
Sara Rimm-KaufmanUniversity of Virginia | UVa · School of Education and Human Development
Sara Rimm-Kaufman
Ph.D.
About
123
Publications
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Introduction
With our work, we strive to develop new knowledge to guide decision-making in schools. For 25 years, my team and I have strived to engage in high quality, ethical research to answer pressing, contemporary problems in educational psychology. I appreciate the opportunity to post research on ResearchGate to make our work as accessible to the greatest number of people possible.
Publications
Publications (123)
This special issue of Developmental Psychology is dedicated to the legacy of Jerome Kagan, whose pioneering work profoundly shaped the field of developmental psychology. Kagan’s groundbreaking research on temperament, emotional development, and the role of biology in shaping human behavior provided a foundation for understanding individual differen...
Despite the volume of research on empathy and prosocial behavior, there is a dearth of studies exploring early adolescents’ experiences of practicing cognitive empathy and prosocial behavior. Without understanding both the challenges and opportunities of these two skills, we cannot effectively support their growth during this critical developmental...
Making school meaningful is a widely accepted goal in education, yet what is considered meaningful, meaningful to whom, and why, leaves room for interrogation. This sequential explanatory mixed methods study aims to understand: (1) The extent to which students experience meaningful education at EL Education schools compared to comparison schools, a...
Energy concepts are taught in many schools, but children rarely have an opportunity to grapple with energy problems and work on their own solutions. This study explores the impacts of Connect Science, a service-learning (SL) program developed to enhance elementary students' energy literacy in the United States. Program impacts were explored within...
This qualitative study explored the relationship between EL Education and Comparison school students’ definitions of empathy and educators’ teaching practices. We interviewed 23 5th and 6th grade students and 18 educators from nine middle schools across the United States. Students were asked to define empathy and educators described empathy teachin...
Educators have become increasingly committed to social and emotional learning in schools. However, we know too little about the typical growth trajectories of the competencies that schools are striving to improve. We leverage data from the California Office to Reform Education, a consortium of districts in California serving over 1.5 million studen...
Understanding and measuring effective teaching practices in low- and middle-income countries is a complex process that requires a contextualised knowledge of teaching quality, as well as adaptable instruments that can reliably capture teachers’ varied classroom behaviours. One approach developed with these purposes in mind is Teach Primary, a class...
Today’s teachers face intense stress (Robinson et al. in School Mental Health 15(1):78–89, 2023), which means they often need to regulate strong emotions, like frustration and anxiety, in the classroom. Given the importance of this skill for classroom life, it is essential that we gain a more nuanced understanding of teachers’ emotion regulation (E...
The current study examined Connect Science, a service-learning program that incorporates social and emotional learning lessons and science lessons developed around Next Generation Science Standards. Guided by Self-Determination Theory, focus groups with 8 Connect Science classrooms and 8 control classrooms investigated fourth graders’ experience of...
This study examined the effects of behavioral and social engagement and classroom supportiveness on the development of civic efficacy in fourth-grade science classrooms. We define civic efficacy as children's beliefs that they are not only capable of making a difference in their community, but they also feel a responsibility to do so. This study en...
Teachers’ belief systems about the inclusion of students with special needs may explain gaps between policy and practice. We investigated three inter-related aspects of teachers’ belief systems: teachers’ cognitive appraisals (e.g., attitudes), emotional appraisal (e.g., feelings), and self-efficacy (e.g., agency to teach inclusive classrooms). To...
This study provides empirical benchmarks that quantify typical changes in students' reports of social and emotional skills in a large, diverse sample. Data come from six cohorts of students (N = 361,815; 6% Asian, 8% Black, 68% White, 75% Latinx, 50% Female) who responded to the CORE survey from 2015 to 2018 and help quantify typical gains/declines...
This randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of an elementary school service-learning program, Connect Science (CS), on classroom practices and students' science achievement, civic engagement, and social skills. Fourth grade teachers were enrolled into intervention versus control conditions resulting in 41 classrooms (20 intervention) wit...
Student agency is a critical feature of impactful service-learning programs. In this article, we describe lessons learned from a study of Connect Science, an environmental service-learning curriculum and teacher professional development program. We present five ways to amplify student voices in service-learning. Examples from teachers that we work...
Little is known about the integration of social-emotional learning (SEL) with science instruction. We used a se- quential mixed-methods design to examine (1) how fourth graders use argumentation practices and social gestures in science class and (2) how argumentation practices and social gestures differ between intervention and compari- son classro...
Supporters of whole child learning can mobilize improvement in educational practice by considering a few questions. What does the latest research on the brain and learning really say—or not say? What do we know today that we did not know 25 years ago? The research can be summarized into four key findings. 1. The brain is malleable. 2. There are sen...
