Carmel Blank

My Research: The relationship between disciplinary infractions at school and student achievement

A Disciplinary Hearing: My research isolates different aspects of disciplinary infractions and how they relate to student achievement. The objective is to contribute to the understanding that there are differences not only between schools, but also between classes within the same educational institution – an approach that has not been extensively examined. For example, I discovered that if there are disciplinary infractions in a particular class, they will affect the achievements of all the students, regardless of the student’s behavior or background, and regardless of any other characteristics of the class or the school.

“As a sociologist, I don’t take things for granted that many other people do – and I really like that.”

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Nothing Is a Given: As a sociologist, I don’t take things for granted that many other people do – and I really like that. Being in a long-term relationship over the age of 30, I was constantly asked ‘Why aren’t you having kids?’ Instead of getting annoyed, I would answer: ‘Why should I?’ I found that it confused people who had been raised to believe that having children is a necessity.  I recently gave birth to my first daughter, but it was certainly not a given for me.

Anything Is Possible: For me, sociology is magical – every field has a social aspect, so studying sociology allows you to research whatever you want. I am a research fellow at the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel and I aspire to use my research findings to promote better education policy. Later on, I plan to do my post-doctoral studies abroad in order to get to know another part of the world. After I come back to Israel, anything is possible.

Carmel is a PhD student at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences.