Research In Action

Featured Scholarship with an Equity Lens

The Center for Inclusive and Special Education and the Lesley Institute for Trauma Sensitivity are committed to equity-focused educational research and scholarship. We investigate school culture change initiatives, inclusive practices, and trauma-sensitive approaches in field-based studies. Our hope is to share our new learning with educators far and wide. Explore the variety of conference presentations, published works, and white papers featured here that we hope will contribute to your professional understanding and practice. 

Sharing Our Learning

LIfTS Fellowship Program

We strive to:

  • Offer Lesley doctoral students an opportunity to deepen their knowledge regarding the impact of trauma in education and strategies for mitigating that impact and

  • Provide a venue in which participants can develop and practice research.  

Meet the Research Team

The program offers two levels of participation, Fellow or Research Associate [RA], and is open to active doctoral students in any of the three specialization areas in GSOE. Each position is for one academic year and comes with a monetary stipend, as well as the ability to take up to two LIfTS courses tuition-free for graduate credit.

In addition, Research Associates typically engage in a group research project led by one of the Fellows. Research projects are supervised by Lesley faculty and approved by the Lesley IRB, as required.

Previous Fellowship projects have been part of the roundtable, paper, or poster sessions at New England Educational Research [NEERO] or New England Psychological Association [NEPA] conferences, as well as Lesley Community of Scholars Day.

The knowledge and skills developed during the LIfTS Fellowship program have often been valuable precursors to doctoral students’ dissertation work. Information regarding the application process is disseminated as part of the doctoral residency program.

Accomplishments of LIfTS

  • Alicia Gray, Ph.D.

    Alicia Gray, a LIfTS Research Fellow during the 2021-2022 academic year, has successfully defended her dissertation entitled Glue Gun Stories: Public Art Educators’ Perceptions of Trauma and its Impact on Their Pedagogy and Praxis. Using a variety of data collection methods, including interviews, observations, and art-based data, this study investigated how art educators are positioned to support students and to act as levers of change. The study’s abstract is attached below.

    Abstract

    Contact Information: aarendt@lesley.edu

  • Alexandra Kirby

    Alexandra successfully defended her dissertation titled: Exploring Teacher Agency and Student Engagement: A Case Study of an Urban High School in the United States. Teacher agency, student engagement, and the relationship between these two complex constructs are explored in this mixed-methods case study of a Northeastern urban high school, “City High School” (CHS).

    Cover and Abstract

    Contact Information: akirby4@lesley.edu

  • Liz Stapleton

    Liz successfully defended her dissertation titled: Understanding Preschool Teachers’ Perceptions of Challenging Behavior: “It’s Exhausting”. This mixed methods study sought to understand preschool teachers’ perceptions of challenging behavior in their classrooms and the impact challenging behavior has on relationships within the classroom community.

    Abstract

    Contact Information: estaple2@lesley.edu

Contributions to the field.

If you are interested in publishing research on the Lifts Community Hub, please open the form to submit your project.