Dr. Rachel Roegman, an assistant professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership (EPOL), was selected as a 2018-2019 Hardie Faculty Fellow, which is supported by the Charles Dunn Hardie Trust Fund in the College of Education.

During her appointment, Roegman will receive resources to support the research and development of a book she is co-authoring with four other scholars titled Equity Visits: A New Approach to Supporting Equity-Focused School Leadership, which is scheduled to be released in December of 2019.

Roegman said the book project is the result of an innovative 10-year qualitative study that focused on a professional-development organization called the New Jersey Network of Superintendents. The goal of the study, she said, was to develop district leaders who focused on equity.

Roegman said concepts such as social justice and multiculturalism are rarely addressed analytically in the context of preservice and in-service professional development for school leaders, something she and her team hope to change.

“We hope to attune school leaders to the complexities of both equity and instruction that are often masked, and expose them to ways that instructional practices, structures, and beliefs lead to inequitable educational experiences and outcomes,” Roegman said.

The book builds upon the empirical research Roegman has done in the past, including a 2017 study that was published in the American Journal of Education, which covered the difficulties associated with talking about equity and race, even among leaders who are committed to the topics.

Roegman is working on Equity Visits with co-authors David Allen, Thomas Hatch, Larry Leverett, and Scott Thompson. Through the Hardie funding, she will be able to collaborate in person with her fellow authors, all of whom live on the East Coast. In addition, the fellowship will provide funding for Roegman’s research assistant, Ruqayyah Perkins-Williams, who is also assisting with the manuscript.

Hardie fellowships are offered to tenure-track faculty members and provide resources for programmatic research, opportunities to develop new research programs, and resources to align the research of the College with the strategic priorities of the University of Illinois.