UCI doctoral fellow recognized for research paper

A UC Irvine doctoral fellow was recognized by a statewide association for her research paper on the alignment between the regular school day and after-school programs.

Santa Ana-based THINK Together’s Manager of Evaluation Tracy Bennett was awarded the 2012 California Education Research Assn.’s Outstanding Paper of the Year. She will be presented with the award at the association’s annual conference Nov. 29 in Monterey.

“I hope that my research can be put into practice in a meaningful way for after-school program providers and the schools they serve,” Bennett said in a prepared statement. “I hope that both after-school program providers and school staff can pull useful and promising practices from my study, and apply it at their sites in a way that builds their partnership and, ultimately, positively impact student achievement and development.”

THINK Together, a nonprofit dedicated to providing academic support, is financially supporting Bennett’s doctoral work, where she is researching the impact of the organization’s programming. Her winning paper is titled “Seeing Eye-to-Eye: A Study of Afterschool Alignment and Academic Achievement.”

—Britney Barnes

Twitter: @britneyjbarnes