Established in 2000, the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies works to bring the campus’s intellectual talent and other resources to bear on the challenges of improving the quality of life in urban communities across the state. The Cornwall has been a signature component of Rutgers University-Newark’s commitment to be an anchor institution for the Newark metropolitan area. The Center sponsors research projects, publications, conferences, symposia, seminars, workshops, public forums, and incubates projects translating research into effective practice. We are committed to rigorous research that produces usable knowledge for the public, a private and non-profit sector that moves us toward a more just world.   In all its work, Cornwall is especially concerned with supporting the most vulnerable urban populations. 

The late Joseph C. Cornwall was the product of a family whose extensive philanthropic contributions in New Jersey were rooted in Quaker values. Mr. Cornwall was a widely respected civic leader and the Founding Chair of the Fund for New Jersey, devoting much of his career to advancing the welfare and quality of life of New Jersey’s citizens. To recognize Mr. Cornwall’s civic and philanthropic accomplishments, the Fund for New Jersey established an endowment to support the Cornwall Center and bolster its mission to improve the lives of people who call New Jersey’s cities home. 

New Report: The Latinx Experience in NJ Schools – A Preliminary Overview

According to the U.S. Census, 25% of the U.S. population will identify as Latinx by 2060. In 2022-23, Latinx students in NJ already represented over a third of the public school population. Despite a steady growth as a percentage of the school age population, the schooling of Latinx students largely takes place in contexts that inadequately provide the appropriate level of resources required to support their ongoing learning, development, and well-being. This report brief by the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies at Rutgers University – Newark and the Latino Action Network Foundation highlights data from The Latinx Experience in NJ Schools: A Preliminary Overview to underscore the experiences of Latinx students across a variety of metrics from preschool to postsecondary education over the past decade. Please find the full report, report brief, and a dashboard summarizing key trends in learning opportunities and achievement for Latinx Children in New Jersey in 2021-2022 here.

Recent Reports, Working Papers, and Publications

Campbell, Vandeen et. al. 2023. Segregated Schooling in New Jersey: The Distribution of Opportunities to Learn by Race, Ethnicity, and Class. Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University-Newark.

Kim, Elisabeth & Campbell, Vandeen. 2023. Disparities in High-Leverage Mathematics Course-Taking in New Jersey, 2016-2020. New Jersey State Policy Lab. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.

Kim, Elisabeth, Joanna Smith, Sarah Cordes, and Priscilla Wohlstetter. 2023. ‘“Positive Discipline Doesn’t Sound Like Discipline”: Experiences with Restorative Justice Implementation’, Leadership and Policy in Schools: 1-20.

Anderson, Charity. 2023. Learning Acceleration: A Strategy to Mitigate Pandemic Learning Loss. Research Brief. Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University-Newark.

Anderson, Charity. 2022. Professional Learning Communities. Research Brief. Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University-Newark.

Anderson, Charity. 2022. Homeschooling Black students during the pandemic. In R. J. Ceglie, D. F. Abernathy, & A. W. Thornburg (Eds.), Schoolchildren of the COVID-19 pandemic: Impact and opportunities (pp. 83-97). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-741-120221005

Campbell, Vandeen et. al. 2022. Segregated Schooling in New Jersey: The Distribution of Opportunities to Learn by Race, Ethnicity, and Class. Report Highlights. Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University-Newark.

Campbell, Vandeen et. al. 2022. A Study of ESSER COVID-19 Funding in New Jersey: Baseline, Use of Funds, and Early Outcomes. Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University-Newark.

Anderson, Charity. 2022. “The Challenge of Global School Segregation.” In Global Agenda for Social Justice 2, eds. Glenn W. Muschert, Kristen M. Budd, Heather Dillaway, David C. Lane, Manjusha Nair, and Jason A. Smith, 3 – 11. Great Britain: Bristol University Press.

Irby, Decoteau J., Charity Anderson, and Charles M. Payne. 2022. Dignity-Affirming Education: Cultivating the Somebodiness of Students and Educators. Edited by Decoteau J. Irby, Charity Anderson, and Charles M. Payne. New York: Teachers College Press.

Campbell, Vandeen. 2022 Equal Access to Stem Pathways? A Closer Look at Science Course-taking Trends in New Jersey’s High Schools. New Jersey State Policy Lab. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.

Campbell, Vandeen. 2022. The New Jersey High School Experience: Differences in Freshman Year Science Course Taking. New Jersey State Policy Lab. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.

Kim, Elisabeth H. & Harris, Jamelia N. 2022. Examining Discipline Disparities in New Jersey High Schools. New Jersey State Policy Lab. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.

Menifield, C.E., Bacak, V., Campbell, V., Bowling, J., Brunskill, L., Ordonez, L. 2022. Cannabis Legalization in New Jersey: A Baseline Study. New Jersey State Policy Lab. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University.

Kim, Elisabeth. H. 2021. Improving Access to Post-Secondary Education Through FASFA Completion. Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies, Rutgers University-Newark.