Tulane University Ph.D. student Alanna Manigault recently received $30,000 to study the school-to-prison pipeline. Manigault earned this grant due to her status as a Health Policy Research Scholar.  

She will use this money to research evidence-based politics over the next four years. 

The national Health Policy Research Scholar program is implemented by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation works towards combating health discrepancies in the U.S. by funding projects that will alleviate challenges based on race, gender and poverty.  

The program has been running for eight years. This year, Manigault is one of 40 students in the cohort.  

Manigault was interested in the program because she wants to learn how race and gender influence teachers’ biases in schools.  

“I’m looking at teacher attitudes specific to trauma-informed care and seeing if there’s a relationship between those attitudes and how they’re interacting with their kids in the classroom,” Manigault said. “Black kids are often targeted for exclusionary discipline.” 

Manigault’s interest in the school-to-prison pipeline inspired her research and career choice.  

“I started looking at careers where I could make an impact or address [the school-to-prison pipeline] in some way, and I landed on school psychology,” she said.  

School psychologists can impact students from both an educational and health standpoint, creating the opportunity for Manigault to target inequity.  

The Health Policy Research Scholar program takes an interdisciplinary approach to health, combining perspectives from various forms of research. The accepted researchers come from a variety of disciplines, including engineering, history and psychology.  

“Everybody brings their own attack on health inequity, from different angles,” said Manigault.  

Manigault’s interest in the school-to-prison pipeline peaked while attending Hampton University as an undergraduate. She was assigned to research the educational circumstances of her hometown and noticed stark racial disparities based on discipline. 

Her interest in discipline was also informed by her undergraduate research in Pittsburgh, where school discipline measures rank disproportionately with regard to race.  

Courtney N. Baker, associate professor in the School of Science and Engineering, is Manigault’s research advisor. Baker researches trauma-informed care in schools, which overlaps with Manigault’s research.  

Trauma-informed care is a healthcare approach where a patient’s past trauma is acknowledged throughout therapy or treatment. By creating a secure environment, patients are empowered and supported instead of inhibited by trauma.  

Manigault is hopeful that her research will promote change in the nation’s educational systems.  

“What I would hope to see is that this creates a stronger argument for us as a nation to start to drop trauma-informed care more in schools,” she said.  

Teachers are often faced with the task of supporting children who require attention from a mental health professional instead. However, this holistic approach to education is not necessarily provided, creating obstacles for teachers and influencing the future of their students.  

This discrepancy is more nuanced when considering race. Minority students who require mental health assistance are least likely to receive adequate services in school.  

Manigault believes that a school’s inability to address these problems is not a reflection of its teachers but rather highlights systemic issues that are beyond the scope of what a therapist or a school staff member can address.