My research has not been going in the direction that I intended for it to go. I particularly want to study charter schools and how they can be effective for low-income, particularly black, students. However, I have been reading books…

I am so proud of myself. Yesterday I completed a draft of my literature review. I read a few articles about the achievement gap and setting students up for success instead of failure. I did not realize that I could…

This is dead week and have not made much progress with my research. I am now beginning to truly understand how difficult it is to be a student and a researcher at the same time. It seems as though once…

I watched a documentary called “The Lottery”. It was very similar to the book I read by Paul Tough, except it made me a lot sadder. Reading about children not getting a proper education and their parents being frustrated is…

I still cannot believe that it is the end of week four! This quarter started off quite busy because in addition to the usual stress of crashing classes and getting accustomed to them, I also had to start prepping for…

Hello! I am so excited because I finally made some progress over winter break. I finished the Paul Tough book and I have decided that I would like to focus my research on charter schools. Now, I still do not…

Over the last year in the McNair Research Program I conducted a study on the division of childcare labor in gay male partnerships, and while I did produce some interesting findings I’m unsure of where to take my research next. …

SO…finals are over!!! This is a great thing because “other classes” is the excuse I use most often when referring to the lack of progress in my research. Now that Fall 2010 is officially over for me, I can spend…

The first quarter of my Junior year has been the craziest yet. Not necessarily the difficulty of course load and work, but dealing with life in general while simultaneously thinking about my research and being occupied with work and staying…

I’m frustrated with myself because I want to know exactly what my research question is but I am so interested in so many areas and issues dealing with education that I don’t know how to narrow it down! I am…