Research

PEER-REVIEWED Publications

Cimpian, J. & M. T. McQuillan. (Accepted). Documented health risks, political suppression of LGBTQ+ data, and informational erasure. American Journal of Public Health.
Mayo, C. & M. T. McQuillan. (Accepted). History on repeat: Silencing trans-related health information and violating health professionals’ ethical obligations. Invited manuscript for Health Education Journal.
Iskander, L.,^ Cook, C.,^ Keenan, H., McQuillan, M. T. & M. Súarez. (Accepted) “A world of trans vibrance and trans liberation”: How school leaders support trans educators. Journal of Educational Administration.
Cimpian, J. R. & M. T. McQuillan. (2025). An overlooked explanation for increasing suicidality: LGBQ stressors felt by more students. Educational Researcher. 54(1), 56-60. https://doi-org/10.3102/0013189X241305329
McQuillan, M. T., Anderson, J.^ and L. Gandy-Fastovich.^ (2025). “Sometimes It’s Hard to Do the Right Thing”: The Gender-Inclusivity Leadership Spectrum of How PK–12 Administrators Understand Gender Diversity Laws, Policies, and Implementation. American Educational Research Journal, 62(1), 14-52. https://doi-org./10.3102/00028312241281731
McQuillan, M. T., Cimpian, J., Lebovitz, B.,^ & E.K. Gill.^ (2024). Trans youth need educational support: School climate, health, and where trans youth find support. JAMA -Pediatrics. 2024;178(10):1082–1084. https://doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2024.3079
McQuillan, M. T., Iskander, L.,^ Súarez, M., & H. Keenan. (2024). “Establishing policy is just step one of twenty": How educational policy protections, district practices, & leadership matter to trans PK-12 school workers. Teachers College Record. 126(4-5), 147-186. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681241271574
Owis, B., Keenan, H., Iskander, L., Suárez, M. I., McQuillan, M., Cook, C., & Gallardo, D. (2025). “It’s a Constant Wear and Tear”: Trans Visibility as Educational Labour in the Neoliberal School. Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education, 2(1). https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jqtsie/vol2/iss1/4/
McQuillan, M. T., Lebovitz, B.^ & L. Harbin.^ (2024). The disruptive power of policy erasure: How state legislators and school boards fail to take up trans-affirming policies while leaning into anti-LGBTQ+ policies. Educational Policy. 38(3), 642-699. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048231218206
McQuillan, M. T. & C. Mayo. (2024). School leaders and transphobia: Direct, facilitative, accommodative, and resistant forms of bias and bullying. Educational Administration Quarterly. 60(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X23121774
Iskander, L.,^ Keenan, H., McQuillan, M.T., Súarez, M., Owis, B., Cook, C.,^ & D. Gallardo.^ (2024). ‘Everything they think they know, they should forget’: How trans school workers respond to transphobic discourses. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312241281731
Súarez M., Keenan, H., Cook, C.,^ McQuillan, M. T., & L. Iskander, L.,^ Gallardo-Zamora, D.,^ & C. Glass. (2024). Union membership, retention, emotional, and physical safety for PK-12 trans school workers of color. Equity & Excellence in Education. https://doi:10.1080/10665684.2024.2394904
McQuillan, M. T., Gill, E.^ & X. Gong.^ (2023). LGBTQ+-inclusive professional development in elementary schools: Does it matter to schoolwide disciplinary rates? Journal of School Leadership. 33(4), 382-408. https://doi.org/10.1177/10526846231174051.
McQuillan, M. T. (2023) Scaling gender- and sexual-diversity policies in K-12 schools. Educational Policy. 7(4), 910-952. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048211058461
McQuillan, M. T. (2022). A starting point: Gender, hot cognition, and trans-informed administrative guidance. Educational Researcher, 51(5), 336-351. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X221084707
McQuillan, M. T., Eckes, S., & M. Lewis. (2022). A solution in search of a problem: Justice demands more for trans student-athletes to fulfill the promise of Title IX. Marquette Law Journal, 33(1), 196-228.
Suárez, M. I., McQuillan, M. T., Keenan, H. B., & Iskander, L^. (2022). Differences in trans employees’ and students’ school experiences. Educational Researcher, 51(5), 352–358. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X221100834
Mangin, M. M., Keenan, H. B., Meyer, E. J., McQuillan, M. T., Suárez, M. I., & Iskander, L.^ (2022). Editors’ introduction: Toward trans studies in K–12 education. Educational Researcher, 51(5), 302–306. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X221105513
Gill, E.K.^ & M.T. McQuillan. (2022). LGBTQ+ students’ peer victimization and mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(18), 11537. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191811537
McQuillan, M. & S. Eckes. (2022). A legal update: When social media posts cause students emotional harm. West Education Law Reporter. 399 (1), pp. 14-21.
McQuillan, M.T., & J. Leininger+ (2021). Supporting gender-inclusive schools: Educators’ beliefs about gender diversity training and implementation plans. Professional Development in Education. 47:1, 156-176. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2020.1744685
McQuillan, M. T., A. Miller, T. McDade, L. Kuhns, & R. Garofalo (2021). Gender minority stress and inflammation in transgender and gender-nonconforming youth. Transgender Health. 6:2, 91-10 http://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2020.0019
Adam, E. K., Quinn, M. E., Tavernier, R., McQuillan, M. T., Dahlke, K. A., & K. E. Gilbert. (2017). Diurnal cortisol slopes and mental and physical health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 83, 25-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.05.018
Hostinar, C. E., McQuillan, M. T., Mirous, H. J., Grant, K. E., & Adam, E. K. (2014). Cortisol responses to a group public speaking task for adolescents: Variations by age, gender, and race. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 50, 155-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.08.015

