University of Southern California

Rossier School of Education

Excellence in Urban Education

	Current & Recently Completed Projects
	Current projects · MICLL Research Group - My research group is named MICLL (Motivation, Instruction, Cognition, Language, & Literacy) and is working on a number of projects on this topic, including the development of a measure of teachers’ understanding of students’ motivation; measuring the motivational profiles of struggling readers in urban settings; and studies of the relationships among motivational variables, student engagement, and reading and general achievement outcomes. Members of the group are Gigi Ragusa (research professor, USC), Norm Unrau (professor, Cal State LA), Matt Quirk (professor, UC Santa Barbara), Erica Bowers (professor, Cal State Fullerton), Gustavo Loera (Mental Health America of Los Angeles), Alejandra Velasco and Katie Moulton (Ph.D. candidates, USC), and Kayoko Honda (Ed.D. candidate, USC) · Alternative instructional models of effective bilingual education. This recently completed study examined the instructional characteristics of two high achieving programs for English Learners. The programs used two different models, one a traditional Early Exit transitional bilingual program, and the other a Dual Proficiency model developed by the participating teachers over a period of several years.This work (click here for a copy) was funded through the Haynes Foundation. We are continuing to work with teachers from the study as they attempt to refine and develop their program. · Learning & Motivational Characteristics of High School and College Students. Several recent projects have examined the learning and motivational characteristics of urban high school students (click here) and underrepresented students in a four-year state university setting (click here) · Victimization in the Peer Group and Academic Functioning during Middle Childhood. I am collaborating with David Schwartz (Psychology) to examine peer victimization in school settings and how it is mediated by motivational and engagement variables to impact school achievement. · Teacher Education Studies. I am working with several faculty within the School of Education to examine a wide range of questions related to the implementation of the new online Masters in Teaching (MAT) program recently developed by the School. I will be focusing on differing profiles of entering candidates, and examining self-regulatory and motivational factors in their progress through the program.