Mentor Areas
Dr. Fantuzzo is a national leader in school-based, early childhood education research and the use of Integrated Data Systems (IDS) in education to enhance the well-being of children from low-income households living in segregated disadvantaged communities in large urban centers. His work has included building and using scientifically validated capacities at the macro- and micro-systems levels for various populations of vulnerable children (e.g., children in Head Start, maltreated children, children with emotional and behavioral problems, students with low reading and mathematics skills, children in foster care, and children victimized by domestic violence).
Dr. Gadsden’s research, scholarly interests, and writing focus on learning and literacies across the life-course and addresses issues of equity, access, and change for young children and families in historically marginalized communities. Her work highlights the intergenerational and cross-cultural nature of learning, literacy, and identity within families and the relationship between family members’ beliefs and practices around learning, educational access, and educational persistence. Her conceptual framework, family cultures, focuses on the interconnectedness among families’ political, cultural, and social histories and racialized identities.
Description:
The Penn Early Childhood and Family Research Center (PECF) has initiated a Research-Practice Partnership with the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Children and Families to make visible local disparities in access to high-quality prekindergarten educational experiences for historically marginalized and underserved groups of children in Philadelphia (i.e., Black non-Hispanic children, Hispanic children, and children with multiple early risks to school readiness). The PECF Research Team, under the direction of Professors Vivian Gadsden and John Fantuzzo and Executive Director Katie Barghaus, has previously provided research evidence to city leaders to support the passage of the existing Philadelphia Beverage Tax. This tax now funds a new city program, PHLpreK, which provides free, high-quality prekindergarten education for Philadelphia children. To use the initial funds generated by this tax wisely, city leaders needed actionable evidence to identify areas in the city in greatest need for high-quality prekindergarten programming. The PECF team was called upon to provide actionable intelligence to support the strategic use of funds to expand access to free, high-quality prekindergarten. As the city continues to rebuild following the COVID-19 pandemic, the PECF Team has been called upon again by city leadership to conduct a major post-pandemic examination of access to high-quality prekindergarten to produce actionable intelligence to increase early educational equity.
Our research team is seeking an exceptional group of undergraduate students, seeking to learn how to advance equity and social justice for children through quality research-practice partnership research. These undergraduate research assistants will receive training to collect high-quality information from prekindergarten providers across Philadelphia. Research assistants will work under the supervision of PECF leadership and an advanced doctoral student to collect information through phone and/or email exchanges with high-quality prekindergarten providers on their center’s capacity to serve children. This work will provide actionable intelligence to the Penn-City research-practice partnership team to guide expanded access and increase high-quality prekindergarten opportunities for previously underserved children.
This is an excellent opportunity for student with deep commitments to equity and applied policy research and interested in graduate training or careers serving children and families. For more information, students can review the publication describing the original research PECF conducted to inform the initial preschool expansion in Philadelphia in 2017 [link]. Interested students should contact Ellie DeWitt (ccdewitt@upenn.edu), Pre-Doctoral Researcher at PECF.
Preferred Qualifications
- Commitment to addressing social and educational inequities in large urban centers.
- Interest is a career serving underserved populations of children and families.
- Interested in supporting urban reform through partnership-based research.
- Desire to develop research skills and work as a member of a research team.
- Strong work ethic and interest in contributing to a team.
- Detailed oriented
- Good interpersonal communication skills
Details:
Preferred Student Year
Second-Year, Junior, Senior
Academic Term
Fall, Spring
I prefer to have students start during the above term(s).Volunteer
Yes
Yes indicates that faculty are open to volunteers.Paid
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to paying students they engage in their research, regardless of their work-study eligibility.Work Study
No
Yes indicates that faculty are open to hiring work-study-eligible students.