Trinity College welcomes Dan Douglas as a three-year Visiting Assistant Professor in Educational Studies and Social Science Research Methods, beginning in Fall 2018. Professor Douglas completed his Ph.D. in Sociology at the City University of New York, where he specialized in the sociology of education and research methods, and gained valuable experience in both quantitative and qualitative work. Currently, Professor Douglas is a senior researcher at the Education and Employment Research Center at Rutgers University in New Jersey, where he guides several projects focused on higher education policy and student success and serves as the center’s head of quantitative research.
His dissertation was a mixed-methods study of the social and political history of K-12 teacher evaluation systems, particularly “value-added” assessment that purports to measure teacher quality based on student performance on standardized tests. He also served as project manager for the CUNY Academic Momentum study of community college student retention and degree completion. His research has appeared in leading journals such as The American Journal of Education, Sociological Quarterly, and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. In addition to educational research, he has also published articles and chapters on social capital during the great recession, Iranian Americans, Armenians in the US, and entries on Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg in The Encyclopedia of African American History.
Professor Douglas is a native of Brooklyn, New York, where he attended public schools. “I’ve always been most at home in classrooms where difference is the rule rather than the exception,” he wrote. In addition, as a first-generation college student, he strives to be a resource and advocate for those who are new to higher education. During Fall 2018, he will teach one section of the introductory Educ 200: Analyzing Schools course and also offer a new course, Educ/Socl 303: Sociology of Education. In Spring 2019, he will teach Socl 201 Research Methods in Social Sciences, and also design a brand-new elective course in Educational Studies. He will also be providing Social Science research support for the Educational Studies, Sociology, and Political Science departments.
