Michael Rodriguez, Campbell Leadership Chair in Education and Human Development and professor of educational psychology in the Quantitative Methods in Education program in the Department of Educational Psychology, was recently featured in the MPR piece, “Reading, writing, resilience? A new way to shrink the achievement gap.”
The segment tells the story of Dr. Rodriguez’s background as a first generation college student growing up in the lower east side of St. Paul and the impact that youth workers in his community had on him growing up.
“They got me, through body, mind, and spirit,” he was quoted as saying. “And I know if it weren’t for that loosely organized network throughout the neighborhood, I would not be here today and be able to share with you this work.”
MPR also highlighted Dr. Rodriguez’s research which suggests that students in Minnesota across all races and cultures possess important social and emotional skills. However according to Rodriguez, “as students move from elementary school and into middle school and high school, there are drops in their perceptions of things like positive identity.”
