Olivia Marcucci is an Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins School of Education. She is an interdisciplinary scholar of racial justice and equity in schools. Her current research agenda is motivated by the foundational question: how do schools contribute to or disrupt racialized systems of injustice? She pays particular attention to the social and cultural processes in school discipline, restorative justice, and social control practices that intersect with the school-to-prison pipeline. She has published her scholarship in journals like Urban Education, Teachers College Record and The Urban Review, as well as presented at national and international conferences. Through her scholarship, Olivia has built multiple research-practice partnerships with educators and students. These community-engaged research projects have generated new knowledge, practices, and policies in their respective school communities. She holds a PhD in Education from Washington University in St. Louis.
EDUCATION
2019 PhD, Education, Washington University in St. Louis
Strand: Social Context of Education
Graduate Certificate: American Culture Studies
Dissertation: The Hyper-Disciplining of Black Students: Psychological and Sociological Investigations into American Schools
Committee: Rowhea Elmesky (chair), Carol Camp Yeakey, William F. Tate IV, Crystal Laura, Ebony Duncan-Shippy
2013 MSW, Washington University in St. Louis
Concentration: Urban Education & Social Justice
Specialization: Research
2010 BA, Harvard University
Concentration: Folklore & Mythology (cum laude)
RESEARCH AND TEACHING AREAS
Educational equity, social contexts of education, race, school discipline & restorative justice, the school-to-prison pipeline, and applied research methods
PUBLICATIONS AND OTHER WRITTEN WORK
Articles:
Harris, K. M. & Marcucci, O. (2021). The promise of private education: A case study of racialized, gendered, and socioeconomic disparities in achievement in one private school. Teachers College Record, 123(6).
Marcucci, O., & Elmesky, R. (2020). Advancing culturally relevant discipline: An ethnographic microanalysis of disciplinary interactions with Black students. Urban Education [advanced online publication]. DOI: 10.1177/0042085920909165
Marcucci, O. (2020). Implicit bias in the era of social desirability: Understanding antiblackness in rehabilitative and punitive school discipline. The Urban Review, 52, 47-74. DOI: 10.1007/s11256-019-00512-7
Marcucci, O. (2020). From the ‘discipline gap’ to ‘hyper-disciplining’: A discursive shift in how we talk about the disciplining of Black students. Teachers College Record [commentary]. ID Number: 23361
Marcucci, O. (2020). Parental involvement and the Black-White discipline gap: The role of parental social and cultural capital in American schools. Education & Urban Society, 52(1), 143-168. DOI: 10.1177/0013124519846283
Johnson, Jr. O., Jabbari, J., Williams, M., & Marcucci, O. (2019). Disparate impacts: Balancing the need for safe schools with racial equity in discipline. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 6(2), 162-169. DOI: 10.1177/2372732219864707
Marcucci, O. (2017). Zora Neale Hurston and the Brown debate: Race, class, and the progressive empire. Journal of Negro Education, 86(1), 13-24. DOI: 10.7709/jnegroeducation.86.1.0013
Books:
Elmesky, R., Yeakey, C. C., & Marcucci, O. (Eds.). (2017). The power of resistance: Culture, ideology, and social reproduction in global contexts. Emerald Group Publishing.
Chapters or Contributions to Edited Works:
Grant, A., Marcucci, O., & MacIver, D. (in press). Effectiveness of Restorative Practices in Improving School Safety and Well-Being. In C. C. Morphew, V. C. Jones, & A. E. Cureton (Eds.), Safe and Healthy Schools in the 21st Century. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Marcucci, O., & Macrander, A. (2020). Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In O. L. Dyson, J. L. Jeffries, & K. L. Brooks (Eds.), African American culture: An encyclopedia of people, traditions, and customs. Greenwood.
Marcucci, O., & Elmesky, R. (2016). Roadblocks on the Way to Higher Education: Non-Dominant Cultural Capital, Race, and the “Schools are Equalizer” Myth. In W. F. Tate , N. Staudt , & A. Macrander (Eds.), The Crisis of Race in Higher Education: A Day of Discovery and Dialogue (Diversity in Higher Education, Volume 19) (pp.85 – 107). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Marcucci, O. (2016). Restoring relationships: How restorative justice can be an anti-bullying intervention. In A. Osanloo (Ed.), Creating and negotiating collaborative spaces for socially just anti-bullying interventions and innovations for K-12 schools (pp. 387-401). Information Age Publishing.
FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS
Politics of Care in Restorative Justice: Disrupting Racialized Social Control in American Schools. Johns Hopkins University School of Education’ Faculty Senate. $1,500. (6/30/2021-6/30/2022). Role: Principal Investigator.
De-Implementation of State Takeovers of District Governance. Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. $9,900. (5/1/21-10/1/21). Role: Co-Principal Investigator. (PI: Evan Rhinesmith)
A Toolkit for the Authentic Implementation of Restorative Justice. American Education Research Association’s Education Research Service Project. $4,485. (3/1/2018-6/30/2019). Role: Principal Investigator.
Racial Equity in Independent Schools: Examining the Relationships between School Climate, Student Engagement, & Achievement. American Education Research Association’s Education Research Service Project. $3,651. (3/1/2018-4/30/2019). Role: Co-Principal Investigator (PI: K. Harris).
