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Julia Higdon
57 Hemingway Street, Winchester, MA 01890 · (339) 224-7909 · [email protected]
EDUCATION
Harvard University Graduate School of Education
Doctor of Education: Advanced Doctoral Student, anticipated completion: May 2015
Dissertation committee:
Katherine Masyn (co-chair), Helen Haste (co-chair), Judith Torney-Purta, and Fernando Reimers
 GPA: 3.7
 Scheffler Award: Philosophy of Education
 McGrath Fellow
 Founder of the Civic and Moral Education Student Initiative
 Program coordinator for the Civic and Moral Education Initiative
 Program coordinator for the Early Career Scholars Program in New Civics
 Qualifying paper passed with distinction: "National identity, European identity, and
attitudes toward migration and immigration among adolescents"
Master of Education: International Education Policy: May 2012
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Master of Education: May 2003
 GPA: 4.0
 Joyce D. White Scholarship
 North Carolina Professional Teaching License in Grades K-6
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy: December 1996
 GPA: 3.7 with distinction and with honors
 Phi Beta Kappa, Golden Key, Dean's list
 Organizer of the first Undergraduate Colloquium in Philosophy
SELECTED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Data Lab Teaching Assistant: Fenway Summer Institute for LGBQT Population Health, Summer 2013
I mentored students in applied data analysis in the area of LGBQT population health. I provided both theoretical
and technical support at all levels, especially in the areas of: group and social identity, measurement, mediation
analysis, multiple imputation, and complex survey design.
Instructor and course developer: Intensive Preparation for the Study of International Education
Policy, Summer 2010 - Summer 2013
I co-designed and co-taught this summer course that prepares graduate students entering the International
Education Policy Program for rigorous academic research. I co-developed the syllabus and the reading list, and
taught statistics, economics, civic education, and cultural context of human development content. I also designed
and administered anonymous student feedback surveys for continual course improvement.
Higdon, page 2
Teaching Fellow at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, September 2010-present As a
Teaching Fellow, I have directly instructed and mentored doctoral and masters students and have developed an
extensive skill set in teaching both quantitative and substantive content at the graduate level. I have further experience
leading discussion sections and data analytic labs, meeting with students in office hours, and providing extensive
feedback in their research and writing. I have served in the following courses:
 Applied Data Analysis in Education: Fall 2010 - Fall 2013
 Intermediate Statistics: Applied Regression and Data Analysis, Spring 2010
 Civic Education and Civic Action: Theory, Research, and Practice, Spring 2013
 Education Policy Analysis and Research in a Comparative Perspective, Fall 2010 and Fall
2011
 Leading Education Systems at the National Level, Spring 2011 and Winter 2012
Independent Consultant: Avenues: the World School, September 2010-April 2013
I co-developed the “World Course” a core component of the Avenues: The World School curriculum. I was directly
involved with every stage of this project, including: producing a comprehensive literature and curriculum review,
developing theoretical frameworks, describing the Avenues graduate, creating a K-12 scope and sequence, writing
curriculum that is coherent across grade levels and subject matter, analyzing the curriculum to ensure alignment with
the key theory.
Montgomery County, Durham County, and Guilford County Schools
Teacher in grades 3-6, January 2002-June 2008
I was a passionate and successful teacher in widely varied schools: Title-1, affluent, magnet, urban, rural, elementary,
and middle. I was effective in engaging students across diverse backgrounds in service learning and community
development projects grounded in research-based best practices, and encouraging colleagues in this area. I also achieved
state assessment results well above school and district averages using experiential and project-based teaching methods. I
was an active contributor to school-wide professional development and student social, academic, and civic achievement.
SELECTED PAPERS
in preparation for publication
Barber, C., Ross, J., Higdon, J., & Torney-Purta, J. (under review). Educational contexts as predictors of
adolescents’ attitudes toward immigrants’ rights. Journal of Social Studies Research.
Measuring and modeling intercultural attitudes among adolescents across Europe: A multi-level,
multiple-group analysis examining student attitudes, intergroup contact, and school climate. (Thesis
presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education). Abstract: In
this dissertation, I used data from the 2009 IEA ICCS (International Civic and Citizenship Education Study) to
examine determinants of intercultural attitudes among adolescents (n=16,847) in seven countries across Europe—the
United Kingdom (England only), Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Bulgaria, Poland, and Greece—focusing on cultural
contexts and school climates. First, I established the measurement invariance of a variety of measures of intercultural
attitudes to support the validity of cross-cultural comparison, using partial approximate invariance, a novel approach in
the Bayesian framework. Then, I examined the ways in which intergroup contact, gender, and school climates were
associated with intergroup attitudes across these seven countries. I found limited evidence of an association between nativeborn and immigrant contact and positive intercultural attitudes. However, I found that positive intercultural attitudes were
consistently associated with positive and democratic school climates, as well as with gender and attitudes toward gender
equality. Future directions with regard to educational interventions are discussed.
