AREAS
OF INTEREST
Sociology, Education, Education Policy, Social Networks, Statistics and Methods
I am a social scientist interested in people, institutions,
and how they work together. I am sociologist and educator by training, so
my topics of research revolve around schools, educators, and students and
kids. I completed my BS in Secondary Social Studies, with an emphasis
in Sociology. I taught in Milwaukee Public Schools for over 5 years.
After years of seeing the mismatch between policy, theory, and practice, I
then went back to attain my MA and PhD in Sociology. I completed my
dissertation this past August 2011. It explored the faculty networks
as social resources in schools and their relationship to school community
(especially trust and shared values and norms) and school engagement among
teachers (all school staff, actually) and students. In addition to my
interest in network analysis, school community, and school organization, my
other research interests in education policy, principal leadership, and
social issues that affect children.
I am working on several current
projects: network effects of teachers and principals in schools, effects of
No Child Left Behind on school re-segregation, effects of identity and
affective relationships on teachers and students, and what motivates people to be generous.
