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Educational Policy Studies

College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Faculty Research Profiles: William Trent

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Educational Policy Studies
368 Education Building
1310 S. 6th St. MC 708
217 333-6153

PI - SROP Research Project

Educational Policy Studies
151 Children's Research Center
51 Gerty Dr. MC 672
217 265-8584
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Research Biography

My past research has focused on: 1) Educational Inequality: school desegregation effects (K-12, postsecondary), benefits and consequences, social organziation of school, status attainment research, co- and extracurricular activities, comparative education; 2) Race and Ethnicity: social stratification and mobility, equality of opportunity; and 3) Complex Organization/Social Change/Policy.

I am principal investigator for an Educational Reform Project focused on understanding the role of race, ethnicity, class and gender in school reform. I have also recently served as an expert witness on a court appointed panel in Vaughns, et. al. v. Bd. of Educ. of P.G. Co., MD.

I will be seeking funding for a major project on school desegregation, focused on educational consequences. I will return to theoretical writing on policy issues, their origins and evolution.

Degrees

  • Ph.D., Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1982
  • M.S., Sociology, George Washington University, 1974
  • B.S., Sociology, Union College, Barbourville, KY, 1966

Key Professional Appointments

  • Professor, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992--
  • Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992--
  • Associate Chancellor, Responsible for campus diversity issues, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1994-1999
  • Assistant, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Policy Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1983-1992

Activities & Honors

  • member and reviewer, American Sociological Association, 2006- present
  • Spencer Resident Fellow, The Spencer Foundation, 2006-2007
  • ASA Spivak Committee member, American Sociological Association, 2006
  • Committee member, American Educational Research Association, 2006
  • Member, The Higher Learning Commission, 2005-2007
  • Member, Research Planning Committee, Transitions Research Project, Social Science Research Council, 2003-2008
  • Member of Court Appointed Monitoring Team for Champaign, IL Unit 4 Consent Decree, Champaign Community Unit School District 4, 2003-2008
  • Meber, National Research Council, 2003-2005
  • Senior Specialist, Fulbright Senior Specialists are selected based on achievements and the fit with the needs of the participating agencies and universities., Fulbright Program, 2003-2004
  • Advisor, Illinois Education Research Council, 2002- present
  • Committee Member, Kellogg Forum on Higher Education, 2002-2006
  • Visiting Scholar, College Board, 2002-2003
  • Research Advisory Committee Member, Gates Millenium Scholars Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2001-2019
  • Member, Higher Education Policy Advisory Board, American Council on Education, 2001-2004
  • AERA - IES, AIR, ETS- Fellowship Committee, American Educational Research Association, 2000- present
  • Visiting Chair in Higher Education, Johnson and Wales University, 2000
  • Co-chair, Committee on Educational Excellence and Testing Equity for the Board on Testing And Assessment, National Research Council, 1999-2002
  • Outstanding Scholar, American Educational Research Association, 1999
  • Member, Board on Testing and Assessment, National Academy of Sciences, 1996-2002

Grants

  • Principal Investigator, Urban Initiative, U.S. Department of Agriculture (Urban & Metropolitan Affairs Office, ACES Extension Program), 2005
  • Principal Investigator, Illinois Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 2002, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, 2004
  • Principal Investigator, Data Analysis & Interpretation from 2002 Longitudinal Study, Illinois Education Research Council (Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville), 2004
  • Advisor, Illinois Transition Project, Illinois Education Research Council, 2003
  • Principal Investigator, Under-represented Minorities in the Academy: Understanding the Career Attainment Process, U.S. Department of Education, 2001
  • Principal Investigator, Understanding The Academic Career Aspiration and Attainment of Underrepresented Students, Campus Research Board, 2000

Selected Publications

  • The Transition to College:  Lessons from the Disciplines. William Trent and Terry Orr (eds) A specail issue of The Teachers College Record.  V 109, No. 10, 2007.

  • Trent, W.T. and Y. Gong. (2004). Achieving Justice and Equality in U.S. Higher Education: An Exemplary Program to Increase the Participation of Underrepresented Students of Color. In INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON DIVERSITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS. Edited by Walter Allen, Marguerite Bonous- Hammarth, and Robert Teranishi. Elsevier Press (In Press)
  • “Perceptions of Financial Aid Among Students of Color: Examining the Role(s) of Self Concept, Locus of Control and Expectations.” William T. Trent, Heather Lee and Dawn Owens Nicholson. Cultural Barriers to Financial and Access, AMERICAN BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST. Sage Publications. William Tierney, Editor. Forthcoming, 2006
  • Readings in Equal Education.  Volume 22.  Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • Transitions to College: Lessons from the Disciplines. Teachers College Record. Wiliam Trent, Margaret Terry Orr, Sheri Ranis and Jennifer Holdaway. V. 109, No 10. 2007. pp. 1-2. (Online publication available since April 2006)