Sociologist of Education John Diamond to Join Faculty at Harvard Graduate School of Education

John B. Diamond, an expert on the relationship between family background and children's educational experiences, will join the faculty of the Harvard Graduate School of Education as an assistant professor of education on July 1, 2004.

Diamond is a sociologist of education who focuses on how race, ethnicity and social class intersect with school practices and policies to determine the educational opportunities and outcomes of children. His recent research includes a four-year study of urban school leadership, an examination of the implications of social class for African-American parents' educational participation, a study of race, social class and student achievement in suburban schools, and a study of the development and diffusion of teachers' expectations of students. For the last study, Diamond was the recipient of a National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship. In addition to his NAE/Spencer Fellowship, he also recently earned the Faculty Fellowship Award from the Center for 21st Century Studies and the University of Wisconsin System Institute on Race and Ethnicity.

"John Diamond's research and teaching interests are ideally suited to the current needs of HGSE," comments Ellen Condliffe Lagemann, Charles Warren Professor of the History of American Education and dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. "As we reorganize the School, we are seeking to identify faculty who can forge connections across different programs, fill important gaps in the curriculum, and add depth to current research strengths of the school. John Diamond is a promising young scholar who clearly fits these criteria. He also brings significant experience working in schools and with school districts that will be important as HGSE continues to strengthen its ties to practice." At the same time, observes Lagemann, Diamond will bring his own experience with large qualitative research projects to bear upon the guidance of the doctoral student researchers being trained at HGSE, and he will be an important complement to many of our existing faculty with his research on educational equity.

Diamond has also been the research director of the Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN). The MSAN is a consortium of 15 integrated suburban school districts that addresses the achievement gap between African-American and Latino students and white students.

Diamond is currently an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in the department of educational policy and community studies. Previously, he was a research assistant professor at the School of Education and Social Policy at Northwestern University. He also served as a program associate in planning and evaluation at the MacArthur Foundation and as a graduate fellow at the National Science Foundation/Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern.

His most recent publications include "African-American Parents' Orientations towards Schools" (with K. Williams Gomez; in press) in Education and Urban Society; "High-Stakes Accountability in Urban Elemenatary Schools" (with J. Spillane; in press) in Teachers College Record; "Teachers' Expectations and Sense of Responsibility for Student Learning" (with A. Randolph and J. Spillane; in press) in Anthropology and Education Quarterly; and "Towards a Theory of School Leadership" (with J. Spillane and R. Halverson; in press) in Journal of Curriculum Studies.

Diamond received his Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University and his B.A. in political science and sociology from the University of Michigan.

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Contact Greer Bautz at 617-496-1884