On becoming Dr. Levy

So. . .

At the end of the Summer 2018 semester, I became a doctor.

Much gratitude to Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Education and the Department of Educational Leadership, especially to my adviser, Charol Shakeshaft, on the left, and to my committee members Katherine Mansfield (on the screen), Genevieve-Siegel-Hawley, and Tressie McMillan Cottom (not pictured).

I may have the longest dissertation title ever: The Intersection of Economic Disadvantage and Race and the Expanded Role of Parent-Led School-Supporting Nonprofit Organizations in K-12 Public Schools in the Richmond, Virginia, Metropolitan Area: A Mixed Methods Approach.

Since then, I have served on the faculty as an adjunct professor, teaching a doctoral-level course, The Politics of Education (I will likely post separately about that) and have been on the job market (I will also probably post about that). 

Oh, and I participated in VCU's December graduation ceremony, and got to wear a silly hat for most of the day.

 (Me and some of my former classmates and fellow grads.)

 (Getting hooded by my adviser.)

(Me with my adviser Charol Shakeshaft and one of my other very influential professors, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley.) 

(Me with Jon Becker, a member of my department and the person who got me into this mess.)

Speaking of getting me into this mess, it was via twitter and this blog and his that Jon and I got to know one another.  He encouraged me to apply to the doctoral program in educational leadership and policy at VCU. I did. Once I started the Ph.D. program, I decided to focus my time and energy, and writing efforts, there instead of on the blog and other education writing. I have updated it from time to time, mostly with academic publications but with some other thoughts and efforts, too.

Once I see what happens with the job search, I will decide what to do with the blog, if anything different. For now, I am enjoying being done and am working on trying to achieve my first post-graduation publication.

A Review of Disciplinary Interventions in K12 Public Education

As described in this post, I have been involved on-again, off-again in a study of disparate disciplinary practices in Richmond, Virginia, area K-12 public schools being conducted by MERC (Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium ) at my graduate school institution, Virginia Commonwealth University.

I participated in this podcast on the topic and was a third author on this policy brief, entitled, Why do racial disparities in school discipline exist? The role of policies, processes, people, and places.

This past May, we published another policy brief, which I was first author on, entitled, A Review of Disciplinary Interventions in K12 Public Education:

As a part of the Achieving Racial Equity in School Disciplinary Policies and Practicesstudy from the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium, this literature brief offers an overview of school discipline interventions in K12 public education. This includes more punitive models that have been used in the past that have contributed to racial disparities in discipline outcomes, including corporal punishment and zero-tolerance policies. Additionally, this brief offers an overview of four prominent alternative approaches to school discipline: Trauma Informed Care, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, Culturally Responsive Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, and Restorative Practices. The literature brief offers the history, theory of action, and evidence of effectiveness for each alternative discipline approach and offers a discussion of how to effectively implement them in schools. Implications for the Commonwealth of Virginia are discussed throughout the brief.

Go here to read the whole thing.

 

Choices Worth Making: Creating, Sustaining, and Expanding Diverse Magnet Schools

In the department of publications I forgot about until my mother saw them online. . .

I helped to research and write some of this as part of a project about magnet schools I had the opportunity to work on for one of my fabulous professors, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley. It's a manual entitled, Choices Worth Making: Creating, Sustaining, and Expanding Diverse Magnet Schools.

Here's a clip:

"Magnet schools represent unique possibilities for bringing together educational stakeholders interested in advancing both school choice and equal educational opportunities. With policymakers across the political spectrum continuing to make the expansion of school choice a central educational policy goal, lessons from magnet schools become even more important to consider. Strong magnets combine diversity goals with excellent educational options to help combat the country’s deepening racial and economic school segregation.

This manual starts with empirical evidence intended to help the reader understand why magnet schools, and racially integrated magnet schools in particular, are worthy of consideration. In this section, we describe the research documenting the benefits associated with racial diversity and magnet schools. The next section provides a description of the history of magnet schools, which will help readers understand how and why magnets originated and how they have evolved over time."

Read the whole thing. I know a manual sounds like dreary reading, but this one isn't.