Assistant Professor
School of Education | Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis Department
Hometown: Boston, MA
Dr. Ain Grooms is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She studies K-12 educational leadership and policy, with a particular focus on equity and access for students of color and students from traditionally disenfranchised communities. Her current research projects focus on whether and how educational leaders and related stakeholders in schools, districts, and states design and sustain equity-focused policies and practices. She is particularly interested in the retention of educators of color, chronic absenteeism, computer science education policy, and the development of equity-focused principal pathways.
Talks:
Diversifying the Educator Workforce
Having access to educators of color greatly benefits both students of color and white students. While there are increasing calls to recruit more educators of color into the workforce, retention remains a concern. This talk draws attention to the daily experiences of educators of color–in working with students and colleagues–and invites participants to consider the cultures/climates of their schools/organizations.
Reducing Chronic Absenteeism
Chronic absenteeism is often referred to as a problem hidden in plain sight, particularly for students from historically disenfranchised backgrounds. Recently, more communities around the United States have been intentional on improving student attendance and limiting the impact of chronic absenteeism. COVID-19 exacerbated attendance issues and schools were left struggling to respond. This talk highlights some successful strategies that schools and communities have used to address and reduce chronic absenteeism.