My Student Experience: Doctoral Student Leanna Martin Says College of Education Experiences Have ‘Defined My Future’

For Leanna Martin, a doctoral student in the NC State College of Education’s Ph.D in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (EEPA) concentration, her journey to graduate school started with a wakeup call in the most literal sense. 

Having woken unexpectedly in the pre-dawn hours one day in early 2022, she noticed an alert on her phone stating that she had a decision notification related to her application to NC State. Now unable to go back to sleep, Martin opened the message to find out that she had been accepted and would be fulfilling her life-long dream of earning her doctoral degree. She promptly shared her excitement by startling her still-sleeping wife. 

“When I saw that I was accepted I was like “Oh my gosh, I’m going to get my doctorate,” Martin recalled. “My wife said, ‘I’m so proud of you” and turned around and went back to sleep, but I was wired with excitement. I’ll never forget [later] receiving my first email from Dr. [Anna] Egalite and just getting connected and realizing it was all real.”

That experience was the beginning of a four-year journey for Martin in the College of Education—the only school she applied to because, she said, “it was the only program that really resonated with me.” Specifically, she felt the program was a perfect opportunity to blend her experiences as a former classroom teacher and nonprofit employee with her personal passions and desire to understand how social science research can drive initiatives in education. 

Her advisor, Professor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis Anna Egalite, made sure Martin had all the opportunities she wanted and more, allowing her to contribute to research and manuscripts from her first year as a graduate student. For example, Martin had the opportunity to work alongside Egalite on a two-year research project and co-author a related article that was recently published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.  

Additionally, she was able to work with Assistant Professor of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis Lam Pham on a project that is examining the role of comprehensive support in improvement schools. 

Both experiences, Martin said, gave her the opportunity to not only learn from “incredible” researchers in the college as she asked questions and received feedback but allowed her to feel valued as a researcher as she contributed to the development of project analysis.  

“Spending a year-and-a-half working with Dr. Pham and then, over the past two years, working with Dr. Egalite on the manuscript has been really, really incredible and has given me the tools I think I need to be successful not only in my dissertation but long term,” Martin said. 

Working full time as she earns her Ph.D., Martin has already been able to apply what she’s learned in the College of Education to her job as an early childhood education policy analyst at NC Child. She has learned how to write documents and briefs, for example, that are easily accessible and can be utilized by policymakers. Additionally, she was able to use some of the qualitative skills she’s learned through research and coursework on a recent work project related to childcare funding in North Carolina. 

The ability to work in the field of educational policy while earning a related doctoral degree has been a wonderful experience, Martin said, but the most important piece of the equation when it comes to balancing work and a doctoral program has been the support she has received from faculty along the way. 

“I was so supported and, as a result, I was able to stay on track to finish the program in four years, which was a personal ambition for me,” she said. “I can’t say enough about the faculty at NC State. Their support and being able to continue to do research work while having a full-time job while being in school was really incredible, and I’m so thankful for it.”

Martin’s time in the College of Education has also helped connect her to national platforms for her work. She has attended and presented at the Association for Education Finance and Policy (AEFP) conference multiple times, and she was recently accepted into the Just Education Policy Institute. 

These experiences, Martin said, have allowed her to meet other scholars outside of the EEPA program who share her research interests and brainstorm about future collaborations. 

“All of these different experiences make me really excited for the future of my research and the future of partnering with other colleagues across the nation and learning what they’re seeing that’s different from what I’m seeing in Wake County, North Carolina,” she said. 

With graduation right around the corner, Martin is considering multiple pathways for her career, including conducting research while continuing to work in her current job and teaching, either in an adjunct or tenure-track capacity at a university. 

Whatever she decides, however, she knows her experience in the College of Education has prepared her to succeed.

“The experiences I’ve had have defined my future and I can’t recommend this program and the College of Education enough,” she said. 

This post was originally published in College of Education News.