Zewelanji Serpell

Zewelanji Natashya Serpell (born 1974) is an American developmental psychologist whose scholarship examines the learning experiences of African American students in school and school-based interventions targeting executive functions.

In 2017-2018, she was appointed as Education Policy Fellow for the American Education Research Association Congressional Fellowship Program. She was on the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce, working to craft legislation on higher education related issues, including Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and institutional accountability on accreditation. In 2019, Serpell received the Dalmas A. Taylor Distinguished Contributions Award, as part of the American Psychological Association Minority Fellowship Program.

Biography
Serpell holds a Bachelor in Arts in psychology from Clark University. She received her Masters in Science, and later doctorate in developmental psychology at Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 2002. Her dissertation, titled Ethnicity and tool type as they relate to problem-solving, transfer and proxemic behavior in a communal learning context, was conducted under the supervision of A. Wade Boykin.

Serpell was an associate professor and former Director of Graduate Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Prior to this, she was an associate professor at Virginia State University. Before Virginia State, Serpell served on the faculty and as the associate director of the Alvin V Baird Attention and Learning Disabilities Center at James Madison University.

Research
Serpell’s research focuses on understanding the sociocultural processes that influence the cognitive development and learning experiences of African American students in the school environment. Her work centers on the development of school-based interventions to improve executive functioning and academic achievement. She also utilizes developmental science research for policy interventions. Her research has been funded through the Institute for Education Sciences, and the National Science Foundation.

Books

 * Clauss-Ehlers, C. S., Serpell, Z. N., & Weist, M. D. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of culturally responsive school mental health: Advancing research, training, practice, and policy. Springer.
 * Evans, S., Weist, M., & Serpell, Z. (Eds.) (2007). Advances in school-based mental health interventions. Civic Research Institute.