Jihae Cha, assistant professor at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, has received a Honey W. Nashman Center Faculty Development Grant for her project, “Integration of Afghan Students and Families in Northern Virginia: Community-Engaged Approaches to Educational Inclusion.”
Cha is collaborating with doctoral student Ayla Deniz, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in Education with a concentration in Education Policy, and other students at the Refugee Educational Advancement Lab. The project investigates how Afghan students are structurally and relationally integrated into Northern Virginia’s education system. The team will be working directly with Afghan families, students, schools and community-based organizations to document experiences of inclusion, identify systemic barriers and analyze social networks to strengthen support systems.