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Christopher Boccanfuso, Ph.D.

Christopher Boccanfuso, Ph.D., is a Research Scientist at Child Trends. He received his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Maryland in 2009 and joined Child Trends that same year. His dissertation examined school climate, academic engagement, and the self-identities of students within a highly disadvantaged urban high school using advanced quantitative methods and interview data from his year spent teaching at the school. In his time at Child Trends, Dr. Boccanfuso has published and provided consultation in several areas of research, including school climate, academic engagement, school discipline, and character education. He recently published Multiple Responses, Promising Results: Evidence-Based, Non-Punitive Alternatives to Zero Tolerance and is co-authoring several reports and articles including an upcoming article on the educational and occupational outcomes of a cohort of Philadelphia School District students, and a federally funded indicator report comparing charter and non-charter schools. He is also a technical assistance specialist for the Safe and Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center, a center funded through the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools that provides assistance to State-level Federal grantees in measuring and improving the climate of low-performing schools. Dr. Boccanfuso recently accepted a Research Scientist position at the National Center for Education Evaluation and will be transitioning into this position in the near future.

Date Created: July 9, 2020