The goals of the current study were twofold. The first goal was to describe levels of mathematics and science self-efficacy and achievement among a sample of students with varying levels of English language proficiency. The second goal was to examine the extent to which students' self-efficacy explains the relation between their English proficiency...
Across the country, states are adopting and implementing either Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or new state standards inspired by NGSS. Educators and researchers play a key role in the reform process as we design professional development (PD) and curriculum to support teachers in transitioning to NGSS. In this time of transition, close an...
The development of energy literacy for all citizens is critical as we face climate change and rapid depletion of existing energy resources. This study explores energy literacy development in fourth grade classrooms. Our team developed a curriculum on energy resources aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. We then trained teachers how t...
Even after spending five to six years sitting in a classroom almost every day for anywhere between four to seven hours, a significant share of students in low- and middle-income countries are still not able to read, write, or do basic arithmetic. What explains this “learning crisis?” A growing body of evidence suggests that poor teaching practices...
With so many education policies and practices made at the local level, community-based foundations are in a unique position to support their local school districts in taking a comprehensive, systematic approach to improving the lives of young people. This article describes a research-practice partnership designed to produce school improvement in a...
The present study examines the extent to which participation in a 14-week professional development course designed to improve teacher–child interactions in the classroom moderated the relation between teacher-reported job stress and gains in observed teacher–child interaction quality from the beginning to the end of the intervention. Participants w...
Research from the past two decades positions relational trust as a key factor in school reform efforts. Trust between teachers and their principal (teacher-principal trust) and teachers and their colleagues (teacher-teacher trust) are particularly important. Leading Together (LT) is a new professional development and coaching model of the Center fo...
This article presents a study that investigated potential misconceptions presented in third grade mathematics classrooms and the association of these potential misconceptions with Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) and standards-based teaching practices (as measured by the Mathematics Scan). A sequential explanatory mixed methods model was u...
Teachers need more clarity about effective teaching practices as they strive to help their low-achieving students understand mathematics. Our study describes the instructional practices used by two teachers who, by value-added metrics, would be considered “highly effective teachers” in classrooms with a majority of students who were English learner...
In this mixed-methods study, we designed and implemented an environmental service-learning program at a public charter school to develop eighth-grade students' environmental literacy. Data sources included the Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey (MSELS), interviews, and students' written work. We extend prior work by analyzing qualitative e...
In this mixed-methods study, we designed and implemented an environmental service-learning program at a public charter school to develop eighth-grade students’ environmental literacy. Data sources included the Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey (MSELS), interviews, and students’ written work. We extend prior work by analyzing qualitative e...
School-based social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are presented to educators with little understanding of the program components that have the greatest leverage for improving targeted outcomes. Conducted in the context of a randomized controlled trial, the present study used variation in treatment teachers’ (N = 143) implementation of four...
Theory suggests that African American students benefit from warm and demanding teachers. This study examines the relation between students' perceptions of 634 teachers' warm demander characteristics and achievement growth in fourth and fifth grades (Mstudent age = 9–11.5 years). Analyses explored whether relations were moderated by the proportion o...
Teaching is comprised of interconnected practices. Some practices are domain-neutral (DN) or
independent of a content area. Examples of DN practices include emotional and instructional support and classroom organization. Others are domain-specific (DS), or content-dependent. Within a mathematics context, examples of DS practices include mathematica...
Teachers of elementary mathematics face multiple, convergent demands. These demands include supporting the growing population of English language learners (ELLs) and facilitating mathematical discussions across relevant curricular contexts. The authors used a comparative case study to examine how two teachers attempt to facilitate discussions while...
Eliminate obstacles to effective classroom communication with these research-tested suggestions.
Student behavioral concerns are a top priority for school psychologists. This project took an ecological systems perspective by examining the contribution of students’ initial externalizing and internalizing behaviors and the quality of their classroom environments to their behavioral outcomes across one school year. Participants included 322 eleme...
This study looks at how use of a Social and Emotional Learning Program, the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach, alters the relations between mathematics teaching practices and student mathematics achievement. The study found that teachers trained in RC who used more RC practices provided stronger mathematics instruction, which in turn, contributed...
Multiple perspectives of measuring engagement (i.e., student-, teacher-, and observer-report) were used to describe the contributions of engagement during mathematics instruction on fifth graders' (N = 387) social skills and achievement. Students completed questionnaires on their mathematics engagement. Teachers completed questionnaires on students...
This commentary reviews and synthesizes the work of this special issue on psychological safety. At its core, psychological safety stems from a combination of individual attributes and contextual conditions that combine to produce moments in which individuals perceive their own agency and show willingness to take risks, grow, and change. This commen...
