She is Co-Principal Investigator (with Wendy Luttrell, Harvard Graduate School of Education) of Project ASSERT (Accessing Strengths and Supporting Effective Resistance in Teaching), a participatory research study designed to explore cultural beliefs and presuppositions that underlie discourses of gender, race and class expressed by adults working with urban youth. The author of four books, and many chapters and articles, Janie's research interests focus on the psychosocial development of African-American children and youth.