UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Jimena Cosso joins the Penn State College of Education as an assistant professor of education (critical quantitative) after having recently completed her doctorate in educational psychology and research methodology at Purdue University.
Cosso’s research focuses on exploring the home environment of Latine families and its association with dual language learners’ (DLL) early skills, with a focused look at early mathematics skills. In her research, Cosso uses 'Latine' as a gender-neutral term for people of Latin American origin.
Her work addresses Latine families’ funds of knowledge to support the development of school readiness skills and contextual factors that affect DLL children’s skills readiness.
“The Spanish-speaking, dual language learner population has grown considerably in the last few years and Latine children now represent one-third of all children 8 and younger,” Cosso said. “But research shows that these Spanish-speaking children tend to underperform academically when compared to their monolingual peers, specifically in mathematics. However, these findings might be a function of the limitation in measurement practice. The current methods that we have to assess early mathematical skills and our understanding of contextual factors of mathematical skills, such as the home mathematical environment that I focus on, need to be updated to increase their cultural relevance and properly measure what we want to measure.”
In Penn State, she feels as though she has found an institution with the reach and resources to help make a real difference.
“Penn State in general, it is well-known that it is a great university,” Cosso said. “I am looking forward to joining the department and working with amazing colleagues. They are people that I have always wanted to work with. So, it seemed like a great place for me.
“There are centers I’d like to get involved with, and also, the College of Education is going to cast this critical lens on methodology,” Cosso continued. “I am really looking forward to working with people that are trying to change the field for the better. There is this big problem that we are measuring students with rules that don’t apply to them. The goal for me is to measure what we actually want to measure. I love that I will be part of a team who has the same approach that I do and to be involved in centers that improve the field in this way.”
Additionally, Cosso has worked as a human rights facilitator and an afterschool program leader in the New York City public school system.
She said wants to be a source of encouragement for her students so they will not be fearful of taking on a challenge.
“The first course that I am going to teach is analysis and interpretation of statistics, and I know that many students come to these types of courses thinking they are ‘not good enough’ or they don’t like statistics,” Cosso said. “I want to say that it is OK. You don’t have to love statistics, you don’t need to be the best in statistics, but we can all do it. So, my approach will be to tell them ‘Don’t be afraid, and if we can work together, we can do it.’”