This study examined (a) the contribution of math self-efficacy to students' perception of their emotional and social engagement in fifth grade math classes, and (b) the extent to which high quality teacher-student interactions compensated for students' low math self-efficacy in contributing to engagement. Teachers (n= 73) were observed three times...
This study investigates the effectiveness of the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach, a social and emotional learning intervention, on changing the relations between mathematics teacher and classroom inputs (mathematical knowledge for teaching [MKT] and standards-based mathematics teaching practices) and student mathematics achievement. Work was con...
Trusting relationships between teachers and their principals (teacher–principal trust) form the basis for effective and sustained school reform. However, the process of building trust within a hierarchical relationship where one person is the supervisor of the other (e.g., the principal–teacher relationship) is complex and requires detailed investi...
Identifying the active ingredients of an intervention—intervention-specific components serving as key levers of change—is crucial for unpacking the intervention black box. Measures of intervention fidelity can be used to identify specific active ingredients, yet such applications are rare. We illustrate how fidelity measures can be used to identify...
Fidelity of implementation of classroom interventions varies greatly, a reality that is concerning because higher fidelity of implementation relates to greater effectiveness of the intervention. We analyzed 126 fourth and fifth grade teachers from the treatment group of a randomized controlled trial of the Responsive Classroom® (RC) approach. Prior...
Of key value to teachers, administrators, and program developers is the ability to detect which
components of an intervention constitute critical, or active, ingredients. Knowledge of active ingredients
can be used to identify specific SEL practices that promote desired change, optimize existing SEL
interventions, and create highly effective integr...
Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort were used to examine the extent to which early parenting predicted African American children's kindergarten social–emotional functioning. Teachers rated children's classroom social–emotional functioning in four areas (i.e., approaches to learning, self-control, interpersonal skil...
This study examines concurrent teacher-student interaction quality and 5th graders' (n = 387) engagement in mathematics classrooms (n = 63) and considers how teacher-student interaction quality relates to engagement differently for boys and girls. Three approaches were used to measure student engagement in mathematics: Research assistants observed...
This study examines the quality of teacher-child interactions and exposure to mathematics instruction as predictors of 5th grade student mathematics achievement. The sample was a subset of children in the NICHD-SECC longitudinal study (n = 657). Results indicate that even after controlling for student demographic characteristics, more exposure to m...
This randomized controlled field trial examined the efficacy of the
Responsive Classroom (RC) approach on student achievement. Schools
(n = 24) were randomized into intervention and control conditions; 2,904
children were studied from end of second to fifth grade. Students at schools
assigned to the RC condition did not outperform students at schoo...
Introduction: The positive effects of social and emotional learning (SEL) programs hinge on high fidelity of implementation (FOI; Durlak et al., 2011). However, there is much less clarity about the coaching, context, and teacher capacity needed to attain high FOI. The present study was conducted in the context of a partnership among program develop...
PRESENTATION TYPE: Individual Paper
CATEGORY/THEME: Dissemination and Implementation Science
TITLE: Attuning Intervention Coaching to Social Networks Among Teachers
ABSTRACT BODY
Introduction:
Children’s social and emotional skills, attitudes, behavior and academic performance improve significantly when they participate in social and emot...
The Responsive Classroom (RC) approach is an instructional delivery and social-emotional learning intervention designed to provide teachers with skills needed to create caring, well-managed classroom environments that are conducive to learning. This study examines the extent to which RC training predicts close student-teacher relationships, as well...
The purpose of this study is to introduce a measure of standards-based mathematics teaching practices, the Mathematics Scan (M-Scan), and to examine its validity and score reliability. First, we define standards-based mathematics teaching practices based on eight dimensions that have emerged in recent conceptualizations by researchers and in the co...
The Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines Social and Emotional Learning as “a process for helping children and even adults develop the fundamental skills for life effectiveness” (CASEL, 2013a). SEL skills consist of “recognizing and managing our emotions, developing caring and concern for others, establishing pos...
Measures of intervention fidelity can be used to identify specific intervention components promoting desired change—the active ingredients—yet such applications are rare. In the context of a social-emotional learning intervention, we illustrate how fidelity measures can be used to identify program active ingredients. We applied one customary and tw...
Many teachers believe that providing greater emotional and organizational supports in the beginning of the year strengthens their ability to teach effectively as the year progresses. Some interventions, such as the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach, explicitly embed this sequence into professional development efforts. We tested the hypothesis that...
This study examined the direct and indirect effects between training in the Responsive Classroom® (RC) approach, teachers' uptake of RC practices, and teacher-student interaction quality, using a structural equation modeling framework. A total of 24 schools were randomly assigned to experimental or control conditions. Third- and fourth-grade teache...
Self-efficacy forecasts student persistence and achievement in challenging subjects. Thus, it is important to understand factors that contribute to students' self-efficacy, a key factor in their success in math and science. The current cross-sectional study examined the contribution of students' gender and math and science anxiety as well as school...
