Academic Work

Barbara Kent Lawrence taught for many years in schools in Washington, DC, Connecticut, and Maine; at Boston University and Northeastern University; and from 2000 to 2010 at Lesley University in Massachusetts. Her academic credentials include a B.A. in Anthropology from Bennington College, M.A. in Sociology from New York University, and an Ed.D. in Administration, Training, and Policy Studies from Boston University.

In addition, Dr. Lawrence has written and lectured about the affect of culture on aspirations, issues affecting small schools, and school-community facilities. The audience for these publications includes other professionals in the field, as well as advocates for small schools, students, and community members.

Volunteer Work
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EDUCATION

High School:
Milton Academy, 1961

College:
Bennington College, B.A. Anthropology, 1965

Graduate School:
New York University, M.A. Sociology, 1969
Boston University School of Education, Ed.D. Administration, Training, and Policy Studies, 1998
Dissertation: “The Influence of Culture on Aspirations, a Case Study of Tremont, ME”
National Rural Education Association Dissertation Award, 1997–98

EMPLOYMENT

Education
Director, Facilities Initiative
The Rural School and Community Trust, 1998–2004

Adjunct Professor, Lesley University, 2000–2010
Adjunct Professor, Northeastern University, 2004–2006

School of Education, Boston University
Teaching Assistant to Dr. Charles Glenn, 1995–1997

Brunswick School, Greenwich, CT
Teacher: History, Sociology, Anthropology
Chairman: History Department, Dean of Guidance, 1971–1979

Real Estate
Broker, Consultant, LandVest, Boston Office, 1995–1999

Train Properties, Ltd.
President, Designated Broker and Co-Owner, 1980–1997

COURSES TAUGHT at LESLEY UNIVERSITY & NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY

Courses:

  • Lives in Context

  • Writing Skills I

  • Writing Lab

  • Memoir

  • Research Seminar

  • Stages of Life: Adulthood

Independent Guided Topics:
Writing Topics

  • Memoir

  • Creative Writing

Social Sciences Topics

  • Gender typing in a preschool

  • Family issues for parents of LD students

  • Environmental law

FIRST READER of over 50 THESES

Topics included:

  • Fashion as a reflection of the changing role of women

  • Sexual abuse of girls and women by priests and family members

  • The meaning of menstruation for women

  • The journey of Irish women as told by the granddaughter of an immigrant

  • Journey of a ‘project kid’ from Cambridge

Other Interests

  • Small schools

  • Culture change and acculturation

  • Social movements and the Sixties

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS IN EDUCATION

Books
Working Memory: The Influence of Culture on Aspirations, Dissertation, Boston University, 1998.
Winner, 1998 Dissertation Award, National Rural Education Association

Dollars and Sense: The Cost-Effectiveness of Small Schools
Lawrence, Barbara Kent et al, KnowledgeWorks, Concordia, Inc., and The Rural School and Community Trust, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2002

The Hermit Crab Solution: Creative Alternatives for Improving Rural School Facilities & Keeping Them Close to Home
AEL, Charleston, West Virginia, 2004
http://www.ael.org/page.htm?&id=805&pd=res8721

Dollars and Sense: Lessons from Good, Cost-Effective Small Schools
Lawrence, Barbara Kent et al, KnowledgeWorks, Concordia, Inc., and Architects of Achievement, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2005
http://www.kwfdn.org/resource_library/_resources/dollars_sense.pdf

Journals
Rural Gifted Education: A Comprehensive Literature Review
Journal of Gifted Education, in process, 2008

When School Doors Close
Planning Commissioners Journal, Number 56, Fall 2004

For Authentic Accountability Think Small
Journal of Education, Boston University, Volume 185, Number 4, 2004

When Too Lean is Too Mean
Independent School Health Association Newsletter, 2000

Customer or Client: Who is Who in Education
Maine Journal of Education, Winter 1999, Brunswick, Maine

Magazines
District Administration, Professional Opinion: Lessons from Rural Schools, October 2007

Leaves Falling in Japan: Retired Husband Syndrome
Online Magazine: RetirementJobs.com, 2006

Back to the Agora: Workable Solutions for Small Urban School Facilities
Appalachian Educational Laboratory, ERIC/CRESS, Digest EDRD-03-4, 2003

Effects of State Policy Structures on Facilities Planning and Construction in Rural Districts
Appalachian Educational Laboratory, ERIC/CRESS, Digest ED-RC-01-8, December 2001

Hoosiers, Yankees and Mountaineers
Phi Delta Kappan, November 1995, with Alan J. DeYoung, pp. 104–112. EJ 374632
http://ericae.net/ericdc/EJ513377.htm

Reports
Making the Most of Good Professional Development
A report on the work of The Summer Institute Series, 2006
The Institute for Professional Development and Graduate Studies in Education, Northeastern University, December 2006

Schools for Successful Communities: An Element of Smart Growth
Council of Educational Facility Planners International and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, September 2004. One of eight contributing authors

Land for Granted: The Effects of Acreage Policies on Rural Schools and Communities
Rural School and Community Trust, December 2003
http://www.ruraledu.org/docs/landforgranted.pdf

Save a Penny, Lose a School: The Real Cost of Deferred Maintenance
The Rural School and Community Trust, Washington, DC, 2003

Lowering the Overhead by Raising the Roof and Other Strategies for Small Schools
The Rural School and Community Trust, Washington, DC, 2002
http://www.ruraledu.org/keep_learning.cfm?record_no=574

Selected Papers Presented
Praxis to Practice: Putting Qualitative Methods to Work for Rural Education
Annual Qualitative Research in Rural Education Conference, Morganstown, WV, May 20–21, 1999. ED436326
http://ericae.net/ericdc/ED436326.htm

The Importance of Sustainability for Rural Schools
Meeting of the National Rural Education Association, October 14–17, Buffalo, NY, 1998. ED 425030
http://ericae.net/ericdc/ED425030.htm

There’s Many a Slip Between the Cup and the Lip
In: The Many Faces of Rural Education. Proceedings of the Annual NREA Convention (89th, Tucson, AZ, September 24–27, 1997); see RC 021 239
http://ericae.net/ericdc/ED413153.htm

Working Memory: The Influence of Culture on Aspirations
Dissertation, Boston University, 1998. Dissertation of the Year, 1998, National Rural Education Association
http://ericae.net/ericdc/ED430765.htm

Sketches of Maine, Spring 1995
Presented in part at The South End Open Studios, Writers Workshop, September 22, 1996

‘What the Red Squirrel is to the Gray’: The Importance of Culture in the Composition of School Boards on Mount Desert Island, Maine
Paper presented at the National Rural Education Association Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, October 4, 1995. ED389502
http://ericae.net/ericdc/ED389502.htm

Working Memory: The Influence of Culture on Education, A Case Study of Tremont, Maine
Paper presented at the National Rural Education Association Meeting, San Antonio, October 13, 1996. ED407193
http://ericae.net/ericdc/ED407193.htm

Ireland and Maine: Two Responses to Education
Paper presented to the Research Forum of the National Rural Education Association, Annual Meeting, Buffalo, New York, October 16, 1998

OTHER WRITING

Bitter Ice: A Memoir of Love, Food, and Obsession
Rob Weisbach/Wm. Morrow Inc., New York, 1998

The Hungry i: A Workbook for Partners of Men with Eating Disorders
Greene Bark Press, Allentown, PA, 2010

Islands of Time, a novel
Just Write Books, Topsham, Maine, 2013

The Other Island: BEN’s STORY
Maine Authors Publishing, 2016

Both Sides of the Pond: My Family’s War
A work in progress