The interests in one Ames residence that houses two married ISU professors revolve around researching how reforms affect kids and their equity.

Though both Chris and Sarah Lubienski are assistant professors in curriculum and development, they actually have very different professional interests. Sarah Lubienski’s interest is in mathematics and Chris Lubienski’s is in education policy.

“The only reason I know about her stuff is I proofread her papers,” Chris Lubienski said.

Sarah Lubienski said she does the same for him.

“Our interests are largely similar,” she said.

Both study equity and social justice, and each recently received funding to pursue research.

Sarah Lubienski received a grant from the government and Chris Lubienski recently became a fellow of Brown University.

Their individual research looks at both their personal as well as their shared interests.

Sarah Lubienski received a grant funded by National Center of Education Statistics for her research on how socioeconomic factors affect students’ math scores.

She and Mack Shelley, professor of statistics and educational leadership and policy studies, will analyze data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

From preliminary research, practices of teachers and schools – such as the frequency of multiple-choice tests and the use of calculators – have effects on the scores of students, Sarah Lubienski said.

“The most striking factor is that eighth-grade white students are scoring higher than 12th-grade African-Americans,” Sarah Lubienski said. “This is particularly alarming.”

In the past, studies of the data have looked at math abilities in combination with one socioeconomic factor – race, gender or parental education.

Previous studies haven’t looked at the interaction of all of the factors, but her study will.

Also, her study will include additional factors: school poverty levels and teacher instruction practices.

She and Shelley have not started their research yet, but are planning to meet Monday for a “Okay-we-got-the money-now-what-do-we-do” meeting to get started.

Chris Lubienski was named one of the 10 postdoctoral fellows for Brown University’s The Nation and its Schools program.

During the three-year fellowship, he will be looking at schools in competitive markets. A choice in schools is the primary focus – where schools are in a market competing for students and in some cases, profits, he said. It is “cutting-edge in social policy and education,” Chris Lubienski said.

Home schooling, online schools, charter schools and for-profit schools are all part of an accelerating movement in education, he said.

His research is mentored by core faculty at Brown University. The fellowship requires him to go to Brown twice a year in the three-year duration of his fellowship to meet with the core faculty and the nine other fellows for feedback and support, he said.

“[The fellowship] gives Iowa State money to replace him in terms of [his] teaching,” Sarah Lubienski said.

“It pays for a year’s worth of time at Iowa State,” Chris Lubienski said. For that year, he will focus completely on his research.