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Manya Whitaker

Riley Scholar in Residence

Contact Information

When I’m at work, I focus most of my efforts on improving the quality and effectiveness of urban education. I research in urban Title I schools, helping them establish/improve their parent involvement programs. I also lead teacher in-service workshops on the implementation of developmentally appropriate curriculum for low income and ethnic minority middle school students. In the classroom, I am most interested in helping students engage course content in multiple contexts, and from multiple perspectives. My primary goal as an educator is to empower students to become teachers as well as learners in a diverse, interdisciplinary society. 

Teaching Experience

  • Vanderbilt University:  Developmental Psychology, Adolescent Development, Intro to Statistical Analyses

Research and Teaching Interests

Developmental Psychology; Urban Education; Parental Involvement; Pedagogy of Poverty; Culturally Relevant Teaching; Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum

Publications

Whitaker, M.C., & Hoover-Dempsey, K.V. (in press). School influences on parents’ role beliefs. The Elementary School Journal. 

Hoover-Dempsey, K.V. & Whitaker, M.C. (2010). The parental involvement process:Implications for literacy development. In K. Dunsmore & D. Fisher (Eds.), Bringing literacy home (pp. 53-82). Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.  

Hoover-Dempsey, K.V., Whitaker, M.C., & Ice, C.L. (2010). Motivation and commitment to family-school partnerships. In Christenson, S.L., & Reschly, A.L. (Eds.), Handbook on school-family partnerships for promoting student competence (pp. 30-60). New York, NY: Routledge/Taylor and Francis Group.

Regular Classes

ED205: Education Theory into Practice
ED250: Urban Education
ED250: Youth Empowerment
ED321: Educational Psychology 

Manya Whitaker


Education

Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, Psychology: Developmental Psychology, Urban Education

M.S., Vanderbilt University, Psychology: Developmental Psychology

B.A., Dartmouth College, Psychology with Honors

This is the Department of Education