Portraits of learning from mistakes in Kindergarten. Rowman & Littlefield.

Available for purchase at Amazon.com, Rowman.com, or your favorite book retailer

Click here to view Dr. Donaldson’s full CV.

Peer Reviewed Articles

Donaldson, M., Sun, X., Chimgee, A.E., & Hwang, M. (2025). How do young children respond to mistakes? Journal of Research in Childhood Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2025.2465582

Donaldson, M. & Solis, S.L. (2025). Editorial. In Solis, S.L. & Donaldson, M. (Eds.) The role of risk-taking and mistakes in early childhood learning and teaching. Frontiers in Education. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1575027

Donaldson, M. (2024). A closer look: Research and risk-taking in teacher preparation. Young Children, 79(1). https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/spring2024/research-and-risk

Donaldson, M., Benmoussa, S., & Hwang, M. (2024). Oopses on the page: A content analysis of children’s picturebooks featuring mistakes. Early Childhood Education Journal, 52(7),1459-1470. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-023-01546-z

Donaldson, M. (2023). Welcome to the oops club!: Varied patterns of mistake responses in a veteran teacher’s classroom. Frontiers in Education. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1240411

Donaldson, M. (2023). Student mistakes in elite school classrooms: Teacher reflections and reported instructional strategies. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 13(1), 203-218. https://doi.org/10.5590/JERAP.2023.13.1.15

Audley, S. & Donaldson, M. (2022). When to grit and when to quit: (How) should grit be taught in K-12 classrooms? Theory Into Practice, 61(3), 265-276. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2022.2096377

Donaldson, M. (2020). Tools to build their best learning: Examining how Kindergarten teachers frame student mistakes. Harvard Educational Review, 90(1), 54-74. https://doi.org/10.17763/1943-5045-90.1.54

Donaldson, M. (2020). “Everything go upside down”: Navigating mistakes in early learning and teaching. Schools: Studies in Education, 17(1), 70-91. https://doi.org/10.1086/708357

Donaldson, M. (2019). Harnessing the power of fantastic attempts: Kindergarten teacher perspectives on children’s mistakes. Journal of Educational Research, 112(4), 535-549. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2019.1598329

Donaldson, M. (2019). Teacher accounts of children’s mistakes in the Kindergarten classroom. Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research, 13(3), 187-197.        

Capotosto, L., Kim, J.S., Burkhauser, M., Park, S.O., Mulimbi, B., Donaldson, M. & Kingston, H.C. (2017). Family support of third grade reading skills, motivation, and support. AERA Open, 3(3), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858417714457

Alio, A. P., Salihu, H. M., Berrings, T. J., Gramling, M. D., Burton, J. A., Gayles, T. A., et al. (2006). Obesity research and the forgotten African American child. Ethnicity & Disease, 16(2), 569–575. https://www.ethndis.org/priorarchives/ethn-16-02-569.pdf