• While all Laidlaw Scholars will be presenting their research at the Columbia Undergraduate Research Symposium in the fall, what are the more immediate expectations that you have for your research? Are you writing a paper? Will your research be part of a larger scientific study? Do you hope to produce an annotated bibliography that you reflect on down the line? Is your research now the first phase of a project you’ll continue to work on throughout the year, and/or next summer? Now that we are nearing the one month mark of the program, please write about your expectations for your research

Right now, the immediate expectations for my research are to compile all of the different components, both quantitative and qualitative into a website or database so that it may be centralized and shared. I have completed an annotated bibliography which provides an overview of the existing literature surrounding my research question. I am also in the process of completing and transcribing my interviews which I will also upload to the website so that people can get a better idea of the anecdotal experience of educators. I will also include the quantitative analysis that I am currently in the process of developing surrounding the correlation between ELA test scores and accessibility to Latin. By centralizing this mixed method process in one place, I hope to facilitate easier access to my research. 

• Why does your research matter? Explain the significance of the question you are investigating, and why you are interested in it.

I believe that my research matters because it speaks to many extremely pressing and complex issues that we as a society are facing right now. Only 49.1% of students in grades 3-8 in NYC public schools are reaching proficient literacy levels. Latin has been shown to improve this problem, but often access to Latin is limited by a schools’ resources and the socioeconomic status of their students. My research seeks to reveal how Latin can be used as a tool to improve child literacy and in making it more available to students, all students can benefit in one way or another.