Charol Shakeshaft is has been studying equity in schools for over three decades.  She was elected an AERA fellow in 2015 and received the 2015 AERA Distinguished Contributions to Gender Equity in Education Research Award.  In her role as professor, Charol currently teaches graduate courses in research design, policy research methods, and gender and race equity, all in the department of Educational Leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University.  

 

Charol is the author of three books and over 200 referred articles and papers, many of which have received national and state awards.  Her research focuses on three strands:  gender and leadership, sexual abuse of students by adults employed in schools, and the effectiveness of technology for learning, particularly for students of color.  

 

In 2004, Dr. Shakeshaft completed a report mandated by the U.S. Senate that presented state of the art information on the prevalence of educator sexual misconduct as well as recommendations to the Senate and House of Representatives for federal, state, and local prevention initiatives.   Two earlier studies also funded by the U.S. Department of Education examined responses to reports of educator sexual misconduct and sexual harassment in middle schools.  She has just published a study on the Standard of Care for the Prevention of Educator Sexual Misconduct and is completing a book on educator sexual misconduct. Dr. Shakeshaft serves as an expert witness in both criminal and civil cases on the sexual abuse of children in youth organizations and schools.