^denotes graduate student co-author

+denotes practitioner partner co-author

$denotes undergraduate student co-author

PEER-REVIEWED BOOK CHAPTER

McQuillan, M. T., Alston, J., O’Malley, & F. Hernandez. (In press). Inclusive leadership and LGBTQ students. Invited book chapter in preparation for Theoharis, G. & M. Scanlan (Eds.) in Leadership for Increasingly Diverse Schools.
Stein, A.,^ French, W.,^ McQuillan, M.T., & C. Mayo. (In press). Marginalized populations as targets of incivility: The case of queer and trans educators. In Kara Lasater, James Koschoreck, James Walls (Eds.). Incivility and Workplace Toxicity in PK-12 Schools: The Causes, Costs, and Solutions for Educational Leaders. Routledge.
Mayo, C., & M. McQuillan. (2025). Rainbowland bans, sticking heads in the sand, or holding students’ hands: How administrators engage in direct, facilitative, accommodating, and resistant bullying. in E. Payne and M. Smith (Eds.) Queer Kids, School Violence, and the Limits of ‘Bullying.’ University of Minnesota Press.
Lebovitz, B.,^ Gill, E. K.,^ McQuillan, M. T., & S. Eckes. (2024). LGBTQ+ students in PK-12 education. In G. Noblit & B. Superfine (Eds), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1962
Mayo, C., Adelman, M., & M. T. McQuillan. (2022). Surveying the terrain: Legal and policy contexts. In M. Mangin & M. Suarez (Eds.), Transgender Studies in K-12 Education: Mapping an Agenda for Research and Practice. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.
Gill, E.K.^ & M.T. McQuillan. (2022). COVID-19 pandemic and LGBTQ+ youth. Scholarly Community Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/58867
McQuillan, M. T. (2018). Educational attainment and sexual orientation in adolescent and young adult males. Sociological Studies of Children and Youth (Vol. 23). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.pp. 121-152 https://doi.org/10.1108/S1537-466120170000023007

^denotes graduate student co-author

+denotes practitioner partner co-author

$denotes undergraduate student co-author

RESEARCH & POLICY REPORTS

McQuillan, M. T., Lebovitz, B.,^ Gill, E. K.. ^ French, W., & B. Juchems.+ (2025). Wisconsin PK-12 school board policies concerning LGBTQ+ students. Madison, WI: Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools (GSAFE).
McQuillan, M.T., Gill, E. K.,^ Gong, X.,^ Lebovitz, B.,^ Swetz, A.,+ & B. Juchems.+ (2025) Physical activity and trans students in Wisconsin schools. Madison, WI: GSAFE and FAIR Wisconsin.
Paino, M.,^ McQuillan, M., & B. Juchems.+ (2025). Using case law to inform trans-inclusive school policies Madison, WI: GSAFE.
Wisconsin Equality Maps. Madison, WI: Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools (GSAFE) and FAIR Wisconsin.
Iverson, D.^, Gill, E. K.^, Bates, D.^, & M. T. McQuillan. (2024) Building inclusive schools for multiply-marginalized students. Stanford, CA: Stanford Graduate School of Education Public Scholarship Collaborative. pp. 1-19. https://publicscholarship.stanford.edu/scholarship/policy-briefs
Lebovitz, B.,^ Gill, E. K.,^ & M. T. McQuillan. (2024) Trans and LGBTQ+ students’ wellbeing in Wisconsin schools. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Public Education Network. pp. 1-2. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DyFBps-oipmXdAQGhoF0t_bIKO9rFHSq/view
McQuillan, M. T., Hohs, S.+, Herdina, J.+, Gong, X.,^ & E. K. Gill^ (2022). Examining school supports and barriers to improving the health, safety, and academic achievement of MMSD LGBTQ+ students report. Madison, WI: Madison Education Partnership. pp. 1-41. https://mep.wceruw.org/documents/McQuillan-SummaryReport.pdf