Introduction: Understanding implementation drivers is needed to improve all steps of translation research from initial field trials to efforts to scale-up. Researchers have suggested individualized coaching as one way that implementation of interventions may be improved. Individualizing coaching, however, can only be utilized after coaches can know...
PRESENTATION TYPE: Individual Paper
CATEGORY/THEME: Dissemination and Implementation Science
TITLE: Individualizing Intervention Coaching to Increase Fidelity of Implementation
ABSTRACT BODY
Introduction: A recent meta-analysis of social-emotional learning (SEL) programs, revealed significant improvements in SEL skills, attitudes, behavior...
Abstract This study highlights the connections between two facets of teachers' skills—those supporting teachers' mathematical instructional interactions and those underlying social interactions within the classroom. The impact of the Responsive Classroom (RC) approach and use of RC practices on the use of standards-based mathematics teaching practi...
Research Findings: Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999, were used to examine the relation between parenting, sociodemographic characteristics, and school readiness among (N = 1,136) African American boys in kindergarten. Parenting was defined as parenting style (i.e., warmth and control), home learning...
We used mixed methods to examine the association between setting-level factors and observed implementation of a social and emotional learning intervention (Responsive Classroom® approach; RC). In study 1 (N = 33 3rd grade teachers after the first year of RC implementation), we identified relevant setting-level factors and uncovered the mechanisms t...
The present observational study used hierarchical linear modeling to examine predictors of children's social and self-regulatory outcomes in first-grade classrooms. Specifically, goals were the following: (1) to explore relations between emotionally supportive teacher-child interactions and children's social behaviors (aggression with peers, exclus...
This observational study examined kindergarteners’ (n=170) exposure to literacy instruction in their classrooms (n=36), child-by-instruction interactions, and behavioral engagement in relation to literacy skills. Time spent in four instructional contexts was coded according to who managed children's attention (teacher-managed, TM or child-managed,...
This article describes a social and emotional learning intervention, the Responsive Classroom® (RC) approach, which is designed to produce classroom environments conducive to learning. It summarizes a new body of research describing the efficacy of the RC approach. One component of the RC approach is the Morning Meeting. This article describes a se...
Background
Theory, methods, and knowledge gained from years of study in psychological science and human development apply to the understanding and improvement of teacher quality and, ultimately, student achievement and social and emotional outcomes. With these applications, educational research has stronger potential to make more effective and syst...
Evaluate the quality of your instruction by using the eight dimensions of M-Scan, an observation tool that links math standards with day-to-day practice.
Children's social skills are an important class of learned behaviors that facilitate success in the classroom; the primary method used in the assessment of social skills involves having parents or teachers complete standardized checklists using judgments of frequency or intensity. Children's (N = 1,102) social skills were modeled as time-varying pr...
This study examined the extent to which the quality of teacher–child interactions and children’s achievement levels at kindergarten entry were associated with children’s achievement trajectories. Rural students (n = 147) were enrolled in a longitudinal study from kindergarten through first grade. Growth trajectories (initial level and slope) were m...
Research Findings: This paper examines the extent to which children's effortful control and early family experiences predict difficulty in kindergarten adjustment. One hundred and eighty-two children from 31 kindergarten classrooms in rural elementary schools in the Southeast participated. Teachers reported on children's difficulty with kindergarte...
Executive functioning (EF) refers to higher order thought processes considered foundational for problem-solving. EF has both ‘cool’ cognitive and ‘hot’ emotional components. This study asks: (a) what are the relative contributions of ‘hot’ and ‘cool’ EF to children's academic achievement? (b) What are the relative contributions of ‘hot’ and ‘cool’...
In this study, the authors examined the extent to which children's self-regulation upon kindergarten entrance and classroom quality in kindergarten contributed to children's adaptive classroom behavior. Children's self-regulation was assessed using a direct assessment upon entrance into kindergarten. Classroom quality was measured on the basis of m...
Young children's relationships with teachers predict social and academic success. This study examines contributions of child temperament (shyness, effortful control) and gender to teacher–child relationship quality both directly and indirectly through the frequency of teacher–child interactions in the classroom. Using an NICHD SECCYD sample of 819...
This study examined the extent to which kindergarteners' classroom behavioral engagement mediated the relation between global classroom quality and children's reading achievement. A structural equation framework was used to analyze data collected in a primarily low-income rural sample (N = 171). Children's reading achievement was measured in the fa...
We examined gender differences in the first-grade transition, exploring child and classroom contributions to self-control and achievement in a rural sample. Teachers (n = 36) reported on children's (n = 172) initial adjustment difficulty and end-of-year self-control. Observed classroom organization and teacher-reported classroom chaos measured comp...