Gail L. Thompson

Professor of Education

Ph.D., Education, Claremont Graduate University
M.A., Education, Claremont Graduate University
Teaching Credential, Claremont Graduate University
B.A., Journalism, University of Southern California

Biography

Dr. Gail L. Thompson, a Professor at the Claremont Graduate University, has written six books: A Brighter Day: How Parents Can Help African American Youth Have a Better Future; The Power of One: How You Can Help or Harm African American Students; Up Where We Belong: Helping African American and Latino Students Rise in School and in Life; African American Teens Discuss Their Schooling Experiences; What African American Parents Want Educators to Know; and Through Ebony Eyes: What Teachers Need to Know but are Afraid to Ask About African American Students, a book that has received a considerable amount of attention from educators, talk show hosts, and news reporters across the nation; She co-wrote a seventh book, Exposing the Culture of Arrogance in the Academy: A Blueprint for Increasing Black Faculty Satisfaction, with Dr. Angela Louque.

Dr. Thompson has written chapters that were published in three edited books, From Work-Family Balance to Work-Family Interaction: Changing the Metaphor, Narrowing the Achievement Gap: Strategies for Educating Latino, Black, and Asian Students, and Adolescent Literacy: Field Tested Effective Solutions for Every Classroom. One of her essays was published in USA Today, and her work has been published in numerous academic journals. Dr. Thompson has appeared on PBS television’s Tony Brown’s Journal, National Public Radio, Tavis Smiley’s radio show, WAMO, WURD, KPCC, WBAI, WSOU, and KXAM. She has been interviewed for Scholastic Instructor and Inside Higher Education, and has been quoted in numerous newspaper articles. She has served as a reviewer for the Educational Broadcasting Network, Millmark Education, Houghton Mifflin, and several academic journals, and has done presentations, keynote addresses, workshops, and consultant work throughout the U.S. and two presentations in Canada. In 2009, Claremont Graduate University awarded her its “Distinguished Alumna Award,” and in 2008, the Black Graduate Students’ Association gave her an “Award of Distinction.” In May 2009, the California Department of Education selected her to be a member of its newly formed “African American Advisory Committee.”

Dr. Thompson is married to Rufus, an educator, and they have three children, Nafissa, a doctoral student, NaChe’, a college undergraduate, and Stephen, a college undergraduate.

Teaching Interests

• The schooling experiences of African American K-12 students
• Multiculturalism and diversity
• Literacy
• The achievement gap
• Writing for professional publication
• Resiliency

Research Interests

• African American K-12 students
• African American parents
• Schooling experiences of students of color

Selected Publications

• Thompson, G. L. (in press). A Brighter Day: How Parents Can Help African American Youth Have a Better Future. Chicago: African American Images.
• Thompson, G. L. (in press). The Power of One: How You Can Help or Harm African American Students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
• Thompson, G. L. (2007). Up Where We Belong: Helping African American and Latino Students Rise in School and Life.  San Francisco:  Jossey Bass.
• Thompson, G. & Louque, A. (2005). Exposing the Culture of Arrogance in
  the Academy: A Blueprint for Increasing Black Faculty Satisfaction. Sterling, VA: Stylus.
• Thompson, G. (2004).  Through Ebony Eyes: What Teachers Need to Know
  but are Afraid to Ask About African American Students.  San Francisco, CA:  Jossey Bass.
• Thompson, G. (2003).  What African American Parents Want Educators to Know. Westport, Connecticut:  Greenwood Publishers, Praeger.
• Thompson, G. (2002).  African American Teens Discuss Their Schooling Experiences. Westport, Connecticut:  Greenwood Publishers, Bergin & Garvey.
• Thompson, G. L. (in press, 2007). Sins of the Fathers: Why School Leaders Should Resolve Racial Problems on Campus. Leadership.
• Thompson, G. L. (2007).  The Truth About Black Students and Standardized Tests: What School Leaders Should Know. Leadership.
• Thompson, G. (2004). Playing God With Other People’s Children: an Introduction to a guest edited issue of the High School Journal. 87(3), 1-4.
• Thompson, G., Warren, S. & Carter, L. (2004).  It’s Not My Fault: Predicting High School Teachers Who Blame Parents and Students for Students’ Low Achievement. The High School Journal. 87(3).
• Thompson, G. (2007). Improving the Schooling Experiences of African American Students: What School Leaders and Teachers Can Do. In H. Walberg & S. Paik (Eds.) Minority Children and Youth: Schools, Families, Communities, and Learning. Springer.
• Thompson, G. (2004). Home to School to Work Transitions for African
  Americans: Eliminating Barriers to Success. In D. Halpern (Ed.) Changing the Metaphor:  From Work/Family Balance to Work/Family Interaction. Malwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlhbaum Publishers.

Curriculum Vitae

Further Information: www.drgailthompson.com