Stephen Plank is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology. He received his BA from Northwestern University in 1990. He received his MA (1992) and PhD (1995) in sociology from the University of Chicago. His research and teaching interests include sociology of education, statistical and research methods, and stratification.

He is currently engaged in two lines of analysis with the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97). One project, in collaboration with Stefanie DeLuca and Angela Esatcion, examines the balance of career and technical education (CTE) and core academic course-taking experienced by individuals during their high school years. The team is modeling the correlates and consequences of different course-taking patterns - with possible consequences including altered likelihoods of completing high school, of entering various types of post-secondary education after high school, or of entering paid employment after high school. A second project, in collaboration with Joseph Gasper, is entitled "Delinquency, schools, and families: Elaborating and testing social control theories with the NLSY97." This project has been funded by a grant from the Spencer Foundation.

Plank also has a research appointment at JHU's Center for Social Organization of Schools (CSOS), where he recently was engaged in the work of CRESPAR (Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk). As a part of CRESPAR, Plank collaborated with Christopher Swanson and Gina Hewes in studies of standards-based reform in middle school science instruction. In 2002, CSOS elected Plank to be Associate Director for Academic Programs, in which capacity he works to develop joint activities of CSOS, the Department of Sociology, and other JHU units.

7/2005