Awarded AERA Outstanding Policy Report Award (Division L: Politics and Educational Policy)

McQuillan, M. T., Davies, A.,$ Gomez, H.,$ & E. Power. (2018). Changes in school policies for gender-expansive students. Evanston, IL: Institute for Policy Research. pp. 1-15.

^denotes graduate student co-author

+denotes practitioner partner co-author

$denotes undergraduate student co-author

Additional Research Training

Minnesota Teaching License (Social Studies Grades 5-12), File Folder No. 415526, 2005 – 2025

Educational Leadership and Policy Mentoring Program with Cath Lugg, 2023- 2024

AERA Division A Early Career Mentoring Workshop, April 13, 2023

AERA Division A's Equity, Inclusion, and Action Committee’s Literature in Action Participant, Spring 2023

Item Response Theory Workshop (Statistical Horizons and Tenko Reykov)

Multiple Imputation (UW Social Sciences Computing Cluster)

OVCRGE NIH Grant Writing Boot Camp for Social Scientists (University of Wisconsin – Madison)

Women Faculty Mentoring Program (University of Wisconsin – Madison)

Deans Alliance Mentorship Circles with Hilda Borko and Deborah Loewenberg Ball

Plan & Design and Facilitation & Management courses (TeachOnline@UW)

Advancing Health Equity and Diversity (AHEAD) Program (University of Wisconsin – Madison)

Faculty Success Program (National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity)

Policy Evaluation (Northwestern Professor Tom Cook)

Advanced Qualitative Methods (Northwestern Professor James Spillane)

Summer Institute in LGBT Population Health (The Fenway Institute)

VSCSE Data Intensive Summer School (University of Chicago Research Computing School)

Fellowship Writing Workshop (Northwestern University)

Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Training (Campbell Collaboration Colloquium)

Management Program for Engineers and Scientists (Kellogg School of Business, Northwestern)

Gender and Sex Development Clinic at Lurie Children’s Hospital, Graduate Research Intern

Institute for Policy Research (IPR), Graduate Research Assistant

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine IMPACT Program, Intern and Graduate Research Assistant

University of Minnesota Human Developmental Psychobiology Lab, Research Assistant

Selected PROFESSIONAL, INVITED, & UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS

• McQuillan, M., Anderson, J.* & L. Gandy-Fastovich.* "Sometimes It's Hard to Do the Right Thing": From Gender-Inclusive to Resistant Leadership Approaches to Gender-Diversity Reforms. Paper Symposium, American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL, April 14, 2023.

• Súarez, M., McQuillan, M.,Iskander,L.,* Keenan, H., and B. Owis. Union Membership, Retention, Emotional, and Physical Safety for Pre-K–12 Trans School Workers of Color. Paper Roundtable, American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL, April 13, 2023.

• Lebovitz, B.,* Harbin, L., & M. McQuillan. A Title IX Compliance Case Study: Downstream Gender Identity Nondiscrimination and a Federal Court Decision. Paper Roundtable, American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL, April 13, 2023.

• McQuillan, M., Lebovitz, B.,* Gill, E.,*Hermann, M., Maloney, S. and L. Harbin* Data-Informed LGBTQ+-Inclusive Decision-Making for Schools. Invited Talk, GSAFE Safe Schools, Safe Communities: State Conference on LGBTQ+ Youth, Green Bay, Wisconsin, April 6, 2023.

• McQuillan, M. T., Iskander, L.,* Suarez, M. & H. Keenan. Using CritQuant to Understand Factors that Influence Trans School Workers' Safety and Satisfaction. Paper Symposium, University Council of Educational Administration, Seattle, WA, November 19, 2022.

