Julie Swando
Julie Swando graduated from Central Michigan University with a double major in sociology and psychology and a strong research interest in education. She has conducted research on various aspects of education, including teacher evaluations of students, the intersection of No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and charter schools, and successfully completed her qualifying exam in sociology of education. These experiences led her to her current research focus, which is the study of education reform from a sociological perspective. Julie is currently working on her dissertation, in which she utilizes theories from welfare state and policy development literature to explain how various education reform policies are proposed, debated, and implemented in several states within the United States. She is also interested in many other aspects of education reform in the United States, such as how factors like race, class, and the perceived worth of beneficiaries can affect the reform process, and how implemented reform policies affect different groups of students and schools in general.
In addition to the sociology of education, her other research interests include the study of race and class inequality, and the study of other types of social policy, such as health care and welfare policy. Julie also enjoys teaching, and has taught several sections of Sociology of Education, Introduction to Sociology, and Sociology of the Family during her time at IU.
Julie is originally from the metro Detroit area, and enjoys traveling back there several times per year to spend time with family and friends (and to cheer on her Detroit sports teams!). In her spare time in Bloomington she enjoys reading, watching sports, exercising, spending time with friends, and playing with her two dogs.
