Dr. Alicia Raia-Hawrylak

Alicia Raia-Hawrylak, Ph.D., is Co-Project Manager of the School Climate Transformation Project (SCTP). Alicia supervises the development and validation of the New Jersey School Climate Improvement (NJ SCI) Survey and evaluation of the project’s impact, including analyses of implementation factors and school climate outcomes. Alicia completed her Ph.D. in sociology at Rutgers University, where her research and publications use both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the ways school-wide culture is communicated and enacted within classrooms. Her previous research focuses on factors shaping variation in students’ exposure to peer interpersonal aggression. She is particularly interested in exploring the formation of positive, supportive, and equitable learning environments through data-driven school climate improvement efforts, the implementation of evidence-based social and emotional learning. Alicia is a former middle school language arts teacher in New York City and Asbury Park, NJ, and holds an M.S.T. in teaching English to Adolescents.