William Trent

Activities & Honors

• Member, Government Relations Committee, American Educational Research Association, 2011-2014
• consulting contributor, NSF/NAE Colloquy on African Americans in STEM, National Science Foundation, 2010-
• Presenter, Children's Defense Fund Retreat on the Education of African American Males, Childrens Defense Fund, 2010-
• Presenter, Washington DC, Childrens Defense Fund, 2010-
• Collaborator for a Local funding effort, Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation, 2009-
• Member, New York, Social Science Research Council, 2008- present
• Senior faculty, ASHE Committee on Equity and Diversity/ASHE Equity Institute on Scholarship and Publishing, Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2008-2010
• Chair, Palmer O. Johnson Award Committee, AERA, 2008-2010
• member and reviewer, Sociology of Education, American Sociological Association, 2006-2009
• Spencer Resident Fellow, The Spencer Foundation, 2006-2007
• ASA Spivak Committee member, American Sociological Association, 2006-
• Committee member, American Educational Research Association, 2006-
• Member, The Higher Learning Commission, 2005-2007
• PIC Facilitator. Member of Court Appointed Monitoring Team for Champaign, IL Unit 4 Consent Decree, Champaign Community Unit School District 4, 2003-2009
• Member, Research Planning Committee, Transitions Research Project, Social Science Research Council, 2003-2008
• Meber, National Research Council, 2003-2005
• Senior Specialist, Fulbright Senior Specialists are selected based on achievements and the fit with the needs of the participating agencies and universities., Fulbright Program, 2003-2004
• Advisor, Illinois Education Research Council, 2002- present
• Committee Member, Kellogg Forum on Higher Education, 2002-2006
• Visiting Scholar, College Board, 2002-2003
• Research Advisory Committee Member, Gates Millenium Scholars Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2001-2010
• Member, Higher Education Policy Advisory Board, American Council on Education, 2001-2004
• AERA - IES, AIR, ETS- Fellowship Committee, American Educational Research Association, 2000- present
• Visiting Chair in Higher Education, Johnson and Wales University, 2000-
• Co-chair, Committee on Educational Excellence and Testing Equity for the Board on Testing And Assessment, National Research Council, 1999-2002
• Outstanding Scholar, American Educational Research Association, 1999-
• member, Board on Testing and Assessment, National Research Council, 1997-2002
• Member, Board on Testing and Assessment, National Academy of Sciences, 1996-2002

Research Statement

My past research has focused on: 1) Educational Inequality: school desegregation effects (K-12, postsecondary), benefits and consequences, social organziation of school, status attainment research, co- and extracurricular activities, comparative education; 2) Race and Ethnicity: social stratification and mobility, equality of opportunity; and 3) Complex Organization/Social Change/Policy.

I am principal investigator for an Educational Reform Project focused on understanding the role of race, ethnicity, class and gender in school reform. I have also recently served as an expert witness on a court appointed panel in Vaughns, et. al. v. Bd. of Educ. of P.G. Co., MD.

I will be seeking funding for a major project on school desegregation, focused on educational consequences. I will return to theoretical writing on policy issues, their origins and evolution.

Grants

• Principal Investigator, Urban Initiative, U.S. Department of Agriculture (Urban & Metropolitan Affairs Office, ACES Extension Program), 2005-2006
• Principal Investigator, Illinois Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 2002, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, 2004-2004
• Principal Investigator, Data Analysis & Interpretation from 2002 Longitudinal Study, Illinois Education Research Council (Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville), 2004-2004
• Advisor, Illinois Transition Project, Illinois Education Research Council, 2003-2006
• Principal Investigator, Under-represented Minorities in the Academy: Understanding the Career Attainment Process, U.S. Department of Education, 2001-2006
• Principal Investigator, Understanding The Academic Career Aspiration and Attainment of Underrepresented Students, Campus Research Board, 2000-present

Publications

• Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: High School Racial Composition and Becoming a GMS Scholar; the Implications of Strategin Recruitment.  William T. Trent, Dawn Owens Nicholson and Mary E. M. McKillip in "Readings on Equal Education, Volume 23, Resources, Assets, and Strengths Among Successful Diverse Students; Understanding the Contributions of the Gates Millennium Scholars Program."William T. Trent and Edward St. John (eds),  AMS Press Inc. New York. 
• Readings in Equal Education.  Volume 23. RESOURCES, ASSETS AND STRENGTHS AMONG SUCCESSFUL DIVERSE STUDENTS; Understanding the Contributions of the Gates Millenniun Scholars Program. AMS Press, Inc. Press. New York

• The Transition to College:  Lessons from the Disciplines. William Trent and Terry Orr (eds) A specail issue of The Teachers College Record.  V 109, No. 10, 2007.

• Transitions to College: Lessons from the Disciplines. Teachers College Record. Wiliam Trent, Margaret Terry Orr, Sheri Ranis and Jennifer Holdaway. V. 109, No 10. 2007. pp. 1-2. (Online publication available since April 2006)
• Trent, W.T. and Y. Gong. (2004). Achieving Justice and Equality in U.S. Higher Education: An Exemplary Program to Increase the Participation of Underrepresented Students of Color. In INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON DIVERSITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS. Edited by Walter Allen, Marguerite Bonous- Hammarth, and Robert Teranishi. Elsevier Press
• “Perceptions of Financial Aid Among Students of Color: Examining the Role(s) of Self Concept, Locus of Control and Expectations.” William T. Trent, Heather Lee and Dawn Owens Nicholson. Cultural Barriers to Financial and Access, AMERICAN BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST. Sage Publications. William Tierney, Editor.
• Green, D.O. and W.T. Trent. (2004). THE PUBLIC GOOD & A RACIALLY DIVERSE DEMOCRACY. In, Higher Education and The Public Good, edited by Adrianna Kezar and Tony Chambers.
• Trent, W.T., Gong, Yuqin, & Owens-Nicholson, Dawn.(2004). THE RELATIVE CONTRIBUTION OF HIGH SCHOOL ORIGINS TO COLLEGE ACCESS. In Edward Patrick St. John (Ed). REE, vol.20.
• Beatty, Alexandra, Ulric Neissere, William T. Trent and Jay P. Heubert, eds. (2001). Unders6tanding Dropouts: Statistics, Strategies, and High-Stakes Testing. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.
• Trent, W. T., & Braddock, J. H. (1992). Extracurricular activities in secondary schools. In M. C. Alkin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Research (6th ed.) pp. 476-481. New York: Macmillan.
• Trent, W. T. (1991). Focus on equity: Race & gender differences in degree attainment 1975-76; 1980-81. In W. Allen, E. Epps, & N.Z. Haniff (Eds.), College in black and white: African American students in predominantly white and historically black public universities (pp. 41-59). Albany, NY: Southern University Press.
• Trent, W. T. (1991). Student affirmative action in higher education: Addressing underrepresentation. In P. Altbach & K. Lomotey (Eds.), The racial crisis in higher education (pp. 107-132). Albany, NY: Southern University Press.
• Trent, W. T., & Braddock, J. H., & Henderson, R. D. (1985). Trends in Black enrollment and degree attainment. In J. B. Williams (Ed.), Desegregating America's colleges and universities: Title VI regulation of higher education. New York:Teachers College Press.

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