Maryland Population Research Center

Assistant Professor
Department of African/American Studies
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

Email: ojohnson@aasp.umd.edu
Phone: 301-405-1169
Office: 2169 LeFrak Hall

CV

Publications

Grants

Recent Scientific Accomplishments

Johnson’s research focuses on the bidirectional link between neighborhood characteristics and educational opportunity within the urban context. For example, in his paper “Toward a Theory of Place: Social Mobility, Proximity and Proximal Capital,?which is forthcoming in an edited volume published by Elsevier Press, Johnson identifies the related forms of endogenous capital that enable social mobility through schooling within economically heterogeneous and homogeneous neighborhoods. He expands on many of the issues discussed within this chapter in a second paper which focuses on the social outcomes of urban African American males. This paper is forthcoming in an edited volume published by the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. In another paper, Johnson conducts a multilevel statistical meta-analysis of neighborhood effects research to ascertain whether the relationship between neighborhood affluence and education outcomes differs according to race and gender. His findings identify large racial “benefit gaps?advantaging white males the most and black males the least, leaving black and white females, respectively, nested between them. His work on similar issues is currently at various stages of the review process in leading social science journals.

Funded Research

Much of Johnson’s research has been completed while receiving assistance from the National Academies Ford Foundation Fellowship program and the Spencer Postdoctoral Research Fellowship program.

Future Research Plans

Johnson is currently securing funding for two research projects that continue his investigation of linkages between neighborhoods and educational opportunity. The first project is a cluster-randomized trial of enrichment programs within Los Angeles neighborhoods (Paul Heckman, University of California, Davis is co-PI). This study examines how enrichment programs influence or moderate the social determinants of academic success in school. A mixed-method longitudinal research design includes a cluster-randomized trial in which programs that vary in their enrichment orientation (academic or less-academic) are randomly assign to program sites, and a quasi experimental component in which the influence of seasonal differences in program scheduling on children’s opportunities to learn is analyzed. The data collection plan includes learning assessments, parental interviews (computer assisted), observation, student surveys, and administrative data from participating schools and 40 program sites. The data will be collected on approximately 1760 third-grade students until they complete grade 5. The other project is a mix-method research effort that seeks to ascertain whether school choice policies influence the collective socialization of children, civic engagement in support of neighborhood schools and social cohesion within D.C. area neighborhoods.

Maryland Population Research Center
0124N Cole Student Activities Building (#162)
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: 301-405-6403
Fax: 301-405-5743