Description of Research Expertise

Areas of Expertise/Research Interests
Sociology of Education
Stratification
Statistics and Methods

Professional Biography
Dr. Covay entered her graduate studies at the University of Notre Dame following the completion of her bachelor’s degree in sociology. During her studies at Notre Dame, she worked with Dr. William Carbonaro in the Center for Research on Educational Opportunity (CREO). Her work at CREO included using large nationally representative data sets to examine sector differences in achievement and the gender pipeline in college entrance and attainment. In addition to research, Dr. Covay has taught First Year Composition and Statistics for Social Research at the University of Notre Dame.

Research Interests and Current Projects
Dr. Covay’s research focuses on education and stratification. Her research interests include inequality in access and returns to learning opportunities. Most recently, Dr. Covay has examined the emergence and persistence of the black-white achievement gap. She plans to extend this work by examining the growth of the black-white achievement gap throughout elementary and middle school.

Dr. Covay is beginning work on projects examining the relationship between teacher quality and achievement growth in elementary school students, with particular focus on the varying relationships between student race and social class.