Sophia Rodriguez

Sophia Rodriguez is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and Sociology of Education. Her research agenda addresses issues related to racial equity, urban education, leadership, and policy, and centralizes minoritized youth voices. Her current longitudinal projects, funded by the Spencer and W.T. Grant Foundations and Foundation for Child Development, utilize mixed-methods and ethnographic designs to investigate how community-school partnerships, teachers, leaders, and critical school-based personnel promote equity and advocate for immigrant youth. She is committed to using research evidence in policy and practice to support immigrant communities. Her scholarly work has appeared in Anthropology & Education Quarterly, Educational Policy, Educational Researcher, Sociology of Race & Ethnicity, Teachers College Record, and Urban Education, and in media outlets such as the Washington Post, Brookings Institution, the Conversation, and Chalkbeat as well as covered in Education Week. She founded and directs the ImmigrantEdNext Research Lab, a public-facing research hub that involves mentoring doctoral students in multiple projects about how districts, schools, community-based organizations can create spaces of belonging for immigrant youth. As a first-generation college student and PhD, she values mentoring and providing students with research experiences.

Rodriguez's scholarly work as been recognized nationally. In 2022, Rodriguez received the Early Career Award for Division G (Social Contexts of Education) in the American Educational Research Association. In 2022, she was also named a William T. Grant Scholar, which is a prestigious five year fellowship to conduct a longitudinal study about how community based organizations and school districts facilitate welcome and belonging for immigrant youth. In 2023, she was awarded a Mentoring Grant from the William T. Grant Foundation to support her mentoring of junior researchers of color. In 2024, she received the Douglas Foley Early Career Award from the Council for Anthropology & Education for significant contributions to change-oriented ethnographic research.

Prior to joining NYU, Dr. Rodriguez held appointments as a tenure track faculty member at the University of Maryland, College Park, and others. At Maryland, she won several awards for her scholarship including over 1.5 million dollars for raising the visibility of research. Rodriguez also started her education career teaching middle school ELA in NYC public schools in the South Bronx, and she taught high school English and ESL in Chicago, where she also coached teachers and developed English curriculum.

Education and Training

2014 PhD Educational Policy Studies & Sociology of Education, Loyola University Chicago

2009 MS Teaching and Curriculum and English Education for Adolescence, Fordham University

2007 MA Literary Criticism (Specialization: 19th Century American Literature; Modernism)

2004 BA Political Science and English with Honors, Marquette University

Grants and Projects (Selected)

Small Grant, Foundation for Child Development (Co-Principal Investigator). 1 in 4 Project (2025-Present)
William T. Grant Scholars Program (Principal Investigator). “The educational welcome of newcomer immigrant children: A mixed-methods study of school-community partnerships to reduce inequality.” (2022-2027).
William T. Grant Foundation, Officer's Research Grant (Principal Investigator). Equity for immigrant students in community-based organizations. (2020-2022).
Spencer Foundation, Small Grants Program (Co-Principal Investigator). "Equity for immigrant students: Examining the influence of school social workers in K-12 settings" (2018-2022).

Subcontracts

Abell Foundation, Improving Retention and Success of Baltimore City Students Graduates in Maryland. (Sub-contract, 2023).
Institute for Museum and Library Services. "Linking learning and belonging: A collaborative approach to narrowing the achievement gap for new arrival immigrant teens." (Sub-contract).

Honors & Awards

Douglas Foley Early Career Award, Council for Anthropology & Education, American Anthropological Association (2024)
Dean's Distinguished Alumni Award, School of Education, Loyola University Chicago (2024)
William T. Grant Scholars Award (2022-2027)
Early Career Award Recipient, Division G (Social Contexts of Education), American Educational Research Association (2022)
Outstanding Reviewer, AERA Open, American Educational Research Association (2022)
Excellence in Scholarship Award (Pre-Tenure), College of Education, University of Maryland, College Park (2022)
Visiting Scholar, Center for the Social Organization of Schools and School of Education, Johns Hopkins University (2020)
Recipient, Library of Congress Literacy Award for "Linking Learning and Belonging" project (2019)

Selected Publications

denotes graduate student co-author

Books

Rodriguez, S. & Conchas, G. (2022). Race Frames: Structuring Inequality and Opportunity in a Changing Educational Landscape. Teachers College Press.
Magno, C., Lew, J., & Rodriguez, S. (2022). Transnational Migration and Education. Brill Publishers.
Rodriguez, S. (In press). Undocumented in the South: How Youth Navigate Racialization and Immigration Status in Policy and School Contexts. Rutgers University Press. https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/undocumented-in-the-u-s-south/9781978828827/

