Rick Sperling, Ph.D.

Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

Critical race theory in education

Courses

Introductory Statistics
Advanced Statistics
Tests and Measurement

Before joining St. Mary’s, Rick Sperling, Ph.D., attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he was enrolled in a doctoral program and studied educational psychology. Sperling’s research focuses on (1) HSIs and the property value of Whiteness; (2) statistical methods of managing missing data; and (3) culturally responsive evaluator education. He believes statistics and applied program evaluation are two of the most important subjects he teaches because they equip students with a perspective that helps them to overcome cognitive heuristics that impair their ability to reason about the social world around them. Sperling’s goal for each student is that they will emerge from their education with an increased need for cognition, attributional complexity and a critical consciousness. When he is not teaching, Sperling enjoys playing Wiffle ball.

Sperling, R., & Márquez-Múñoz, J., (2023). Undergraduate certificate in community-based assessment and evaluation. New Directions for Evaluation, 2023(177), 115-122.

Sperling, R, (2017). Community-based research as graduate practicum: Preparing students for roles in program evaluation and academia. SAGE Research Methods Cases. 10.4135/9781473981034

Sperling, R. & Kuhn, C. (2016). CoBRAS as a predictor of attitudes toward redistributing resources to improve predominantly Black schools. Journal of Negro Education, 85(2), 172-183

Advanced Statistics

Applied Program Evaluation

Qualitative Methods Race, Class and Gender in Community-based Research

Tests and Measurement

Chicano Community Psychology

Introduction to R Software for Statistical Computing and Graphics

Political Psychology

Social Cognitive and Critical Race Applications to Contemporary Education

The Sociopolitical Context of Educational Psychology