During their senior year, Scholar Intensive students complete a year-long capstone project which enables them to conduct in-depth original research or develop an educational innovation.
Scholar Intensive projects have included original quantitative and qualitative research, policy proposals for community organizations, children’s books and young adult novels, musicals co-written with New Haven high school students, photo essays, short films and more. Students present their capstones at the Capstone Colloquium to fellow Scholars, faculty, mentors, community members, family and friends.
The capstone projects shared below represent the individual research of Yale Education Studies undergraduates. Their findings do not represent official university positions or statements.
Social Context of Education
Nora Faverzani (2023), Learning Dance: Reflections on the Relationships Between Intensive Dance Training and General Education for Pre-Professional Dance Students
Christian Robles (2023), Closing School Climate Gaps at Elm City Montessori School
Akio Tamura-Ho (2023), Zoom Affects: Discipline, Dislocation, and Digital Surveillance During COVID-19 Remote Learning
Jennifer Tegegne (2023), The Chicago Youth Movements Oral History Project: Documenting Abolitionist Youth Resistance
Ajay Culhane-Husain (2022), Financial Education Best Practices for (Student) Athletes in Wake of Name, Image, and Likeness Legislation
Arya Singh (2022), ‘Making it work’ to leave home?: Students in wheelchairs’ experiences and decision making regarding the residential college experience
Durel Crosby Sankofa (2022), Hungry for More: Why Recognizing the Lunchroom as an Educational Space is Imperative for U.S. Public Schools
Phoebe Liu (2022), Sense or censorship: press freedom, high school journalism programs and democratic education
Rahshemah Wise (2022), What are our Schools Teaching?: A Narrative Analysis of Long Term Punitive Discipline and Mental Health
Sam Ryan (2022), Disparities in Autism Diagnoses: The Role of Physicians, Schools, and Families
Thuy Pham (2022), English Learning Language in Vietnam: The Role of English in the Course of Foreign Turmoil, Globalization, and National Policy
Ava Niknahad (2021), School Health: Analysis of Collaboration between the Medical and Educational Fields
Josh Diaz (2021), How Gender Formation Can Inform Best Practices for Combating Toxic Masculinity
Rayshawn Johnson (2021), The Histories, Presents, and Futures of a Black Education in the City of Philadelphia: A Story and a Dream
Sydney Terroso (2021), The Disabling Effects of Society: Approaching the Education of Autistic Students through a Social Model of Disability
Carrie Mannino (2020), Your Feelings, Your Family, and You: Forced Separation Trauma and Accessible Media Interventions for Children Aged 3-5
Chase Warren (2020), Subjugation Schooling on Standing Rock: Education, History, and Theories for Change
Donya Fegan (2020), Teaching Beings: Epistemicide and the Maintenance of Settler Colonialism in the Classroom
Jane Buckley (2020), Reimagining Consent Education in the United States:The Potential of a Children’s Book in Helping to Dismantle Rape Culture
Miriam Cohen (2020), “Interesting:” The Limits of Education for Social Change
Odette Wang (2020), Invisible No Longer: Elevating Asian American Youth Voices in the New York City School Diversity Debate
Sidney Saint-Hilaire (2020), Misdiagnosis: Race-Conscious Approaches to Medical Education
Susannah Beyl (2020), Questioning the Rule: The Civic Implications of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) as a Pedagogy of Power
Sara Harris (2019), ‘At the Center of Everything:’ Understanding Rural Brain Drain Through the Perspectives of Educators
Colin Hill (2019), ‘Tread softly, because you tread on our dreams’: Parental advocacy in suburban school district restructuring
Tran Le (2019), The Post-Janus v. AFSCME World for Teachers’ Unions
Christian Rice (2018), Bridging the Social Gap: Recommendations for Building Bridging Social Capital in Schools
Fiona Riebeling (2018), From Concept to Classroom: Theoretical and Practical Approaches and Gaps to Multicultural Education in Chile
Veena Advani (2018), User Research in Online Education: The Challenges of Accurately Understanding Student Needs in a Global Classroom
Ana Barros (2018), Psychedelic Tongues: Storytelling and Unearthing the English Language Learner
Lucas Riccardi (2017), Attitudes Towards School Choice of Parents of LGBTQ Students
Israel Tovar (2017), Critical Race Education: Ethnic Studies as a Payment to the National Education Debt
Cindy Xue (2017) in collaboration with All our Kin, Caring 24/7: The Paradox of Nonstandard Work Schedules and Child Care (In)access in the Post-Welfare Reform Era
Cathy Zhu (2017), Evaluation of the Jones-Zimmerman Academic Mentoring Program (JZAMP)
Abigail Cobb (2016), A Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Academic Performance
Erin Cofrancesco (2016), How to Get to Sesame Street: The Origins and Impact of Children’s Educational Television
Corinne Kentor (2016), Using Your Outside Voice: A Case Study Exploring the Politics of Bilingual School Leadership in Southern New Mexico