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National identity, European identity, and positive intergroup attitudes in adolescents.
Abstract: In this study I draw upon Social Identity Theory (Tajfel, 1974; Tajfel & Turner, 1979), Self- Categorization
Theory (Turner & Oakes, 1989) and the Common Ingroup Identity Model ( Gaertner et al, 1993), to empirically examine
differences between national and European identity and their relationships with attitudes toward minority groups among
adolescents in Europe.
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
Symposium: Research on civic learning and engagement using international large scale assessments.
National Council for the Social Studies, CUFA, annual meeting, St. Louis, Missouri. Abstract: The symposium’s
purpose was to present and interpret analyses of survey data concerning the social and political attitudes of early adolescents
in Europe drawn from the IEA International Civics and Citizenship Study (ICCSS 2009) and to consider implications
for civic education and for future studies (including multi-method research). With Judith Torney-Purta, Ryan Knowles,
and Carolyn Barber (2013, November)
National identity, European identity, and attitudes toward ‘others’ in European adolescents. Association for
Psychological Science, Washington, DC. Abstract: I empirically examined differences between national and European identity
and their associations with attitudes toward racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, and migrants among adolescents. (2013,
May)
Pedagogy and attitudes toward immigrants in Europe. American Educational Research Association Annual
Conference, Vancouver, BC. Abstract: In this analysis, structural equation modeling is used to examine the relationship
between pedagogy and positive intergroup attitudes in several European nations, using the 2008-9 IEA International Civic
and Citizenship Education Study. (2012, April)
Panel Presentation: Educating for global citizenship. Comparative and International Education Society Annual
Conference, San Juan, PR. Abstract: We presented current research on Global Citizenship Education, as well as our
theoretical developments in the field. We also presented some of the core concepts from the curriculum we designed, entitled “The
World Course” for Avenues: The World School. With Fernando Reimers, Connie Chung, and Eleanor O'Donnell
(2012, April)
Motivating Youth for a Change: Inspiring youth civic engagement. National Youth Leadership Council Annual
Conference, Minneapolis, MN. Abstract: Along with several sixth-grade students, I presented current research on
motivation in the practice of civic education and service learning. The students presented their own perspectives on motivating
“Youth for a Change” as well as their analysis of surveys of their fellow students. (2007, April)
ADVANCED RESEARCH METHODS COURSEWORK
Complete transcripts available upon request
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Applied Latent Class Analysis and Finite Mixture Modeling, with Professor Katherine
Masyn, University of Kansas, Summer 2013
Applied Research and Strategies, with Professor Judith-Torney Purta, University of
Maryland, College Park, Fall 2013
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Doctoral Seminar in Advanced Latent Variable Modeling, with Professor Katherine Masyn,
HGSE, Fall 2011
Research Practicum Experience in Youth Civic Engagement, with Professor Robert Selman,
HGSE, Yearlong 2012-2013
Methods of Educational Measurement, with Professor Dan Koretz, HGSE, Spring 2010
Analyzing Culture: Dialogue, Discourse, and Theme, with Professor Helen Haste, HGSE, Fall
2008
Observation and Participation in Qualitative Research, with Professor Mica Pollock,
HGSE, Fall 2008
Interviewing in Qualitative Research, with Professor Mark Warren, HGSE, Fall 2008
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
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Supporting Quantitative Understanding Analysis and Research in the Social Studies (squarss.org)
International Society for Political Psychology, Junior Scholars group
Association for Psychological Science
Comparative and International Education Society
National Council for the Social Studies, College and University Faculty Association
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Quantitative research methods, including:
 advanced measurement and evaluation including: scaling, item response theory, and classical test
theory, evaluation of survey design
 research and instrument design
 advanced statistical methods: multi-level modeling, structural equation modeling, finite mixture
modeling and latent class analysis, Bayesian methods, use of weighting procedures
Qualitative research methods, including:
 interviewing and participant observation
 text analysis
Selected software proficiency:
 Statistics: R, STATA, MPlus, Tableau
 Qualitative coding: Dedoose, MaxQDA
 Online teaching and learning: Elluminate, Blackboard, Web 2.0
REFERENCES
Available upon request