Research

My earliest doctoral education research concerned the ways in which single-gender education became a racialized phenomenon in an underperforming urban school predominantly serving African-American students. Specifically, this research explored how impetus for single-sex education at a predominantly African-American high school was based on notions of hyper-sexualization and vilification versus academic achievement. To explore the challenges and best practices in diversity education and professional development, my subsequent work used multi-level modeling to examine the effect of multicultural education courses on undergraduate students’ opinions on race. Subsequently, I was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to London, England where I conducted research on school-level factors associated with racial discipline disparities in school settings. By focusing primarily on the British African-Caribbean population,  this led me to inquire of suspension trends among African-Americans within the United States.

In turn, my dissertation examines the role of restorative practices, a non-punitive discipline philosophy and program on reducing suspension disparities in two public schools. My data was collected through a 7-month ethnographic case study which included participant observation, strategic observation, interviews and secondary analysis of school discipline data. Together, my teaching and research have become the platform by which I advocate for diverse and marginalized populations.