Ph.D. Students
Christopher Brooks
Christopher Brooks is an education policy researcher whose work focusses on developing and analyzing educational and social policies meant to improve educational equity. He completed his BA at Davidson College, where he studied English and Political Science. In addition to various journal and book chapter publications, Brooks has also worked as a researcher on major school finance court cases. His dissertation examines how educational opportunity is shaped by effective teachers, school spending, and environmental pollution.
Email: chbrooks@live.unc.eduWebsite
Google Scholar
Publications
- Brooks, C.D., Domina, T., Carson, C.E., Cohen-Vogel, L., Bastian, K.C., Springer, M.G. “Creating Classes: A mixed-methods investigation of elementary school classroom assignment practices and their implications.” Manuscript under peer review and available by request.
- Brooks, C. D. & Springer, M. G. (2023). Identifying, establishing, and Distributing the Economic Value of the Classroom Teacher. In G. Brown & C. A. Makridis (Eds.), The economics of equity in P12 education: Connecting financial investments in effective programming. Rowman & Littlefield.
- Brooks, C. D. & Springer, M. G. (2022). Evaluating teacher effectiveness: a review of historical developments and current trends. In B. P. McCall (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of the Economics of Education (p. 127). Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
- Marsicano, C. R., & Brooks, C.D. (2020). Professor Smith Goes to Washington: Educational Interest Group Lobbying, 1998–2017. Educational Researcher, 49(6), 448–453.
Presentations
- Brooks C.D. & Cardwell, C. “Poop in the air, should we care? Estimating the educational impacts of hog farm pollution in North Carolina.” Manuscript to be presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Public Policy Analysis & Management. Atlanta, GA. November, 2023.
- Brooks C.D., Powers P., Hutt, E., Domina, T., Springer, M.G. “ESSER-ting Your Preferences: Examining School Districts' Revealed Preferences for Addressing Pandemic Learning Loss.” Manuscript to be presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness. Arlington, VA. September 2023.
Caitlin Kearney
Caitlin Kearney is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research utilizes sociological theories of organizations to examine the roles of mid-level policy actors within educational institutions. She draws upon ten years of experience as a classroom teacher and instructional coach, focusing her work on district policies intended to improve social inequities. In one area of research, she examines the implementation of wraparound student support services. In a related line of research, Kearney examines the roles of instructional coaches as levers for school improvement. Caitlin was a 2023 David L. Clark scholar and was the recipient of a UNC Chapel Hill Summer Dissertation Research Fellowship, the Robert W. Eaves Education Policy Scholarship, and the Charles Templeton Doctoral Scholarship.
Publications
- Kearney, C.E., Perez. L., Garza, A. N., Renzulli, L., Domina T., (Accepted and forthcoming at AERJ). Offer it and they will come? An investigation of the factors associated with the uptake of school-sponsored resources.
- Kearney, C., Akos, P., Domina, T., & Young, Z. (2021). Student-to-school counselor ratios: A meta-analytic review of the evidence. Journal of Counseling & Development.
- Kearney, C. (2020). From the Editorial Board: Using Quantitative Methods to Answer Critical Questions. The High School Journal, 103(4), 195–200.
Presentations
- Kearney, C.E., Domina, T., Saultz A., Shifrer D., Carpenter E. (2023). Developing and Testing a Model of Effective School/School-Based Health Center Collaboration. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting.
- Kearney, C.E., Domina, T., Renzulli, L. (2022). Resource caravans during times of crisis: resource distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic. Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Research Conference.
- Kearney, C.E., Griffard, M., & Domina, T. (2021). Ecology of leaving teaching: multi-level model analyses of former teachers’ post-exit wages and opportunities. Association for Education Finance and Policy Annual Conference.
Vitaly Radsky
Vitaly Radsky is a current Ph.D. student in the PLS program at UNC-Chapel Hill studying school (de)segregation, school choice, and the history of educational reform policy. He works as a school planner at Durham Public Schools in Durham, North Carolina where he supports Durham’s 2024 student assignment plan and other enrollment planning projects. His dissertation explores the ideas and implementation of school desegregation and other educational reform policies. Previously, he served as a college adviser at a national college access non-profit and worked in non-profit management in Azerbaijan.
Email: viradsky@live.unc.eduWebsite
Publications
- Domina, T., Clark, L. R., Radsky, V., Bhaskar, R. (forthcoming). There is such thing as free lunch: School meals, stigma, and student discipline. Forthcoming in American Educational Research Journal.
- Spiegel, M., Clark, L. R., Domina, T., Radsky, V., Yoo, P., & Penner, A. (2022). Measuring School Poverty: An Exercise in Convergent Validity. Working Papers 22-50, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
- Carlson, D., C., Domina, T., Carter, J. S., Perera, R. M., McEachin, E., & Radsky, V. (2023). Structured Choice: School Segregation at the Intersection of Policy and Preferences. (EdWorkingPaper: 23-753). Link retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University.
Presentations
- Radsky, V, (2023). The End of School Desegregation? School Improvement, Integration, and Equal Opportunity in Durham, NC. Presentation at the Vienna-Madison-Chapel Hill-Aalborg. Doctoral Colloquium for History.