• McQuillan, M.T. & C. Mayo. School Leaders and Transphobia: Direct, Facilitative, Accommodating, and Resistant Bullying. Paper Symposium, University Council of Educational Administration, Seattle, WA, November 18, 2022.

• Koschoreck, J., Allen, J., Alston, J., McQuillan, M., Hernandez, F., O'Malley, M., Duerte, B., & H. Lustick. The Sustainability of LGBTQIA+ Studies Amidst an Intensification of Political Assault on Queer and Trans Lives. Critical Conversations Session, University Council of Educational Administration, Seattle, WA, November 18, 2022.

• Gill, E.K. & M.T. McQuillan. Examining School Climates and the Well-Being of LGBTQ+ Students Across Urban, Suburban, and Rural Contexts. Paper Symposium, University Council of Educational Administration, Seattle, WA, November 19, 2022.

• McQuillan, M., Lebovitz B., & L. Harbin. Are States Complying with Federal Rulings Concerning Transgender Students?: A Case Study of Whitaker v. Kenosha. Roundtable, University Council of Educational Administration, Seattle, WA, November 19, 2022.

• Keenan, H.B., Iskander, L., Suarez, M. & M. T. McQuillan. Reimagining Education with Trans Workers in PK-12 Schools. Paper Symposium, American Educational Studies Association, Pittsburg, PA, November 2022.

• McQuillan, M.T. Introducing and Developing Gender-Inclusive Practices. Invited Talk, Early Career Teacher Institute, Madison, Wisconsin, July 27, 2022.

• McQuillan, M.T. Examining the Health of and Structural Supports for MMSD’s LGBTQ+ Students. Invited Talk, Madison Metropolitan School District Institutional Research and Evaluation Office, Madison, Wisconsin, May 4, 2022.

• McQuillan, M., M. Suarez, H. Keenan, and L. Iskander. Do policies and leadership matter to the satisfaction, safety, health, and wellbeing of PK-12 trans school workers?: Initial findings from the Trans Workers in Schools Project. Paper Symposium, American Educational Research Association, San Diego. California, April 23, 2022.

• Gill, E.K. & M. T. McQuillan. Transgender and Gender-Expansive Students’ Well-Being Across Urban, Suburban, and Rural Contexts. Paper Symposium, American Educational Research Association, San Diego. California, April 24, 2022.

• McQuillan, M., Anderson, J.* & L. Gandy-Fastovich.* “‘Sometimes It’s Hard to Do the Right Thing": Administrators’ Sense-Making of Gender Identity Laws and the Implications of Understanding State Policies. Paper Symposium, American Educational Research Association, San Diego. California, April 21, 2022.

• Mayo, C., Adelman, A. & M. McQuillan. Surveying the Law and Policy Terrain: Pursuing Transgender and Nonbinary Equity in K–12 Schools. Paper Symposium, American Educational Research Association, San Diego. California, April 23, 2022.

• McQuillan, M., M. Suarez, H. Keenan, and L. Iskander. Do policies and leadership matter to the satisfaction, safety, health, and wellbeing of PK-12 trans school workers?: Initial findings from the Trans Workers in Schools Project. Paper Symposium, Association for Educational Finance and Poliy Conference, Denver, CO, March 19, 2022.

• McQuillan, M., X. Gong,* E. Gill,* J. Herdina, and S. Hohs. Creating LGBTQ+-Inclusive Schools: An Evaluation of Inclusivity Professional Development Program on Academic Achievement and Disciplinary Actions. Paper Symposium, University Council of Educational Administration, Columbus, Ohio, November 12, 2021.

• McQuillan, M. “Using Policies and Inclusivity-Professional Development to Improve the Safety and Academic Achievement of LGBTQ+ Students.” Invited Speaker, University of Wisconsin – Madison Interdisciplinary Training Program in the Educational Sciences Seminar, April 16, 2021.

• McQuillan, M. “Transgender Studies in Education: Taking responsibility for harms in schools and charting a new path forward.” Presidential Session, American Educational Research Association, Virtual Platform, April 11, 2021.

• McQuillan, M., Gill, E., & X. Gong. “Examining Behavioral and Academic Achievement of Students in Elementary Schools Participating in LGBTQ+-Inclusivity Professional Development.” Paper Symposium, American Educational Research Association, Virtual Platform, April 10, 2021.

