The Office of School University Research Relations coordinates and monitors the placement of research in preK-12 schools. Our staff maintains relationships with district and school administrators, advises faculty and graduate student researchers on appropriate research placements, and works to connect school administrators with university faculty for the development of mutually beneficial research projects. We also coordinate the required human subjects reviews for research conducted by College of Education faculty, staff, and students providing guidance in ethical research methods. We were pleased to receive recognition from the Carnegie Foundation as an outstanding higher education service unit involved in community engagement.

In my scholarly work, I have a keen interest in multidisciplinary research, teaching, and service in the U.S. and internationally, focused on the well-being and education of unaccompanied, immigrant, or underserved children and their families. This includes areas related to literacy and preK-12 school success, parenting education, child welfare interventions, family support, and how social systems can more effectively collaborate to strengthen preventative efforts that improve outcomes for children and families. Most recently I have been investigating Scotland’s integrated preventative social system including the level of civic engagement, and the nature of the relationships between the parents/carers and service providers, that support successful outcomes.

I am also very interested in research paradigm discussions and ethical design and methodology particularly, with multidisciplinary projects that are responding to embedded social problems. I enjoy working with colleagues and students as we think through critical research questions and design challenges together.