About Ja’Dell

Ja'Dell Davis, Ph.D., is a sociologist, evaluator, and youth worker/education practitioner. 

  • Focuses broadly on community-engaged research and evaluation, the sociology of education, and out-of-school time + afterschool programs as critical learning contexts

  • Is grounded in culturally responsive, equity-centered, and Black liberatory praxis

  • Draws on her experiences as a public school teacher in Philadelphia and a youth worker/ college access professional in Chester, PA, and New York City

Resume + CV

Current Work + Projects

  • Afterschool Enrichment Program longitudinal impact analysis

  • Multi-agency reentry support for justice-involved youth with disabilities

  • Community-based initiative to establish educational accountability standards

  • Youth research and evaluation training and support

  • Establishing the evidence base for grassroots, community-based, practitioner-created initiatives (See ESSA Evidence Tiers)

Researcher and Evaluator at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she leads and supports a range of evaluation and technical assistance projects, including:

Independent Projects & Tools

  • The Prism Learning Group, LLC (Principal)

    An education and program evaluation consulting group

  • The BLESS Collective (Co-Founder | Co-Director)

    A New York City-based research-practice partnership focused on understanding the experiences of
    Black students and families in New York City Public Schools, 

  • The Rubric for Racial Equity in Research and Evaluation (Davis 2020)

    A set of tools to support the embedding of racial equity in research and evaluation processes and the identification and use of educational evidence.

  • Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Education Practitioner Supports

    – CR-SE Practitioner Training and Technical Assistance (Curated for Various Organizations)
    – The Critical Consciousness in College Access and Success Initiative (CCCAS)

    • Culturally Responsive Mentoring Learning Platform (Let’s Get Ready College Access and Success Program)

      • The CCCAS Working Group

      • Applying Critical Consciousness in College Counseling (Curated Trainings for Practitioners)

The Through-Line

Scholar – Evaluator – Educator – Collaborator

I believe achieving meaningful outcomes for students, families, and educators requires centering cultural responsiveness, critical consciousness, and racial equity. My work moves fluidly across research, strategy, facilitation, and design to help values become shared, actionable structures—cultivating both critical consciousness and joy in the pursuit of educational equity.

My Work →