Papers by Sara Rimm-Kaufman
Renewable Energy
The development of energy literacy for all citizens is critical as we face climate change and rap... more 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 to implement the program and support their students’ engagement in a service-learning project related to energy conservation. We used qualitative methods to analyze students’ open-ended responses from an energy literacy assessment. Students were familiar with solar, hydropower and wind energy, and suggested that solar energy should be used more in the future. Students were more easily able to explain energy transfer in wind turbines and solar panels than in other electricity production systems. Students learned important energy and natural resource concepts in the context of an environmental service-learning program. Discussion focuses on the importance of integrated science instruction that helps students see how their electricity use impacts the environment, and provides them with opportunities to take action. We also suggest important ways that renewable energy companies can contribute to energy and climate literacy initiatives.
Relationships Among Informant Based Measures of Social Skills and Student Achievement: A Longitudinal Examination of Differential Effects by Sex
Applied Developmental Science, 2010
Children's social skills are an important class of learned behaviors that fa... more 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 predictors of student achievements within a latent growth curve model that allowed for estimation of student level variation and the possibility of non-linear achievement growth across 4���5 ...
Engagement in Training as a Mechanism to Understanding Fidelity of Implementation of the Responsive Classroom Approach
Prevention Science, 2014
Fidelity of implementation of classroom interventions varies greatly, a reality that is concernin... more 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 to training in the intervention, we assessed factors that had the potential to represent a teacher's readiness to implement with fidelity. These included teachers' observed emotional support, teacher-rated use of intervention practices, teacher-rated self-efficacy, teacher-rated collective responsibility, education level, and years of experience, and they were not directly related to observed fidelity of implementation 2 years later. Further analyses indicated, however, that RC trainers' ratings of teachers' engagement in the initial weeklong RC training mediated the relation between initial observed emotional support and later observed fidelity of implementation. We discuss these findings as a way to advance understanding of teachers' readiness to implement new interventions with fidelity.
Encyclopédie sur le développement des jeunes enfants ©2004 Centre d'excellence pour le développem... more Encyclopédie sur le développement des jeunes enfants ©2004 Centre d'excellence pour le développement des jeunes enfants Rimm-Kaufman S Encyclopédie sur le développement des jeunes enfants ©2004 Centre d'excellence pour le développement des jeunes enfants Rimm-Kaufman S
Improving the Sensitivity and Responsivity of Preservice Teachers Toward Young Children with Disabilities
Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 2003
Abstract Research in developmental and educational psychology points to the importance of sensiti... more Abstract Research in developmental and educational psychology points to the importance of sensitive interactions between adult and children in order to promote children's social, emotional, and academic learning. Despite this evidence, there are many conceptual and programmatic challenges that have prevented this emphasis in early childhood special education (ECSE). This article provides a definition of and theoretical framework for teacher sensitivity and responsiveness; describes the evidence that supports this focus; and ...
Early Adjustment, Gender Differences, and Classroom Organizational Climate in First Grade
The Elementary School Journal, 2009
Abstract We examined gender differences in the first-grade transition, exploring child and classr... more Abstract 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 complementary aspects of classroom organizational climate. Children's literacy and mathematics skills were assessed in the fall and spring. Boys had more difficulty than girls ...
Primary-Grade Teachers' Self-Efficacy Beliefs, Attitudes toward Teaching, and Discipline and Teaching Practice Priorities in Relation to the "Responsive Classroom" Approach
The Elementary School Journal, 2004
The Contribution of Classroom Setting and Quality of Instruction to Children’s Behavior in Kindergarten Classrooms
The Elementary School Journal, 2005
Abstract The present article examined 2 questions about the relation between kindergarten classro... more Abstract The present article examined 2 questions about the relation between kindergarten classroom processes (setting and quality) and children's engagement in activities, compliance with teachers' requests, and interactions with peers. First, how do children's engagement, compliance, and cooperation vary as a function of teachers' use of classroom settings, and second, how does classroom quality moderate the co���occurrence between teachers' choice of classroom settings and children's behaviors? The classrooms of 250 ...
Teacher collaboration in the context of the Responsive Classroom approach
Teachers and Teaching, 2007
This mixed���method study examined characteristics and predictors of teacher collaboration. Limit... more This mixed���method study examined characteristics and predictors of teacher collaboration. Limited research exists that describes the characteristics of teacher collaboration, and surprisingly little work explains the ways in which teaching experience and teachers' perceptions of the school environment influence teacher collaboration. Questionnaire data were collected from a sample of 118 elementary school teachers in six schools in a northeast urban school district, and interviews were conducted with administrators in each ...
