Meet the Student Researcher!

Name: Zoe Burnett

Major: Education/Psychology

Class Year: 2030

Hometown: Hagerstown, Maryland

What was it about the Busload of Books project that made you decide to accept the offer to join the research team?  

I grew up with something similar coming to my summer camp every week as a kid. It developed into a love for reading and helped expand my knowledge in different areas.

What specific jobs have you taken on as a student researcher? What have they taught you? 

So far, I have been helping with organizing the incoming data from the literacy assessments and doing literature reviews on the psychological frameworks behind student motivation.

I also get to help check student engagement, tracking how the kids interact with the books and author visits to see what keeps them excited about reading. Doing this has really taught me how much education and psychology overlap in a real classroom. I have learned that learning is not about cognitive skills it is deeply tied to a child's emotions and environment. Analysing data from Title I schools has shown me firsthand how much targeted resources can change a kid's whole attitude toward school.

How does the Busload of Books project relate to your studies at Washington College? 

The Busload of Books project connects perfectly with my double major in education and psychologyhere at Washington College.

By working on this research, I get to build valuable connections within the education department while gaining a hands-on look at the exact classroom dynamics I’ll be working with in the future. As an education major, it helps me understand the real-world needs and resource gaps in Title I classrooms, so I know how to better support my future students. At the same time, the project ties directly into my psychology studies by letting me look at the behavioural and emotional sides of learning—like how early interventions and regular access to books impact a child's intrinsic motivation and development. It basically bridges the gap between what I'm learning in my college textbooks and how kids learn in real life.

What are some of your long-term goals surrounding the Busload of Books project? 

Long-term, I want to take everything I learn about student behavior and literacy barriers through this project and apply it directly to my future career as a teacher or school psychologist. I would also love to help present our data or co-author a presentation for an educational research conference before I graduate in 2030. Ultimately, I want to use the hard data we collect to advocate for better resources, proving exactly why low-income schools need consistent access to books and creative learning tools.

What are you most excited to learn about through this research?   

Since I'm majoring in both education and psychology, I'm honestly most excited to look at the data showing the connection between a child's mindset and their learning habits. I want to see how tangible rewards, like getting their own books or reading buddies, impact their long-term love for reading. I'm also eager to learn about real-world classroom dynamics in underserved schools. Seeing what these teachers face every day will give me a huge head start, so I can enter my own future classroom with a much better understanding of how to support students from all different backgrounds.