Opportunities for Graduate Students

 Financial Support 

Although I cannot guarantee financial support to incoming students, for the past 8 years I have been able to provide hire teams of graduate student researchers. In fact, I typically use 90-95% of my research grants to hire graduate research assistants. My goal is to create teams of students who work collaboratively with me to design and implement research projects. My research team typically comprises between 3 and 6 students each semester (with each student working 12 hours per week). I have also supported numerous students’ attendance at local, national, or international conferences.

Student members of my research team also have access to a research office with up-to-date computer equipment. Having a place to ‘hang your hat’ is important to feeling part of a research community.

Gaining Research Experience

One of my major commitments is to assisting students to gain experience with the complete research process. Members of my research team (graduate students I hire and/or supervise as part of their studies) have opportunities to see how research programs unfold. They participate in all phases of research, including study design, data collection, qualitative and quantitative data analyses, preparing conference proposals, presenting findings at national and international conferences, and writing up manuscripts for publication. Newer team members are mentored, not only by me, but also by more experienced research assistants. Over time, students gain rich research experiences across a range of projects, using varying methodologies.

Presenting Research at Conferences

In the past 8 years, teams of students have accompanied me to present our work at numerous local, national, and international conferences. For example, in 1996, four members of my research team accompanied me to the annual meetings of the American Educational Research Association in New York City. Together, we presented a symposium comprising 4 co-authored papers (see conference list).  Similarly, in 2000, four students traveled to New Orleans (with their spouses & friends in tow; see the picture below). The following year, four students traveled to present one paper and one poster at AERA’s meetings in Seattle. These examples illustrate opportunities I try to create for students to present their own or our joint research at local, national, or international conferences.

Developing a Publication Record

As graduate students build their own research careers, they need opportunities to create a publication record. Graduate students who have worked with me have had opportunities to co-author conference presentations and published articles. For example, Butler, Elaschuk, and Poole (2000) is a research article summarizing my work with two graduate students. All of the co-authored conference presentations listed on this website were co-written with teachers and/or graduate students.