Russell Rumberger, a faculty member in the Department of Education of UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Elizabeth G. Cohen Distinguished Career in Applied Sociology Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA).
Presented every two years by AERA’s Sociology of Education special interest group (SIG), the Elizabeth G. Cohen Distinguished Career in Applied Sociology of Education Award recognizes a senior scholar who has successfully melded rigorous scholarly research with problem solving in practical settings. The Sociology of Education SIG provides a forum for the analysis of research that links sociological perspectives and methods with the study of educational issues.
Noted Rumberger’s nominator for the Elizabeth G. Cohen Award: “Professor Rumberger is an internationally leading research scholar on one of the most pressing educational challenges of our time –– the dropout crisis. Over the past three decades, he has conducted dozens of influential research studies that inform our understanding of the sociological dynamics of dropout. Although few scholars have stepped out of their traditional academic role to enter the realm of public policy, over the last 15 years Professor Rumberger has progressively engaged policymakers, practitioners, and the broader public to bring rigorous research to bear on solutions to the dropout crisis.”
Russell Rumberger recently served as Vice Provost for Education Partnerships, University of California Office of the President. A faculty member at UCSB since 1987, Professor Rumberger has published widely in several areas of education: education and work; the schooling of disadvantaged students, particularly school dropouts and linguistic minority students; school effectiveness; and education policy. He is author of the highly acclaimed book, Dropping Out: Why Students Drop Out of High School and What Can be Done About It (Harvard University Press, 2011). Rumberger has served as a member of the National Research Council's Committee on Increasing High School Students’ Engagement and Motivation to Learn (2004), the Committee on the Impact of Mobility and Change on the Lives of Young Children, Schools, and Neighborhoods (2010), and the Committee on Improved Measurement of High School Dropout and Completion Rates (2011). He also served as a panel member for the Institute of Education Sciences' Practice Guide, Dropout Prevention (2008).
As Vice Provost for Education Partnerships, he was responsible for the University’s engagement in P-20 education in California, including policies and programs that produce high quality teachers and promote achievement and college access for all students.
He currently directs the California Dropout Research Project, which is producing a series of reports and policy briefs about the dropout problem in California and a state policy agenda to improve California's high school graduation rate.