April 15, 2013

UCSB Faculty Member Named Education Association Fellow, Receives Award for Distinguished Career in Applied Sociology of Education

Russell Rumberger, a professor of education at UC Santa Barbara, has been named Fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). He is among 23 scholars from around the world to be so recognized, and will be inducted on Saturday, April 28, during AERA's annual meeting in San Francisco.

In addition, Rumberger, a faculty member in UCSB's Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, has been selected to receive another AERA honor –– the Elizabeth G. Cohen Distinguished Career in Applied Sociology of Education Award.

AERA Fellows are known nationally and internationally for their outstanding contributions to education research. Through the Fellows Program, the association aims to convey its commitment to excellence in research and to underscore to new scholars the importance of sustained research contributions in the field.

"We are very pleased that Russ Rumberger has received the honor of being named a 2013 Fellow of the American Educational Research Association," said Gale Morrison, acting dean of the Gevirtz School. "This honor highlights his outstanding scholarly contributions to the field of education, including his acclaimed work on high school dropouts and school achievement of language minority students. We congratulate Professor Rumberger for this well-deserved recognition."

Presented every two years by AERA's Sociology of Education special interest group (SIG), the Elizabeth G. Cohen Distinguished Career in Applied Sociology of Education Award recognizes a senior scholar who has successfully melded rigorous scholarly research with problem solving in practical settings. The Sociology of Education SIG provides a forum for the analysis of research that links sociological perspectives and methods with the study of educational issues.

Noted Rumberger's nominator for the Elizabeth G. Cohen Award: "Professor Rumberger is an internationally leading research scholar on one of the most pressing educational challenges of our time –– the dropout crisis. Over the past three decades, he has conducted dozens of influential research studies that inform our understanding of the sociological dynamics of dropout. Although few scholars have stepped out of their traditional academic role to enter the realm of public policy, over the last 15 years Professor Rumberger has progressively engaged policymakers, practitioners, and the broader public to bring rigorous research to bear on solutions to the dropout crisis."

Rumberger, who recently served as vice provost for education partnerships at the UC Office of the President, is director of the UCSB-based California Dropout Research Project. He and his team are producing a series of reports and policy briefs about the dropout problem in California, and a policy agenda to improve the state's high school graduation rate. He is author of the highly acclaimed book "Dropping Out: Why Students Drop Out of High School and What Can be Done About It" (Harvard University Press, 2011), and has published widely in several areas of education.

Rumberger has served as a member of the National Research Council's Committee on Increasing High School Students' Engagement and Motivation to Learn, the Committee on the Impact of Mobility and Change on the Lives of Young Children, Schools, and Neighborhoods, and the Committee on Improved Measurement of High School Dropout and Completion Rates. He also served as a panel member for the Institute of Education Sciences' Practice Guide, "Dropout Prevention."

Founded in 1916, the American Educational Research Association is the national interdisciplinary research association for approximately 25,000 scholars who undertake research in education. The organization aims to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good.

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.