Rate My Professor Jerusha Conner

Jerusha Conner is Professor of Education and Program Director of Graduate Education in the Department of Education and Counseling at Villanova University. She earned her Ph.D. in Education, specializing in Administration and Policy Analysis, from Stanford University in 2007, and her A.B. in English Literature magna cum laude from Princeton University in 1997. Before entering academia, Conner taught ninth- and tenth-grade English, served as a college counselor, and coached at Ransom-Everglades School in Miami, Florida, from 1999 to 2002. She joined Villanova University as an Assistant Professor of Education in 2007, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014, and advanced to full Professor. Her courses have included Educational Policy Analysis, Urban Education, Multiculturalism, Gender, and Inclusion, Instructional Leadership, Current Issues in Education, and Soliciting Student Voice.

Conner's scholarship focuses on youth activism and organizing, student voice practices, student engagement, sociopolitical development, and education policy. She investigates how youth become and sustain activism, the psychological costs and benefits, and the institutional impacts toward greater equity and accountability. Her research has received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Spencer Foundation, Surdna Foundation, and others, including a $125,000 grant with Johnnie Lotesta as co-PI. She has authored or edited key works such as Contemporary Youth Activism: Advancing Social Justice in the United States (Praeger, 2016), Student Voice in American Educational Policy (Teachers College Record, 2015), and The New Student Activists (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020), alongside over 40 journal articles and chapters. Highly cited publications include 'Nonacademic effects of homework in privileged, high-performing high schools' (Journal of Experimental Education, 2013; 329 citations), 'Not just robo-students: Why full engagement matters and how schools can promote it' (Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 2013; 256 citations), and 'The mental health effects of student activism: Persisting despite psychological costs' (Journal of Adolescent Research, 2023; 124 citations). Conner has earned the Tolle Lege Award for Excellence in Teaching (2013), Mid-Career Service Award (2020), and finalist honors for the Ernest A. Lynton Award (2013) and Research and Youth Leadership Award (2015). She chaired the Faculty Congress (2016-2018), co-chaired the Middle States Self-Study Steering Committee, and serves on the editorial board of the Journal for Peace and Justice Studies.