The Americas

In the Americas, GSE faculty are active in projects from Argentina to Canada. In the Andean Highlands, Dr. Nancy Hornberger is continuing a years-long project on Quechua-speaking students and teachers; Dr. Sharon Ravitch is working with family therapists in Ecuador. Alan Ruby, as part of his work with the Comparative and International Education Society, has presented research comparing the Panamanian and Costa Rican education systems. Also in Central America, Dr. Susan Yoon has studied youth who use technology in their daily lives in Costa Rica and other parts of Latin America.

Focus on:  Ecuador

Sharon Ravitch teaches and supervises master's-level research with students who are working to become systemic family therapists through a combined program between the Central Integral de la Familia (CIF) and the Universidad Cristiana Latino Americana in Quito, Ecuador. Dr. Ravitch works closely with CIF students, who work primarily in under-resourced indigenous communities in rural and urban Ecuador, to develop an understanding of, and the skills to engage in, qualitative research broadly and practitioner research specifically. She has been collaborating with CIF students and staff, and their university supervisors, for five years, and has helped them to develop the research strand of the master's program more broadly. She also gives 4-day seminars on qualitative research in Quito annually.

As a part of her commitment to international social justice research, Dr. Ravitch co-leads a multi-year participatory action research initiative that seeks to understand and improve marginalized populations' access to justice - human rights, health, educational, and legal - in four conflict-affected countries: Afghanistan, Burundi, Colombia, and Liberia. This project is in collaboration with Global Rights: Partners for Justice in Washington, DC.

Other GSE faculty members active in research projects throughout the Americas include:

Peter Conn
Matt Hartley
Nancy Hornberger
Mike Johanek
Deborah Linebarger
Ritty Lukose
Teresa Pica
Sharon Ravitch
Alan Ruby
Betsy Rymes
Brian Street
Susan Yoon