The Responsive Classroom approach and fifth grade students’ math and science anxiety and self-efficacy
School Psychology Quarterly, 2013
Self-efficacy forecasts student persistence and achievement in challenging subjects. Thus, it is ... more 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 schools' use of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) practices to students' math and science self-efficacy. Fifth graders (n = 1,561) completed questionnaires regarding their feelings about math and science. Approximately half of the students attended schools implementing the Responsive Classroom® (RC) approach, an SEL intervention, as part of a randomized controlled trial. Results suggested no difference in math and science self-efficacy between boys and girls. Students who self-reported higher math and science anxiety also reported less self-efficacy toward these subjects. However, the negative association between students' anxiety and self-efficacy was attenuated in schools using more RC practices compared with those using fewer RC practices. RC practices were associated with higher science self-efficacy. Results highlight anxiety as contributing to poor self-efficacy in math and science and suggest that RC practices create classroom conditions in which students' anxiety is less strongly associated with negative beliefs about their ability to be successful in math and science.
The effectiveness of adult volunteer tutoring on reading among “at risk” first grade children
Reading Research and Instruction, 1998
Abstract This study examined the effectiveness of a reading tutoring program for children ���at r... more Abstract This study examined the effectiveness of a reading tutoring program for children ���at risk��� for reading problems. Forty���two first grade children were selected based on both teacher recommendations and scores on Clay's Observational Survey. Children were matched on demographic variables and assigned randomly to tutored and control groups. Children in the tutored group met one���on���one with a trained community volunteer who tutored the child three times a week for 45 minutes each session. Children in the control ...
Reading & Writing Quarterly, 2010
The role of social competence in predicting gifted enrollment
Psychology in the Schools, 2008
Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine how children's starting... more Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine how children's starting level and development of social competence (ie, task orientation and peer sociability) during kindergarten and first grade predict gifted program enrollment by third grade, even after considering children's cognitive ability. A second purpose is to examine the extent to which the relationship between children's social competence and gifted program enrollment differs depending on children's socioeconomic status (SES), ethnicity, and gender. Latent growth ...
Promoting social and academic competence in the classroom: An intervention study examining the contribution of theResponsive Classroom approach
Psychology in the Schools, 2007
Abstract This exploratory study examined the contribution of the RC Approach over a two-year peri... more Abstract This exploratory study examined the contribution of the RC Approach over a two-year period. The RC Approach integrates social and academic learning in order to produce classroom environments that are conducive to learning by integrating social and academic learning. Two questions are addressed. First, how does teachers' use of RC practices contribute to children's academic and social growth? Second, how is the relation between teachers' use of RC practices and children's academic and social growth moderated by ...
Setting-Level Influences on Implementation of the Responsive Classroom Approach
Prevention Science, 2013
We used mixed methods to examine the association between setting-level factors and observed imple... more 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 through which they related to implementation. In study 2 (N = 50 4th grade teachers after the second year of RC implementation), we validated our most salient Study 1 finding across multiple informants. Findings suggested that teachers perceived setting-level factors, particularly principal buy-in to the intervention and individualized coaching, as influential to their degree of implementation. Further, we found that intervention coaches' perspectives of principal buy-in were more related to implementation than principals' or teachers' perspectives. Findings extend the application of setting theory to the field of implementation science and suggest that interventionists may want to consider particular accounts of school setting factors before determining the likelihood of schools achieving high levels of implementation.
Maternal Sensitivity and Child Wariness in the Transition to Kindergarten
Parenting, 2002
Objective. This study tested maternal sensitivity as a moderator of the stability of wary behavio... more Objective. This study tested maternal sensitivity as a moderator of the stability of wary behavior between 15 months and the transition to school. Design. Observational data from 15-month-old children and their mothers, kindergarten teacher reports, and maternal reports during the transition to kindergarten from 215 children from 3 sites (North Carolina, Virginia, and Arkansas) of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD; 1994), Study of Early Child Care are used. Results. Findings indicate significant stability of ...
Motivation and Emotion, 1996
Learning Environments Research, 2013
This study examined the quality of teacher-child interactions and exposure to mathematics instruc... more This study examined the quality of teacher-child interactions and exposure to mathematics instruction as predictors of 5th grade student's mathematics achievement. The sample was a subset of the children involved in the NICHD-SECC longitudinal study (N = 657). Results indicate that, even after controlling for student demographic characteristics, more exposure to mathematics instruction was related to increased fifth grade mathematics achievement for both calculations and applied problems assessments, but there was no main effect for improved instructional quality. Findings also indicate that, in classrooms where lower instructional quality was observed, greater exposure to mathematics instruction predicted improved mathematics achievement. Findings are discussed in terms of differing aspects of mathematics instruction and the possible compensatory role of exposure to instruction in classrooms of lower quality.
Learning and Individual Differences, 2014
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Journal of School Psychology, 2006
The present study advances a new method for assessing teacher beliefs and priorities. This paper ... more The present study advances a new method for assessing teacher beliefs and priorities. This paper describes the development and psychometric properties of the Teacher Belief Q-Sort (TBQ), an assessment technique that examines teachers' priorities and beliefs about discipline practices, classroom practices, and beliefs about children (see www. socialdevelopmentlab. org. Further, this paper describes the usefulness of this tool by examining differences in beliefs and priorities among four groups of teachers ( ...
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Papers by Sara Rimm-Kaufman