The Writing Center’s Graduate Student Fellowship. Washington University in St. Louis. $3,500. (8/27/2018-5/8/2019). Role: Fellow.
Lynne Cooper Harvey Fellowship. Washington University in St. Louis’s American Culture Studies. $37,883.50. (8/01/2013-5/8/2019). Role: Fellow.
Mr. and Mrs. Spencer T. Olin Fellowship for Women in Graduate Study– Endowed Fellowship: Robert R. Anschuetz Memorial Olin Fellow in American Culture Studies. Washington University in St. Louis, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. $127,000. (8/01/2013-5/8/2019). Role: Fellow.
Brown School Scholarship. Washington University in St. Louis, George Warren Brown School of Social Work. $40,000. (8/01/2011-5/31/2013). Role: Awardee.
Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship. Rotary International Club of York, PA. $25,000. (8/01/2010-6/30/2011). Role: Awardee.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Elmesky, R., & Marcucci, O. 2021. “When Racial and Restorative Justice Intersect: A Case Study from a Predominantly Black District.” Annual Meeting of American Education Research Association. Virtual conference.
+invited AERA presidential session
Harris, K., & Marcucci, O. 2021. “Racial Equity in Independent Schools: Examining the Relationships between School Climate, Student Engagement, & Achievement.” Annual Meeting of American Education Research Association. Virtual conference.
+invited session for grant recipients
Marcucci, O. 2021. “A Toolkit for the Authentic Implementation of Restorative Justice.” Annual Meeting of American Education Research Association. Virtual conference.
+invited session for grant recipients
Marcucci, O. 2021 (postponed from 2020). “Creating Culturally Responsive Restorative Justice Practices: An Ethnographic Process Evaluation of Restorative Circles in a Predominantly Black High School.” International Conference of the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment. Chicago, Il.
Harris, K., & Marcucci, O. 2021 (postponed from 2020). “Addressing the Enduring Legacy of Inequality in Private Schools: A Cultural Audit.” International Conference of the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment. Chicago, Il.
Williams, M., Jabbari, J., & Marcucci, O. 2019. “Policies of social control and race: Moving towards restorative justice practices.” The Society for the Study of Social Problems. New York, NY.
Marcucci, O., Elmesky, R., & Tuths, M.* 2018. “Cultivating race-conscious conversations: Integrating video microanalysis in restorative circles in a diverse high school classroom.” International Institute for Restorative Practices World Conference. Detroit, MI.
*Educator collaborator
Elmesky, R., & Marcucci, O. 2018. “Reframing the Cultural Mismatch Hypothesis: Neoliberal school discipline, Cultural Capital, and the Racial Discipline Gap.” Education Reform, Communities and Social Justice Conference at Rutgers University. New Brunswick, NJ.
Marcucci, O. 2018. “The contribution of implicit bias on discrete types of disciplinary decisions by White teachers.” Annual Meeting of American Education Research Association. New York, NY.
+Carol Weinstein Outstanding Paper Award in AERA’s Classroom Management SIG
Marcucci, O. 2018. “When White teachers are biased: A preliminary analysis of the effects of implicit bias on the racial discipline gap.” Interdisciplinary Seminar Series, Olin Fellowship, Washington University in St. Louis. St. Louis, MO.
Marcucci, O. 2016. “Reimagining Discipline as Dialogical: Critical Theory, Restorative Practices, and Teacher Pushback.” Annual Meeting of American Education Research Association. Washington, DC.
Elmesky, R., Yeakey, C. C., Yin, M., & Marcucci, O. 2016. “The Power of Resistance: Youth Alienation in Global Contexts.” Urban Affairs Association Annual Conference. San Diego, CA.
Marcucci, O., & Elmesky, R. 2016. “Contextualizing school discipline: How cultural misunderstandings shape school discipline in an urban high school.” Urban Affairs Association Annual Conference. San Diego, CA.
Marcucci, O. 2016. “The Role of Teacher Buy-in in Restorative Justice in a Predominately Black School.” Ethnography in Education Research Forum. Philadelphia, PA.
Marcucci, O. 2015. “The Moderating Effects of Parental Engagement on Discipline Disproportionality in American Schools.” Annual Meeting of American Education Research Association. Chicago, Il.
Marcucci, O. 2015. “Can Parental Involvement Mitigate the Racial Discipline Gap in Schools?: A Moderated Regression Analysis.” Graduate Student Research Symposium at Washington University in St. Louis. St. Louis, MO.
Marcucci, O. 2015. “Educational Leaders’ Conceptions of the Public: An Ethnographic Analysis of St. Louis Public Schools.” Ethnography in Education Research Forum. Philadelphia, PA.
HONORS AND AWARDS
2021 Excellence in Teaching Award
School of Education, Johns Hopkins University
2019 Excellence in Educational Research award, Department of Education, Washington University in St. Louis
2019 American Education Research Association’s Classroom Management SIG Carol Weinstein Outstanding Paper Award
Awarded to the most outstanding research paper within the SIG at the previous year’s annual meeting
2017 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship Semi-finalist
2017 People’s Choice in the Three Minute Thesis competition at Washington University in St. Louis
2017 Second Place in the Three Minute Thesis competition at Washington University in St. Louis
2015 Second Place in Division of Social Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis’s Graduate Research Symposium
2010 Donald Moreland Senior Recognition Award
2010 Maye R. Zoffer Summer Scholar Award