Refereed Journal Articles [Selected]

Rodriguez, S. & Valdivia, C. (In Press). A call for new frameworks to capture Latinx immigrant young adults’ racialized educational experiences in the United States. Review of Educational Research.
Rodriguez, S. (2025). Parallel lives and imagined futures: Undocumented students navigating status and class across the life-course. Ethnography & Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/17457823.2025.2520815
Rodriguez, S., Ortiz, M.*, Alfaro, P.* (2025) School Belonging is not One Size Fits All: A Call for Structural and Racialized Perspectives on School and Social Belonging for Latino Immigrant Youth. Educational Psychology Review.
Rodriguez, S. & Murillo, K.,** & Roth, B. (2024). “Like they're my same people. They've probably been in my shoes..”: Community-based organizations’ role in fostering belonging and organizational ties for Latino/x immigrant youth. Journal of Adolescent Research. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07435584241280265
Rodriguez, S., Lopez-Escobar, L.,** & Pippin-Kottkamp, S.** (2024). Toward healing care-systems to support relational well-being for Latino immigrant youth in and out of school spaces. Educational Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048241265
Rodriguez, S. & Wy, G.** (2023). Struggling to belong: Evidence from a survey with middle and high school youth in public schools. Educational Researcher. 53(2). https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X2312169
Rodriguez, S. & Macias, E.* (2022). Even being a citizen is not a privilege here.” Undocumented Latinx immigrant youth and perceptions of racialized citizenship. Sociology of Race & Ethnicity. https://doi.org/10.1177/23326492221114812
Rodriguez, S. (2022). “Immigration knocks on the door. We are stuck.”: A multi-level analysis of undocumented youths’ experiences of racism, system failure, and resistance in policy and school contexts. Teachers College Record. https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681221093286
Rodriguez, S., et al. (2022). “Immigration enforcement is a daily part of our students’ lives”: School social workers’ perceptions of racialized nested contexts of reception for immigrant students. AERA Open, 8.
Rodriguez, S. (2020, Online First). Community-school partnerships as racial projects: Examining belonging for newcomer migrant youth in urban education. Urban Education. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085920959126.
Rodriguez, S. & McCorkle, W.^ (2020). On the educational rights of undocumented students: A call to expand teacher awareness and empathy. Teachers College Record, 122(12), 1-34. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146812012201203.
Rodriguez, S. (2020). “I was born at the border, like the ‘wrong’ side of it”: Undocumented Latinx youth experiences of identity, belonging, and racialized discrimination in the U.S. South. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 51(4), 496-526. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/aeq.12357.
Rodriguez, S. (2019). “You’re a sociologist, I am too”: Theorizing disruption in fieldwork with undocumented youth. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 49(2), 257-285. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891241619882075.
Rodriguez, S. (2019). “We're building the community; it’s a hub for democracy”: Lessons learned from a library-based program for newcomer immigrant and refugee youth. Children and Youth Services Review, 102, 135-144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.025.
Rodriguez, S., Monreal, T.*, & Howard, K.J. (2018). “It’s about hearing and understanding their stories”: Teacher empathy and socio-political awareness toward newcomer undocumented students in the New Latino South. Journal of Latinos and Education, 19(2), 181-198. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2018.1489812.
Rodriguez, S. & Monreal, T.* (2017). “This state is racist”: Policy problematization and undocumented youth experiences in the New Latino South. Educational Policy, 31(6), 764–800. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904817719525.

Policy and Research Briefs/Reports/Essays

Chalkboard. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/immigration-enforcement-and-u-s-schools-what-could-happen-and-what-education-leaders-can-do/?b=1
Ishimaru, A. & Rodriguez, S. (Expected, 2025). Supporting Families and Communities in Children’s Academic Thriving and Well-Being in the Wake of the Pandemic. [Invited]. National Academy of Education.
Rodriguez, S. (2021, November 30). School-personnel support for newcomer unaccompanied children and youth in urban schools [Policy Brief]. William T. Grant Foundation. http://wtgrantfoundation.org/the-system-makes-it-hard-for-them-exploring-the-challenges-and-strategies-for-schools-in-supporting-newcomer-unaccompanied-immigrant-youth
Roth, B., Villarreal Sosa, L., & Rodriguez, S. (2018-2021). What is the Role of School Social Workers in Advancing Equity for Immigrant Students? ]Research Report Reference #201900046]. Spencer Foundation. https://www.spencer.org/
Rodriguez, S., Roth, B., & Villarreal Sosa, L. (2021). School social workers and equity for undocumented students [Policy Brief]. Immigration Initiative at Harvard Issue Brief Series, 1(8). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. https://immigrationinitiative.harvard.edu/knocking-down-barriers-inclusion-school-social-workers-advocacy-and-equity-immigrant-students?admin_panel=1
Rodriguez, S. (2019). “Educator and school-based personnel’s advocacy for undocumented youth in K-12 settings” [Policy Brief No. 06-2019]. Sociology Policy Briefs. https://www.policybriefs.org/briefs

