Michael Lawson

Assistant Professor

Office: University Downtown Center, Room 415
Office Phone: (607) 777-9209
Fax: (607) 777-7587
Email: mlawson@binghamton.edu

Dr. Michael Lawson's (Assistant Professor of Human Development) research focuses on innovative practice and policy designs for student, family and community engagement, as well as mixed method evaluations of school-based and community-based prevention programs. He has over 15 years of administrative and evaluative experience with school-community programs serving economically poor parents, families and communities. He also previously served in key leadership roles for several state and county-wide collaborative councils in California, including the California Clearinghouse for Evidence-Based Practices in Child Welfare and Sacramento County's Home Visitation Coordinating Council. Dr. Lawson earned his PhD in Education from the University of California at Davis.

Educational Background

• Ph.D. Education, University of California, Davis
• M.S. Family Studies, Miami University (Ohio)
• B.A. History, Washington State University

Teaching Profession

Courses regularly taught

• HDEV 300: Social Science Research Methods
• HDEV 327: Culture and Context in Development
• HDEV 367: Children, Families, and Educational Policy 

Current Research Interests

• Student Engagement
• Family and Community Engagement
• School-Based and Community-Based Prevention Programs

Selected Publications

• Lawson, M. & Lawson, H. (in press). New conceptual frameworks for student engagement research, Policy, and Practice. Review of Educational Research.
• Lawson, M., Alameda-Lawson, T. & Byrnes, E. (2012). A multi-level evaluation of a comprehensive child abuse prevention program. Research on Social Work Practice, 22, 553-556.
• Lawson, M., & Alameda-Lawson, T. (2012). A case study of school-linked, collective parent engagement. American Educational Research Journal, 49, 651-684.
• Alameda-Lawson, T., Lawson, M., & Lawson, H. (2010). Social Workers' Roles in Facilitating the Collective Involvement of Low-income, Culturally Diverse Parents in an Elementary School. Children & Schools, 32 (3), 172-182.
• Timar, T., Biag, M. & Lawson, M. (2007). Does state policy help or hurt the dropout problem in California? California Dropout Research Project. UC Santa Barbara: Gervitz Graduate School of Education.
• Lawson, M. (2003). School-family relations in context: Parent and teacher perceptions of parent involvement. Urban Education, 38(1), 77-133.
• Alameda-Lawson, T. & Lawson, M. (2002). Building community collaboratives. In O'Melia, M & Miley, K. (Eds.), Pathways to power: Readings in contextual social work practice (pp 108-128). Allyn & Bacon: Boston.
• Lawson, M., & Alameda-Lawson, T. (2001). What's wrong with them is what's wrong with us. Journal of Community Practice, 9(1), 77-97.

Other Professional Activities

• Evaluator, SHARE Collaborative, Safe & Healthy Schools Grant