Central to my work is the concern for understanding those social and interpersonal factors that place youth “at-risk” for exclusion from participating fully in society.  Specifically, one of the major focuses of my work has been on understanding those personal factors (i.e., educational expectations and future orientation interests), family factors (i.e., parental educational expectations and parental involvement) and institutional/environmental factors (i.e., school safety and access to social capital) that impact on youth’s ability to adopt and employ those values and behaviors that will allow them to succeed in primary and secondary educational settings. My current research interests include:

·Integrating research and practice
·Quantitative research methods
·School social work practice
·Youth risk and resiliency