Marisol Dahl (2015), Early Literacy and the Publishing Industry
Educational Policy & Politics
Stephen Carrabino (2023), Community organization in opposition to anti-LGBTQ policies implemented by public school administrations and school boards in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Matt Post (2022), Reform On and From the Inside: Bureaucratic Mobilization in School District Central Offices
Samuel Grob (2021), Just for Fun? The Politics of Representation and Critical Education in High School Musical Theater
Sasha Lee (2021), Thinking Beyond Traditional Schooling: A Historical Case Study of Alternative Sites of Education”
Leila Murphy (2019), ‘Anti-Israel, and even Anti-American:’ The Politics of Teaching about Israel in American Schools
Markus Reneau (2019), Planned Failure: The Business and Politics Behind New Orleans Public Schools
Jaclyn Price (2019), Building a Brighter Future for Florida Pre-K: Recommendations for a more effective universal preschool program in the Sunshine State
William Roberts (2019), Understanding the Impact of School Finance Reforms: Where the Research Falls Short
Edgar Avina (2018), Using Guidance Counselors to Increase Enrollment of Houston High School Seniors in Postsecondary Vocational Programs
Caitlin Dermody (2018), For the Profession and For Ourselves
Sophie Paci (2016), Outside the Walls: Exploring the Benefits of Outdoor-Based Learning for Children’s Development
Diana Rosen (2016), Elm City Montessori: A Public Montessori Option for New Haven
Higher Education and Yale
Janice Dean (2023), Students’ Perceptions of Mattering in the Classroom
Eamon Goucher (2022), Students as Neighbors: Exploring Yale University Students’ Feelings of Connectedness with New Haven Community Members
Juliana Viola (2022), Understanding Yale Undergraduates’ Decisions to Enroll vs. Take a Leave of Absence During the 2020-2021 School Year
Laura Nicholas (2022), “It’s our life project”: Uncovering the motivations and social entrepreneurial spirit of Yale alumni school founders
Joy Qiu (2020), Inductive Learning and Writing Proofs: Student Experiences in Advanced University Mathematics
Sarah Mele (2020), Beyond Inclusion: An In-Depth Analysis of Teaching of Audre Lorde, Toni Cade Bambara, June Jordan, and Adrienne Rich
Franklin Eccher (2019), Breaking the ‘Golden Cage’: Increasing College Access for Low-Income High-Achieving Rural Students Through the Selective College Admissions Process
Ben Wong (2019), Humanizing the ‘Nameless, Faceless Yellow Horde’: Chinese American Attitudes toward Affirmative Action
Laura Leon (2018), Higher Education Access for Undocumented Students in Connecticut
Jose López (2018), Not Made for ‘FGLIs’: Social Capital, Cultural Capital, and the First-Generation Low-Income Experience at Yale University
Shannon Flores (2018), Approaches to Discussing Controversial Issues in Higher Education
Mariano Miranda (2018), Latin American Students in the US: A Case Study of the Costa Rica and Why Does It Matter?
Kate O’Brien (2017), Yale Athletes in the New Haven Community: Learning from the Past in Building to the Future
Jessica Liang (2017), American Sign Language: Why It Has Become a Fallback Foreign Language Credit
Teaching & Teacher Education
Sélah Reid (2023), Navigating the Pandemic: The Experiences and Perceptions of Preschool Teachers and Directors Working During Covid-19
Maddie Whoriskey (2023), Advice from Early Childhood Educators: How to Speak with Parents about Discipline
Becca Rose (2022), How to Not Lose Your Mind When Reading Goodnight Moon for the Thirtieth Time: An Investigation into Shared Storybook Reading and Caregiver Emotional Intelligence
Edie Abraham-Macht (2022), The Critical Race Theory Debates Through History and Through Teachers’ Eyes
Mikah Covelli (2022), Trauma-Informed Education for d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children: Supporting Students Who Need It Most
Natalie Troy (2022), Teaching difficult history in middle school classrooms
Jessica Kong (2021), Inroads and Isolation: How Asian American Educators Work Toward Collective Liberation with Their Students and School Communities
Michael Martinez (2021), Disciple & Scandals: How the no-excuses disciplinary model of a No-Excuses High School created a toxic school culture and enabled disciplinary scandals
Emil Friedman (2020), Effective Principals, Effective Turnarounds: Considering the Role of the “Turnaround Principal” in Public School Transformation
Alexa Vaghenas (2020), Effectively Teaching for Self-Efficacy: Empowering Students through Mastery Learning, Trauma-Informed Teaching, and Anti-Racist Education
Jack Lattimore (2020), A Critique of Value-Added Modeling: A Mixed Methods Approach
Diana Woodward (2019), Teacher Perceptions of Mindfulness Implementation in Public Schools
Wayne Zhang (2018), ‘Model Minority’ Classrooms: Arguments for and Strategies to Recruit and Retain Asian American Teachers in the Context of the Racial Achievement Gap
Tanner Allread (2016), The Current and Future Teacher Shortage: Teacher Recruitment and Retention Policy for Oklahoma’s Rural Schools
