Jerusha Conner, PhD
Professor of Education; Program Coordinator, Graduate Education | Department of Education and Counseling | Villanova University
Villanova, PA, UNITED STATES
Jerusha Conner, PhD, is an expert on student engagement, student voice, youth activism and education policy.
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Areas of Expertise (5)
Student Engagement
Student Voice
Youth Activism
Urban Education
Education Policy
Biography
A strong ally to public school students and teachers, Dr. Jerusha Conner is an excellent source on news and trends in education policy, student engagement and well-being, student voice and youth activism. An author of numerous publications, Dr. Conner can discuss the role students can and do play in improving their institutions.
Education (2)
Stanford University: PhD
Princeton University: AB
Select Accomplishments (5)
PI, Student Voice to Student Outcomes, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (professional)
$884,077, with Dana Mitra and Samantha Holquist, co-PIs.
PI, Youth Movements in the 2018 Midterms and Beyond: Impacts and Prospects for Permanence, New Ventures Fund & League of Conservation Voters (professional)
$125,000, with Johnnie Lotesta, co-PI.
Tolle Lege Award for Excellence in Teaching, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Villanova University (professional)
Acknowledges excellence in teaching of a faculty member in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
University Mid-Career Service Award, Villanova University (professional)
Recognizes a faculty member who has made extraordinary contributions to the welfare and functioning of her profession, department, college and the University.
PI, Re-centering Youth in the Development and Validation of Student-Teacher Relationship Measures, Spencer Foundation Small Research Grants Program (professional)
$40,900, with Kate Phillippo and Denise Pope, co-PIs.
Links (2)
Affiliations (3)
- URBAN (Urban Research-Based Action Network)
- American Educational Research Association
- Society for Research on Adolescence
Select Media Appearances (8)
Critical Race Theory Sparks Activism in Students
The Conversation
2021-06-21
"Critical race theory—an academic framework that holds that racism is embedded in society—has become the subject of an intense debate about how issues of race should or shouldn't be taught in schools. Largely missing in the debate is evidence of how exposure to critical race theory actually affects students."
Youth Political Engagement Depends on Teachers
U.S. News & World Report
2020-04-07
"High schools that take seriously their missions to promote actively engaged citizens should support extracurricular programs, engage students in reading influential texts and enhance opportunities for student voice. While student activists will likely continue to work hard to drive youth voter turnout, teachers, too, can help catalyze youth engagement in our collective democratic project."
Students Should March and Then They Should Run
WAMC's The Academic Minute
2018-04-27
"The students who participated in last month's March for Our Lives carried on a tradition of student-led marches in the nation's capital that stretches back to 1937, when 3,000 students participated in the first major youth march on Washington, D.C. That march is believed to have helped garner public support and generate political will for the youth programs of the New Deal."
Villanova Professor Says "Never Again" Student Activists Won't Take No for an Answer
WHYY
2018-03-23
Morning Edition host Jennifer Lynn spoke with Villanova Education and Counseling professor Jerusha Conner about the current "Never Again" movement against gun violence. Conner studies student activism, and her research finds young people can truly shape public policy and make personal gains through activism.
After Parkland, a New Generation Finds Its Voice
The Christian Science Monitor
2018-02-21
As the country watches hundreds of groups of high-school-aged students begin to organize, this emerging power of students may be changing the long stalemate in the nation's debates over guns... "They are speaking with a moral authority, and there's nothing more damning than having adult disfunction called out by a kid," says Jerusha Conner, professor of education and counseling at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
DeVos Voucher Plan Would Exacerbate Educational Inequality
The Hill
2017-02-07
"To counter the damage DeVos could do to our education system, we must refuse to accept the illusion of school choice and to allow the dismantling of public education in this country. We need to rise up and demand from our politicians an educational system built on a foundation of sufficient, well-resourced, sustainable neighborhood public schools for all children."
Help Teachers Help Students
U.S. News & World Report
2016-04-07
"If we know that students in well-resourced schools benefit more from having a greater number of supportive and caring student-teacher relationships than fewer, then why would we settle for only one such relationship for students in less-advantaged schools and communities? As a nation, it is time to reach higher."
Public Schools Are a Public Good
U.S. News & World Report
2015-04-16
"[We] must not let charter proponents divert our attention from the difference between charter schools and traditional public schools. Traditional public schools are a fundamental cornerstone of American democracy that is being jack-hammered away. And if we look away from their destruction, we abrogate our duty to preserve them for future generations."
Research Grants (4)
Service-Learning's Impact on Attitudes and Beliefs
Engaging All Learners Through Service-Learning (Durham, North Carolina)
2012, with Joe Erickson (Augsburg College), co-PI.
Reclaiming Their Education: Urban Youth Organizing for Educational Reform
Surdna Foundation (New York, New York)
2010
Senior Project Initiative With Strawberry Mansion High School
Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development
2010
Course Development Grant
Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development
2009
Select Academic Articles (4)
An Analysis of Student-Report Instruments That Assess Student-Teacher Relationships
Teachers College RecordPhillippo, K., Conner, J., Davidson, S., Pope, D.
2017. This review of survey instruments examines the strengths and shortcomings of existing measures of student-teacher relationships (STRs). Specifically, we ask: How do student self-report survey instruments assess STRs?
When Does Service-Learning Work? Contact Theory and Service-Learning Courses in Higher Education
Michigan Journal of Community Service-LearningConner, J., Erickson, J.
2017. This study examines the extent to which Contact Theory predicts the efficacy of service-learning courses in promoting positive attitude change among participants.
Youth Change Agents: Comparing the Sociopolitical Identities of Youth Organizers and Youth Commissioners
Democracy & EducationConner, J., Cosner, K.
2016. The study explores similarities and differences in the two sets of participants' civic commitments, sense of agency, and beliefs about the process of social change.
The Politics of Paternalism: Adult and Youth Perspectives on Youth Voice in Public Policy
Teachers College RecordConner, J., Ober, C. N., Brown, A. S.
2016. This study explores manifestations of adultism during the first four years of the Ballou City Youth Commission (BCYC) from the perspectives of 22 youth members and adult allies.
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