Soc Prof Sarah Bruch conducts survey on racial/gender/SES disparities in school experience in ICCSD

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Sarah Bruch
Sarah Bruch

University of Iowa Sociology Professor Sarah Bruch recently completed a School Climate Survey assessing racial, gender, and socioeconomic status disparities in school experiences within the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD). Graduate students Harper Haynes and Tessa Heeren, as well as undergraduate students Sana Naqvi and Ha Young Jeong, also worked on the report.

The report is an outcome of a university-community partnership in which UI researchers assisted the school district to assess the district’s progress toward meeting their strategic plan goals related to student experiences and equity goals. The report was funded by a Community Impact Grant.

Bruch’s team designed the survey, which was administered by the district in February. The UI team then analyzed the data and presented results of the report to the ICCSD Board of Directors and at a community forum organized by the Disproportionate Minority Contact group in April.

To read local media coverage of the event, visit the Iowa City Press-Citizen website. To view the report, visit the UI Public Policy Center website.

Bruch is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, part of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. She is the director of the University of Iowa Public Policy Center’s Social and Education Policy Research Program.

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.