Ja’Nya is a fifth-year PhD Candidate, using mixed methods to explore public school survival and education-based political advocacy in marginalized communities, with a focus on historically Black public schools. Outside of her dissertation, her research explores the ways that Special Education parental rights and safeguards are taken up differently by Black and Latinx families, and the impact of income and language in the advocacy space.
Her other research includes school finance, special education disproportionality, dis/ability studies, and organizational change. She is a former teacher, and works alongside future teachers of color, as well as district leaders of color to develop anti-racist practices that advance systemic change in schools. Ja’Nya teaches courses such as Critical Studies of Education at the BSE, as well as Inclusive Education, and Identity and Teaching for teacher credentialing programs.
Ja’Nya is originally from the DC-Maryland-Virginia area, with prior experience in the federal sector. This lens motivates her to take a nationally comparative approach to school policy, interrogating the level (i.e. federal, state, district, school) with which ethno-racial disenfranchisement occurs and can be intervened upon.
Specializations and Interests
Race and Education, Black Education, Dis/ability studies, Organizational Change, K-12 Teacher Education
