CURRICULUM VITAE
Name:
Linda Steffel Olson
Position:
Instructor, School of Education (retired)
Associate Research Scientist, Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC)
Center for Social Organization of Schools
Johns Hopkins University
2701 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
(443) 386-9114 (cell)
E-mail: lsolson@jhu.edu
Education:
Wittenberg University, B.A. 1970
Ohio State University, M.A. 1975
Johns Hopkins University, Graduate level courses, Math Sciences Dept., 1977-78
Professional Positions:
Instructor, School of Education, 2012-2014
Associate Research Scientist, Baltimore Education Research Consortium, 2011-2014
Associate Research Scientist, Department of Sociology, 2005 – 2011
Research Analyst, Beginning School Study, Department of Sociology, 1987-2004
Research Assistant, Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University, 1972-1979
Research Experience:
Associate Research Scientist, Baltimore Education Research Consortium (BERC), 20112014. Conducted research in cooperation with the Baltimore City Schools. Recent
projects included analyzing data of Baltimore City school students to examine the
relationship between chronic absenteeism and educational performance within City
Schools. Other research involved tracing the postsecondary enrollment patterns of recent
Baltimore City Schools graduates. With other community researchers, BERC is
developing protocols for merging school and student-level information with data from
neighborhood and community-level sources to discover relationships between urban
social and economic factors and student achievement.
Research Analyst, Beginning School Study (BSS), 1987 - 2011 Primary data analyst on
major longitudinal study of a panel of Baltimore City School children followed from first
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grade to young adulthood (age 28). Duties included: performing statistical analyses
using statistical packages such as SPSS, LISREL, HLM, STATA, and LIMDEP;
interpreting and summarizing results and preparing tables and reports of research findings
for publication; overseeing cleaning and preparation of data for BSS data archive;
development of survey instruments.
Research Assistant, Department of Sociology, Johns Hopkins University, 1972-1979.
Managed the day-to-day operations of a 3-year longitudinal study of the expectations of
parents and children in three Baltimore area schools. Assisted with statistical analyses
and preparation of research reports, as well as overseeing the work of interviewers in the
field, and making contact with principals and teachers to arrange for fieldwork in the
schools.
Publications:
Books:
Alexander, Karl, Entwisle, Doris, & Olson, Linda. 2014. The Long Shadow: Family
Background, Disadvantaged Urban Youth, and the Transition to Adulthood. New York:
Russell Sage Foundation.
Entwisle, D. E., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, Linda Steffel. 1997. Children, Schools and
Inequality. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Articles:
Durham, Rachel E., Bell-Ellwanger, Jennifer, Connolly, Faith, Robinson, Kimberly
Howard, Olson, Linda S., & Rone, Tracy. 2015. University-District Partnership Research
to Understand College Readiness Among Baltimore City Students. Journal of Education
for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR) 20:1-2, 120-140.
Slates, S., Alexander, K., Entwisle, D., & Olson, L. S. 2012. Counteracting Summer
Slide: Social Capital Resources within Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Families.
Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR) 17: 165-185.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2010. Socioeconomic Status, Its Broad
Sweep and Long Reach in Education. Pp. 237-255 in Handbook of Research on Schools,
Schooling, and Human Development, edited by Judith L. Meece and Jacqueline S.
Eccles.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2007. Early Schooling: The Handicap
of Being Poor and Male. Sociology of Education 80(April): 114-138.
Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. 2007. Lasting Consequences of the
Summer Learning Gap. American Sociology Review 72(2): 167-180.
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Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. 2007. Summer Learning and Its
Implications: Insights from the Beginning School Study. New Directions for Youth
Development 114(Summer 2007): 11-32
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2006. Educational tracking within and
between schools: From first grade through middle school and beyond. In A. Huston & M.
Ripke (eds.), Developmental Contexts in Middle Childhood: Bridges to Adolescence and
Adulthood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2005. Urban teenagers: Work and
dropout. Youth and Society 37(1): 3-32.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2005. First grade and educational
attainment by age 22: A new story. American Journal of Sociology 110(5): 1458-1502.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2004. Young Children’s Achievement
in School and Socio-economic Background. Pp. 86-108 in D. Conley and K. Albright
(eds.) After the Bell – Family Background, Public Policy, and Educational Success. New
York: Routledge.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2004. Temporary as Compared to
Permanent High School Dropout. Social Forces 82(3): 1181-1205.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2003. The First Grade Transition in
Life Course Perspective. Pp. 229-250 in J. T. Mortimer and M. J. Shanahan (eds.)
Handbook of the Life Course. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. 2003. School Achievement and
Inequality: A Seasonal Perspective. In G. Borman and M. Boulay (eds.) Summer
Learning: Research, Policies and Programs. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, in press.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2002. The Baltimore Beginning
School Study in Perspective. Pp. 167-193 in E. Phelps, F. F. Furstenberg, and A. Colby
(eds.) Looking at Lives: American Longitudinal Studies of the Twentieth Century.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Russell Sage Foundation.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2001. Smoking and the Adult
Transition among Urban Teenagers. Adolescent and Family Health 2(3):108-122.
Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. 2001. Schools, Achievement and
Inequality: A Seasonal Perspective. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 23:171191.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2001. Keep the Faucet Flowing:
Summer Learning and Home Environment. American Educator Fall:10-15, 47.
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Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2000. Summer Learning and Home
Environment. Pp. 9-30 in Richard D. Kahlenberg (ed.) A Notion at Risk: Preserving
Public Education as an Engine for Social Mobility. New York: Century Foundation Press.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 2000. Early Work Histories of Urban
Youth. American Sociological Review 65:279-297.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., Olson, L. S., & Ross, K. 1999. Paid Work in Early
Adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence 19:363-388.
Entwisle, D. R., Alexander, K. L., & Olson, L. S. 1994. The Gender Gap in Math: Its
Possible Origins in Neighborhood Effects. American Sociological Review 59: 822-838.
Reports:
Connolly, F., Olson, L. S., Durham, R. E., & Plank. S. B. 2014. Indicators of College
Readiness: A Comparison of High School and College Measures. Baltimore, MD:
Baltimore Education Research Consortium.
Olson, L. 2014. Family A First Look at Community Schools in Baltimore. Baltimore,
MD: Baltimore Education Research Consortium.
Olson, L. 2014. Why September Matters: Improving Student Attendance (Policy Brief).
Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Education Research Consortium.
Olson, L., Connolly, F., & Kommajesula, A. H. 2013. Family League 2011-12 Out of
School Time Programs in Baltimore City. Baltimore, MD: Baltimore Education Research
Consortium.
Durham, R. & Olson, L. 2013. College Enrollment and Degree Completion for
Baltimore City Graduates through the Class of 2012. Baltimore, MD, United States:
Baltimore Education Research Consortium.
Connolly, Faith & Linda S. Olson. 2012. Early Elementary Performance and Attendance
in Baltimore City Schools’ Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten. Baltimore Education
Research Consortium, March 2012.
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