Sonya Douglass facts for kids

Sonya Douglass is an American professor who studies how education works for different groups of people. She looks at why some students might not have the same opportunities in school. She also researches how to make schools fairer for everyone, which is called social justice, and how school rules (education policy) affect students. Professor Douglass teaches about leading schools at the Teachers College, Columbia University.

Sonya Douglass's Education Journey

Sonya Douglass has worked hard to learn about education.

Early College Years

In 1997, she finished her first college degree, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), at Colorado State University. She studied communications and journalism, learning how to share information and stories.

Advanced Degrees

Later, she went to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). There, she earned two more important degrees:

• A Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) in 2002. This degree helps people learn how to manage public organizations, like schools.
• A Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in educational leadership in 2007. This is a very high degree that helps people become leaders in education.

For her doctoral degree, she wrote a big research paper called Vestiges of desegregation: Black superintendent reflections on the complex legacy of Brown v Board of Education. This paper looked at how schools changed after they stopped being separated by race.

Professor Douglass's Career and Research

Sonya Douglass spends her time researching important topics in education and teaching future school leaders.

Focusing on Fair Education

Professor Douglass studies three main areas:

• Educational inequality: This means looking at why some students have more advantages in school than others.
• Social justice: This is about making sure everyone, no matter their background, has fair chances and is treated equally.
• Education policy: This involves studying the rules and laws that guide how schools operate.

Teaching at Universities

Professor Douglass has taught at several universities:

• From 2008 to 2013, she was a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).
• From 2013 to 2016, she taught at George Mason University.
• In 2016, she joined the faculty at the Teachers College, Columbia University. She teaches in a program that helps people become leaders in education.

Leading New Programs

At Teachers College, Columbia University, she has taken on important leadership roles:

• In 2017, she became the first director of the Black Education Research Collective. This group studies how education affects Black students.
• She also became a co-director of the Urban Education Leaders Program, which helps train leaders for schools in cities.
• In 2021, she became a full professor, which is a very high rank for a university teacher.

Personal Life

Sonya Douglass is married and has three children. She married politician Steven Horsford in 2000.