Charlotte E. Jacobs

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Director, Independent School Teaching Residency

Learning, Teaching, and Literacies Division

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Contact

chjacobs@upenn.edu

(215) 573-0653

Media Inquiries:
Contact Penn GSE Communications.

Education

Ph.D. (Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education), University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, 2017
M.Ed. (Middle School Humanities), Lesley University, 2006
B.A. (Psychology; Spanish Literature & Language), Columbia University, 2005

Areas of Expertise

Adolescent development
Qualitative research methods
Independent school education
Multicultural education
Gender and education
Teacher education

Programs

Independent School Teaching Residency M.S.Ed.

Urban Teaching Residency M.S.Ed. with Certification(s)

Urban Education (Online) M.S.Ed.

Leading School Transformation

Programs

Teaching, Learning, and Leadership M.S.Ed.

Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education Ph.D.

Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education Ed.D.

More Information

Independent School Teaching Residency
Teaching Girls Well
The Girls Justice League
Investing in the Educational Success of Black Women and Girls

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Biography

Professional Biography

Charlotte E. Jacobs, as the director for the Independent School Teaching Residency program (ISTR), leads the design and execution of a residency-based teacher education program that involves close partnership with over 20 schools. Dr. Jacobs also teaches a course on adolescent development in the Urban Teaching Residency program at Penn GSE.

Dr. Jacobs earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Spanish Literature & Language from Columbia University and a master’s degree in Education focusing on middle school humanities from Lesley University and the Shady Hill Teacher Training Course located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Jacobs taught seventh grade humanities at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in Chicago, Illinois, and was a faculty member of the NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference before matriculating to the University of Pennsylvania to earn a Ph.D. in Teaching, Learning, and Teacher education.

Research Interests and Current Projects

Dr. Jacobs’ research interests focus on issues of identity development and gender in education concerning adolescent girls of color, teacher education and equity in schools, and youth participatory action research. Dr. Jacobs is the co-author of Investing in the Educational Success of Black Women and Girls (Stylus), and co-author of Teaching Girls: How Teachers and Parents Can Reach Their Brains and Hearts (Rowman & Littlefield) with retired Penn GSE professor Dr. Peter Kuriloff and Penn GSE alum Dr. Shannon Andrus. The book focuses on how schools can support the development and educational needs of girls by adopting a gender conscious perspective. Dr. Jacobs has also co-authored and solo-authored journal articles that focus on the development of adolescent girls of color at the intersection of race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Dr. Jacobs’ current research projects involve understanding the experiences of students with marginalized identities in independent schools as well as systems-level analyses of how schools are engaging in anti-racism work.

In addition to her role with the Independent School Teaching Residency program, Dr. Jacobs consults with schools about diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice issues through the EnGenderED Research Collaborative, a research organization that she co-founded with Dr. Katie Clonan-Roy, a Penn GSE alum. Dr. Jacobs also serves as a board member of Christina Seix Academy, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, and the Girls Justice League, a non-profit organization supporting the social, educational, and economic rights of girls in Philadelphia. She is currently co-director of the Hub for Equity, Anti-Oppression, Research, and Development (HEARD).

Publications

Selected Publications

Patton, L.D., Evans-Winters, V., & Jacobs, C.E. (2021). (Eds.) Investing in the Educational Success of Black Women and Girls. Stylus Press.

Jacobs, C.E. & Clonan-Roy, K. (2021). “Developing Education Organizations with Gender and Queer Inclusive Cultures”. In K. Pak & S. Ravitch (Eds.), Critical Leadership in Challenging Times: Reframing Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy. Teachers College Press.

Keddie, A., Jacobs, C.E. & Nelson, J.D. (2020). When You Say Diversity, Do You Mean Black Students? Navigating Challenges of Racial Inclusion in Elite Schools. International Studies in Sociology of Education. doi:10.1080/09620214.2020.1834869.

Clonan-Roy, K., Gross, N., & Jacobs, C.E. (2020). Safe Rebellious Places: The Value of Informal Spaces in Schools to Counter the Emotional Silencing of Youth of Color. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. doi:10.1080/09518398.2020.1760392

Jacobs, C.E. & Weber, R. (2020). Seen and Heard: Exploring Inclusion with a Focus on the Experiences of Black Girls in Independent Schools. Independent School Magazine. Summer 2020 issue. https://www.nais.org/magazine/independent-school/summer-2020/research-insights-black-girls%E2%80%99-experiences-in-independent-schools/

Jacobs, C.E. (2020). “Standing Up and Speaking Out: Black Girls’ Agency & Activism in Elite Independent Schools”. In G. Logan & J. Mackey (Eds.), Black Girl Civics: Expanding and Navigating the Boundaries of Civic Engagement. Information Age Press.

Jacobs, C.E. (2019). “Identity in Formation: Black Girl Critical Literacies in Independent Schools”. In J. Jordan-Zachery & D. Harris (Eds.), Black Girl Magic Beyond the Hashtag: Twenty-First Century Acts of Self-Definition. University of Arizona Press.

Jacobs, C.E. (2020). Ready to Lead: Leadership Supports and Barriers for Black and Latinx Girls. Research Study Report for Girls Leadership.

Kuriloff, P. K., Andrus, S. H., & Jacobs, C. E. (2017). Teaching girls: How teachers and parents can reach their brains and hearts. Lantham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Jacobs, C. E. (2017). Remember, black girls aren’t doing “just fine”: Supporting black girls in the classroom. In E. Moore Jr., M. Penick-Parks, & A. Michael (Eds.), A guide for white women teaching black boys. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Jacobs, C. E. (2017). Developing the “oppositional gaze”: Using critical media pedagogy and black feminist thought to promote black girls’ identity development. The Journal of Negro Education, 85(3), 225–238.

Clonan-Roy, K., Jacobs, C. E., & Nakkula, M. J. (2016). Towards a model of positive youth development specific to girls of color: Perspectives on development, resilience, and empowerment. Gender Issues, 33(2), 96–121.

Andrus, S. H., Kuriloff, P. J., & Jacobs, C. E. (2015). Teaching middle school girls more effectively: Initial results from a national study. Independent School Magazine, 74(3), 16–20.

Jacobs, C. E. (2015). “Where my girls at?”: The experiences of African-American adolescent girls at a predominantly white independent school. In S. M. Ravitch & N. M. Carl (Eds.), Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological(appendix S). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Jacobs, C. E., Kuriloff, P. J., Andrus, S. H., & Cox, A. B. (2014). Reaching girls. Phi Delta Kappan, 96, 68–73.

News & Media

Penn GSE News

Charlotte Jacobs discusses trauma-informed practice in education at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls conference in South Africa

Jacobs was part of a panel discussion on the practice, which aims to arm students with coping skills and awareness to navigate their trauma in school and educational settings successfully.

September 15, 2023

Penn GSE Independent School Teaching Residency program expanding to include four more partner schools

St. Mark’s School, Kent School, John Burroughs School, and Marin Academy will join 17 host partner schools working directly with Penn GSE to provide intensive teaching fellowships to aspiring early career teachers.

January 18, 2022

From research to practice, Charlotte Jacobs is busting myths and inspiring action

Penn GSE’s Dr. Charlotte Jacobs talks about her approach to research, the intersection of research and practice, and how she’s aiming to increase access to her work.

June 30, 2021

Helping Black girls be themselves in independent schools

Penn GSE’s Charlotte Jacobs and Ramona Weber describe what they have learned researching the experience of Black girls in independent schools.

August 4, 2020