Significant Works/Mention in Public Media

Jacob, Therese. (2025, June 8). East Ward students bussed from higher performing schools: Immigrant rights groups call the practice concerning. TapintoNewark.https://www.tapinto.net/towns/newark/sections/east-ward/articles/east-ward-students-bussed-from-higher-performing-schools
Solis, S. (2025, January 31). Massachusetts teachers prepare as ICE eyes schools. Axios. https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2025/01/30/massachusetts-schools-teachers-immigration
Najarro, I. (2024, September, 27). What works to help students of color feel like they belong at school. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/what-works-to-help-students-of-color-feel-like-they-belong-at-school/2024/09
Rodrigues, M. (2023, Mar 22). The post-DACA generation faces steep barriers to college in the South. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/dreams-derailed?utm_source=Iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=campaign_6461852_nl_Academe-Today_date_20230324&cid=at&source=&sourceid=&cid2=gen_login_refresh
Washington Post. (October 12, 2022). Challenges that young immigrants face in US public schools. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/10/12/challenges-immigrants-face-public-schools/
USA Today and Greenville News. (March 8, 2021). She thought she was adopted. Now, her fight to stay in the US is just beginning. https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/nation/2021/03/08/immigration-adoption-woman-fights-stay-us-nicaragua/6890100002/
William T. Grant Foundation - Reflections from the Reducing Inequality Convening: Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Media Contributions, Blogs, Podcasts, and Other

Rodriguez, S. (Jan, 2025). Trump is promising mass deportations. Here’s how schools can support undocumented families. Chalkbeat. https://tinyurl.com/mrzjwz7b
Chamorro, A, Rodriguez, S, and Rimga Viskanta. (Jan, 2025) Immigration enforcement and US schools: What could happen and what education leaders can do. [Invited Commentary].. Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/immigration-enforcement-and-u-s-schools-what-could-happen-and-what-education-leaders-can-do/
Rodriguez, S. (Oct, 2024). For many immigrant students, school is their one safe place. Chalkbeat. https://www.chalkbeat.org/2024/10/09/immigrant-students-have-harrowing-journeys-to-us-school-is-a-safe-place/
Rodriguez, S. (April, 2024). “Nobody is listening to us.” : Latinx immigrant youth perspectives on race, discrimination, and racial equity in schools. William T. Grant Foundation Blog. https://tinyurl.com/3zku9vsh
Rodriguez, S (April, 2024). “We’re all, like, one community”: Latinx youths’ sense of belonging in community-based organizations. Perspectives, Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, NYU. https://tinyurl.com/23tr6f7e
Rodriguez, S. & Wy, G.* (March, 2024). Do I belong? Isolation and identity among minoritized youth. Council on Contemporary Families Blog. https://thesocietypages.org/ccf/2024/03/05/do-i-belong-isolation-and-identity-among-minoritized-youth/
Rodriguez, S. (January, 2024). “I hate it here”: How minoritized youth perceive school and social belonging in contested racial climates of public school. Perspectives, Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, NYU..
Rodriguez, S. (2023). Latino youth struggle with a sense of belonging in school. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/latino-youth-struggle-with-sense-of-belonging-in-school-203385

Podcasts & Interviews

Saldana, C. (Host). (Jan. 16, 2025). An Interview With Sophia Rodriguez and Jacob Kirksey About Immigration and K-12 Education Policy. National Education Policy Center. [Audio Interview]. https://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/podcast-saldana-rodriguez-kirksey
Schneider, J. and Jennifer Berkshire. (Hosts). (Dec. 5, 2024). What will a second term for Trump mean for public education?. Have You Heard. [Audio Interview]. https://on.soundcloud.com/MLH8m1nHFju8b5oD9
Garcia, A. and Rita Kamani-Renedo. (Hosts). (March 28, 2024). Racialization, Immigrant Identities, and "a broad process of othering in La Cuenta. [Audio interview]. https://lacuenta.substack.com/p/racialization-immigrant-identities
Green, Terrence. (Host). (February, 2024). How To Equitably Support Immigrant Youth in Schools w/Dr. Sophia Rodriguez (#44). [Audio podcast episode] in Racially Just Schools. https://www.raciallyjustschools.com/how-to-equitably-support-immigrant-youth-in-schools-w-dr-sophia-rodriguez/