Cassandra R. Davis

Cassandra R. Davis is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on the environmental disruptions to schooling, specifically the impact of natural disasters on low-income communities of color. Davis’ ultimate goal is to support educators, community leaders, and policymakers to improve responses, preparedness, and recovery in areas with the highest need. Her most recent project focus on the impact of COVID-19 on schooling communities and First-Generation college students. In 2019 and 2020, Davis is leading a team investigating the extent of hurricane exposure from two isolated storms that affected school-wide resilience and student outcomes. The National Science Foundation (NSF) funded this study. In 2018, Davis received funding from NSF to explore the impacts of Hurricanes Harvey and Matthew on public schools in Texas and North Carolina. Both of these projects represented large-scale studies that specifically targeted underrepresented students. Davis has also collaborated with school districts to assist them with understanding and applying best practice strategies on topics related to improving graduation rates of underrepresented groups, supporting students with learning differences, identifying opportunity and achievement gaps amongst students, assessing the quality of professional development training for school personnel, and investigating ways to engage parents.