Teaching to Change the World

Jeannie Oakes is Professor and Assistant Dean for Teacher Education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She also directs Center X-Where Research and Practice Intersect for Urban School Professionals--the home for UCLA's programs for teachers. Formerly a senior social scientist at RAND, Oakes received her Ph.D. in Education from UCLA in 1980 after a 7-year career as a public school English teacher. Professor Oakes has written five books, several research monographs, and scores of academic and professional articles. Her research examines inequalities in U.S. schools, and follows the progress of equity-minded reform. This work is the subject of her widely read book, KEEPING TRACK: How Schools Structure Inequality, (Yale University Press) and numerous articles. Dr. Oakes' National Science Foundation study, MULTIPLYING INEQUALITIES (Rand Corp., 1990) documents the uneven distribution of resources, curriculum, and teachers in mathematics and science nationwide, and how it affects poor and minority students. Dr. Oakes' studies have been widely cited in newspapers and magazines (e.g., The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Parents) and on television (e.g., 'American Agenda' on ABC World News Tonight; 'American Agenda,' PBS 'Frontline,' and '60 Minutes'), as well as in scholarly journals. In 1986, her writing won a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Educational Press Association of America. In 1990, the American Educational Reserach Association awarded her the highly prestigious Raymond B. Cattell Award for achievement in research, and in 1997 AERA awarded her the Palmer O. Johnson Award for the Outstanding Research Article. In 1996 the Southern Christian Leadership Conference presented her with the Ralph David Abernathy Award for public service. Her current studies follow the progress of educators across the nation attempting to eliminate inequalities in their schools.