Julia Smith
Associate Professor
Educational Leadership

Julia Smith came to Oakland University with a significant record of published research in refereed journals. A number of these articles were authored or co-authored as a result of her association with the Center for Human Growth and Development at the University of Michigan and the Consortium for Chicago Public Schools Research. She has continued her work this year in an article titled “Double Burden of Iron Deficiency in Infancy and Low Socio-economic Status: A Growth Curve Analysis of Cognitive Test Scores to 19 years,” published in the "Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine."

Another article, “Exploring Teacher Perceptions of Small Boys in Kindergarten,” published by the "Journal of Educational Research," showed systematic lowered expectations by teachers for all areas of cognitive performance for boys who were small relative to national norms. Smith will be presenting three research papers at this year’s American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in April concerning different elements of teachers’ views of their work as teachers.

For the last two years, Smith has been the coordinator of the doctoral major in Educational Leadership, but since the first day of her arrival in the Department of Educational Leadership in 1999 she has been a critical resource for students in the areas of research design and data analysis. She has chaired six dissertation committees for students who have already finished the degree as well as participated in nine dissertation committees for graduated students. Smith led the department’s effort to design a doctoral comprehensive exam format that would require students to demonstrate the knowledge gained from the doctoral program and apply that knowledge to situations that might be applicable to their area of dissertation research.