• McQuillan, M. & K. Mathisen. “Pathways to LGBTQ+ Policy Reforms: Examining District Adoption of Statewide Legislative and Executive Reforms.” Roundtable session, American Educational Research Association, Virtual Platform, April 11, 2021.

• McQuillan, M. “Implementing Gender-Inclusive Policies Through Administrative Guidance.” Paper symposium, University Council of Educational Administration, Virtual Platform, November 18, 2020

• McQuillan, M. "People Are Still Working It Out in Their Minds": A Mixed-Methods Description of the Policy Landscape for Gender-Expansive Students and Administrative Framing.” Paper symposium, American Educational Research Association Toronto, ON, April 2019.

• McQuillan, M. “Beyond Bathrooms: Educational Policies. Procedures, and Practices Concerning Gender-Expansive Youth.” Invited talk in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin,Madison, Wisconsin, February 2019.

• McQuillan, M. “Beyond Bathrooms: School District Policies and Administrative Guidance Related to Gender-Expansive Youth." Paper symposium at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Washington D.C., November 2018.

• McQuillan, M. "Institutional Responses to District Dilemmas Related to Transgender Students." Roundtable presentation at the International Conference on Education and Social Justice, Honolulu, Hawaii, October 9, 2018.

• McQuillan, M. “Exploring the State of Education Policies and Experiences for Transgender and Gender Creative Youth.” Invited speaker session presented at the American Educational Research Association, New York City, NY, April 13, 2018.

• McQuillan, M. “Promising Scholarship in Education: Dissertation Fellows and Their Research.” Invited poster session presented at the American Educational Research Association, New York City, NY, April 16, 2018.

• McQuillan, M. “An In-Depth Look at Early Career Funding Success.” Invited roundtable at the Society for Research on Adolescence, Minneapolis, MN, April 12, 2018.

• McQuillan, M., Davies, A., and E. Powers. “State Leadership in District LGBTQ-Inclusive Bullying Policies: An Evaluation of Changes in Bullying Polices.” Poster presented at the Society for Research on Adolescence, Minneapolis, MN, April 12, 2018.

• McQuillan, M. “Beyond Bathrooms: School District Policies and Practices Related to Gender-Expansive Youth.” Presentation at the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Spring Fellows Retreat, Washington D.C., March 15, 2018.

• McQuillan, M. and J. Leininger. “Educators in Training: An evaluation of a gender inclusivity training program for educators.” Paper symposium presented at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Chicago, IL, November 7, 2017.

• McQuillan, M. and J. Leininger. “Educators in Training: An evaluation of a gender inclusivity training program for educators.” Poster presented at the National LGBTQ Health Conference, Chicago, IL, April 29, 2017.

• McQuillan, M. “Relationships between Educational Policy, School Climate, and Health in Gender Expansive Youth.” Presentation to the Lurie Children’s Hospital’s Adolescent Development Department, Chicago, IL, February 19, 2017.

• McQuillan, M. “Stress, Emotional Support, Inflammation and Immune Function.” Presentation to the Lurie Children’s Hospital’s Gender and Sex Development Clinical Team, Chicago, IL, October 4, 2016.

• McQuillan, M., Adam, E. & D. Schanzenbach. "Educational Attainment in Sexual Minority Males." Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Albuquerque, New Mexico. November 6-8, 2014.

• McQuillan, M., Aranda, F. & A. Matthews. "Mental Health of Sexual Minority Women of Color." Presentation at the annual LGBTQ Health and Wellness Conference, Chicago, Illinois. October 10, 2014.

• McQuillan, M., Hostinar, C. Mirous, H., Grant, K. & E. Adam. "Validation of the Trier Social Stress Test for Groups in a Diverse Sample of Adolescents: Variations by Age, Gender, and Race" Poster presented at the annual meeting for the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology, Montreal, Canada. August 19-22, 2014.

• McQuillan, M., Erhlich, K., Mirous, H., Adam, E. & K. Grant " LGBTQ Adolescents, Bullying and Depressive Symptoms." Poster presented at the biannual meeting for the Society for Research on Adolescence, Austin, Texas. March 20-22, 2014.

• McQuillan, M., Erhlich, K., Adam, E. & K. Grant " Victimization Is More Strongly Associated with Depressive Symptoms for LGBTQ Adolescents" Poster presented at the annual LGBTQ Health Conference, Chicago, Illinois. November 20, 2013.

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