Welcome to Brown! You’re joining the Education Department as Professor of Practice in Education after years with Boston Public Schools. Why did you choose to come to Brown?
Our nation’s public school students do not yet have the educational system or the teachers they need to learn the skills for today’s society. I came to Brown after working at the Boston Public Schools, where I had the good fortune of working alongside two alumni of the Urban Education Program (UEP) at Brown. This was my first introduction to the program, and I was so impressed with them. They had a unique set of quantitative analysis skills and policy analysis skills that today’s education leaders need in order to effect positive change in our public schools. I was thrilled to come to Brown to have the opportunity to work with UEP students in order to have an impact on the future leaders of educational organizations who will in turn positively influence the lives of young people. The students I have met here have a unique combination of warmth, passion, and drive. The faculty at Brown work across disciplines to solve sticky problems of urban education -- I love having the opportunity to work with Brown’s economists, sociologists, historians, and political scientists to use diversity of thinking to make positive change.
You started your career as a teacher in Baltimore and Boston. What made you switch your focus to education policy?
Teaching is an incredibly challenging job; my years teaching second and third grade instilled in me a deep respect for teachers and also the desire to ensure that the conditions for excellent teaching and learning exist in every classroom in every school. While teaching and then while doing research in my doctoral program, I became interested in creating those conditions for all teachers and students. When I thought about where I wanted to work to make an impact, I chose to work at the district level, making sense of state and federal policies and supporting teachers by giving them the tools and environments that they need, and recruiting and preparing school leaders who will create those environments.
In your new role, you’ll be working primarily with students in the yearlong Urban Education Policy master’s program. What makes the UEP program unique?
Students in the UEP program experience a cohort model which provides an opportunity for strong bonds to be created between students. In addition, because of the cohort size of 20-25 students per year, students receive personal attention from multiple professors and are encouraged to get to know faculty well. Students and professors work side by side, working in concert on the policy analysis, data analysis, and the creative thinking it takes to make successful urban schools. The program is tightly-designed to ensure a thoughtful progression of courses for skill development in both quantitative analysis as well as policy analysis, leading students to graduate with a powerful skill set.
A distinct part of the UEP program is its nine-month internship placement. What are some examples of students’ internship placements? What’s the importance of an internship during a yearlong master’s program?
A well-crafted internship permits the student to integrate theory and practice; what a student learns in class one week could be information the student uses at their internship the next week. Students are thoughtfully placed at an internship for 9 months in an education organization where they are simultaneously accomplishing important work for that organization and also navigating situations - with the guidance of their supervisor and faculty at Brown - similar to those they will face in the jobs they have in their career. Students often work at the Rhode Island Department of Education, Providence Public Schools, charter school networks, research and advocacy organizations, and a variety of non-profit organizations supporting district improvement.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role with the Education Department?
I am most looking forward to working directly with current UEP students and the 300+ alumni of the UEP program who are currently working in state departments of education, urban school districts, and educational and policy organizations across the country.
I am also looking forward to teaching about and studying urban school systems from different angles. I spent the past seven years working in the Boston Public Schools in the area of human capital, creating and implementing policies so that every student could have an excellent teacher in a school with a talented principal. Much is known about the importance of both teacher and principal to student success, but much more needs to be studied about how large systems can ensure that students have the conditions they need to thrive academically and as individuals. The cross-sector environment at Brown provides a rich environment for me as a faculty member to work closely with colleagues and with students to better understand and address challenges related to urban school reform, working together to effect great change for kids.