Scott Davies

Biography

Education: PhD in Sociology, University of Toronto (1992) MA in Sociology, McMaster University (1987) BA in Psychology and Sociology, University of Toronto (1986) Academic positions: Current: Professor and Canada Research Chair, Educational Leadership and Policy, OISE, University of Toronto (since 2014) Former: Professor and Ontario Research Chair, Department of Sociology, McMaster University, 1994-2014 SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia, 1993-4 Education: PhD in Sociology, University of Toronto (1992) MA in Sociology, McMaster University (1987) BA in Psychology and Sociology, University of Toronto (1986) Academic positions: Current: Professor and Canada Research Chair, Educational Leadership and Policy, OISE, University of Toronto (since 2014) Former: Professor and Ontario Research Chair, Department of Sociology, McMaster University, 1994-2014 SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of British Columbia, 1993-4

Research Interest

Sociology of education, large scale data analysis, research design and methods, policy-oriented research, student achievement. My research has several branches. One examines trajectories of student achievement over several years. My ultimate aim is to compile data sets that will allow researchers to track students from their early years into post secondary levels, and to assess the impact of various interventions in reducing educational inequality. For instance, I am currently partnering with Ontario’s Ministry of Education to assess the power of summer learning programs to reduce numeracy and literacy gaps. Another branch examines educational organizations, paying attention to the variety of school forms that are emerging at all levels of schooling, including various types of private schools and tutoring businesses, and various public schools of choice. In a third branch, I am attempting to contribute to sociological theories of education, variously interpreting how schooling and society have become more deeply ‘interpenetrated’ over time, charting different forms of cultural capital, and attempting to apply Interaction Ritual Theory to school. As a recent Canada Research Chair and recipient of CFI and ORF grants, I plan to build a research lab at OISE that will house a wide variety of education data, and will become a major hub for policy-relevant research in the Toronto area.