Kristie LeBeau

About

Kristie examines the social, political, and economic dimensions of education outside the four walls of a classroom. She uses advanced statistical and spatial approaches combined with complementary qualitative data, collected through conversations with school leaders and community members. As a scholar, she argues for a shift in thinking about how education policy can better the communities in which students live.

She recently developed a tool with John Sipple (Cornell University) and Hope Casto (Skidmore College) to assist local leaders in starting conversations around the ways their school and community influence and depend on each other. It is their aim that these conversations will give local leaders a better understanding of their school-community so they can make decisions that lead to equitable educational opportunities and community vitality.

Kristie's dissertation work zooms into a specific part of this framework that examines the school as an economic force in the community. Examining a new minimum teacher salary policy in Indiana, Kristie explores the decisions surrounding the implementation of this policy in districts across the state and estimates the impact of varying decisions on the local economy. She investigates how a one-size-fits-all state-level education policy has varied impacts across districts and aims to explore how this policy can be more attentive to varying community needs, particularly in rural communities.

Education

• BA in Sociology: Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN; Valedictorian
• MS in Development Sociology: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Publications

• LeBeau, K. (2023). A guide to the American Community Survey (ACS) for the rural researcher: Unpacking the conceptual and technical aspects of using ACS for school community research. Rural Sociology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ruso.12493

• Sipple, J.W., Fiduccia, P.C., & LeBeau, K. (2021). The why and how of enhancing data use in rural education research and practice. In A. Price, Azano, K. Eppley, & C. Biddle (Eds.), The Bloomsbury Handbook of Rural Education in the US. Bloomsbury Publishing.

• Casto, H., LeBeau, K. & Sipple, J.W. (revise and resubmit). Leading for educational equity and community vitality: A comprehensive school-community framework. School Community Journal.

• LeBeau, K. (under review). Hitting the $40,000 threshold: A critical policy analysis of Indiana competitive teacher pay legislation. Education Finance and Policy.

Current Grants

• 2023: Buttrick-Crippen Fellowship, John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines
• 2023: Royal Society of Edinburgh Small Grant, collaborator
• 2022: Polson Institute for Global Development Collaborative Grant, collaborator
• 2022: Qualitative & Interpretive Research Institute (QuIRI) Small Grant, Cornell Center for Social Science
• 2022: Center for Teaching Innovation Graduate Student Fellowship
• 2022: Michele Sicca Research Grant, Institute for European Studies

Current projects

• Roles of Schools in Community Development with John W. Sipple, PhD, Global Development, Cornell University and Hope Casto, PhD, Education Studies, Skidmore College

Awards

• 2022:  College of Agriculture and Life Science Outstanding TA Award