Biography

Dr. R. Davis Dixon is assistant professor of developmental psychology at Howard University. Dr. Dixon’s research explores how to create safe and welcoming school environments by affirming the identity, humanity, and culture of all involved in the education arena.  Under this umbrella, Dr. Dixon is interested in exploring cultural identity of students across school type; predicting student academic outcomes as a function of perceptions of mattering, belonging, and trust; and exploring the match/mismatch between student and teacher perceptions of school climate and the subsequent academic outcomes that stem from these perceptions. Previously Dr. Dixon was assistant professor of developmental psychology at Hampton university.  Prior to that he served as a senior associate for P-12 research at the Education Trust, a nonprofit, education civil rights organization. In this role, Dr. Dixon conducted primary and secondary research to inform discussion and debate among education decision-makers at the national, state, and local levels, ensuring that Ed Trust’s practice and policy work is driven by the most current education research. Dr. Dixon completed his master’s and doctoral work in developmental psychology at Howard University and holds a bachelor’s in psychology from North Carolina Central University.