Proposal for an Education Innovation
Victor Torres (2022), Folklórico Pedagogy: Empowering Youth through Embodied & Counter-Hegemonic Practices of Danza Folklórica
Tahj Lakey (2021), 40 Acres and a School: Engaging Reparative Hybridity in Education Reform
Lana Apple (2020), “I am not a guinea pig”: An Analysis of Parental Advocacy in the German Detracking Movement
Max Solotar (2020), An Interdisciplinary Examination of U.S. Child Care and Suggested Federal Intervention
Nadia Balderas (2020), An Education of our Own: Designing a Latinx School for San Antonio, Texas”
Imani Butler (2020), Black Dreams Matter: An Experiment in Educational Possibilities
Annie Chen (2019), Choosing a Challenge: Building a Choice-Adaptive Points System for a Digital Game
Nathaly Basto Camargo (2017), Proposing an Intergenerational Interaction Space
Gabrielle Fong (2016), Warrior-Scholars at Yale: the process of seeking Yale credit for a Naval Science course
Daniel Rubins (2016), ‘The Central Nervous System of Their Character’: Teaching Extramusical Skills Through Choral Singing
Curriculum Design & Curriculum Analysis
McKenna Christmas (2023), Facilitating Classroom Re-entry for Syrian Children of Refugee Status in Lebanon: Combatting Armed-Conflict Trauma with Resilience-Focused Psychosocial Education Interventions in a Country of Immediate Refuge
Saket Malhotra (2023), Exploring Approaches to Anti-Racist STEM Education
Katherine Matsukawa (2023), A Japanese American Curriculum for Connecticut Schools: Teaching Hard History With Narrative, Empathy, and Inquiry
Alexandra Contomichalos (2022), Promoting Healing of Syrian Refugee Children Enrolled in American Schools: Guidelines for a Supplemental Trauma-Informed Program
Grace Kim (2022), Culturally Sustaining Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Frameworks and Approaches
Christian Milian (2021), Teaching Taíno: An Interrogation of Puerto Rican Indigenous Education
Edward Maza (2018), Visualizing the Invisible: Empowering Students Through Hidden Narratives in the Museum
Natalie Rose Schwartz (2017), Scaffolding Critical, Multicultural Literacy in the Early Childhood Classroom
Pablo Uribe (2017), Common Ground: Current Practices Toward a Transformative Social Justice Education; Lessons from Critical Pedagogy and Strategies for the Future
Liza Rodler (2017), Sex Education in New Haven: Putting the City in the Context of a Century-Long Debate
Daniel Rietze (2016), ‘Oliver Button is a Sissy’: Integrating LGBTQ Literature into the Middle School English Language Arts Curriculum
Adriana Rodriguez (2016), Ethnicity & Me: Teaching Racial Tolerance in Early Childhood Education
Kelsey Annu-Essuman (2016), Hope Village Human Rights Curriculum
Mollie Korewa (2016), Teaching Anti-Racism to Upper Elementary School Students
Kaylyn Williams (2015), Culturally Responsive Early Childhood Education
Laura Brink (2015), 5th Grade Technology Curriculum
Reilly Foote (2015), Physical Education in Elementary Education
Avery Jones (2015), 8th Grade English Curriculum
Dominic Lounds (2015), ‘My Stinky Little Brother Doesn’t Like to Read’: A Venture in Children’s Literature
Creative Project
Eda Uzunlar (2023), Learning Together Worlds Apart: On the Education of Students of Immigrant Backgrounds in Remote Pockets of the United States of America
Melia Young (2023), Hawaiian Names and the People Who Carry Them: An Exploration of Diasporic Hawaiians Navigating Yale University
Peyton Aiken (2023), Not a phase, but a fact: Reimagining queer girlhood in middle grade fiction
Blanca Tallaj (2022), Self-Narrations as Survival for Queer Latinx People
Simone Koch Costa (2022), @why.schooled Questioning High School Practices and Purpose via Instagram
Courtney Nunley (2021), Dreaming Black Environmental Futures: A Middle Grade Graphic Novel on Black Communities’ Relationship to the Environment (graphic novel)
Jared Michaud (2019), Theatre of the Oppressed in Rural Education: An Applied Theatre Activity Teaching Social Empathy in Isolated, Homogenous Communities (theatre)
Emma Hathaway (2017), ‘The Things We Fight For’: Insider Reflections on the Next Great High School Musical (music)
Liliana Santos (2017), Bodies in a Classroom Space (photography)
Fortney Stark (2017), ‘Caitlin’s Big Idea’: Creating A New Social-Emotional Learning Video Series for Preschoolers (film)
Abdul-Razak Zachariah (2017), ‘Their Own Set of Wings’: Themes of Representation in Multicultural Children’s Literature (creative writing)
Victoria Campbell (2015), “Write like a Ninja: My Foray Into Creating a Young Adult Novel” (creative writing)
Education Theses by other Yale Seniors
Julia Butts, Sociology, 2017, Probing the Pattern of Asian American Underrepresentation in Special Education: Educator Perceptions of Students and Parents
Shoshana Davidoff-Gore, American Studies, 2017, Assessing School Choice as a Mechanism for Ethnic, Racial, and Socioeconomic Integration in New Haven Public Schools
Layla Treuhaft-Ali, History, 2017, ‘The Rich Implications of Everyday Things’: The Jeanes Teachers and Jim Crow, 1908–1968