Elise Cappella
New York University, Applied Psychology, Faculty Member
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This study explores the personal, professional, and contextual conditions faced by early childhood education (ECE) teachers in under‐resourced settings and how these relate to teacher responsiveness to professional development (PD):... more
This study explores the personal, professional, and contextual conditions faced by early childhood education (ECE) teachers in under‐resourced settings and how these relate to teacher responsiveness to professional development (PD): namely, teacher attrition (a sign of PD failure when occurring shortly after PD), take‐up of offered PD, adherence to PD training/materials, and quality of implementation. We use data from six disadvantaged districts in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana and PD focused on implementation of a national, play‐based curriculum. Descriptive statistics indicate that ECE teachers (n = 302) face a multitude of barriers to high quality teaching across the bioecological model. Multilevel mixed effects models find that teachers with low job satisfaction are more likely to leave the school within the academic year. Teachers with moderate to severe depression are less likely to attend PD trainings. Senior teachers and those with poverty risks are less likely to adhere...
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This study evaluates the effect of attending a U.S. public middle or junior high school as compared with a K-8 school on eighth graders’ academic and psychosocial outcomes. In a national sample, we conducted propensity score weighted... more
This study evaluates the effect of attending a U.S. public middle or junior high school as compared with a K-8 school on eighth graders’ academic and psychosocial outcomes. In a national sample, we conducted propensity score weighted regression analysis. Initial findings indicated that for eighth-grade students, attending a middle or junior high school negatively affected teacher- and self-reported reading/writing competence. After applying population weights, only reading self-concept remained negatively affected by middle school enrollment. Exploratory analysis revealed the negative effects of attending a middle grade school may be present only for the students who enter kindergarten not at risk as measured by socioeconomic status (SES) or academic performance. Taken together, results suggest that negative impacts of middle grade schooling may be limited to teacher- and self-reported reading/writing competence, more pronounced in middle versus junior high school, and more salient ...
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Social-emotional learning (SEL) programs have demonstrated positive effects on children’s social-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes, as well as classroom climate. Some programs also theorize that program impacts on children’s... more
Social-emotional learning (SEL) programs have demonstrated positive effects on children’s social-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes, as well as classroom climate. Some programs also theorize that program impacts on children’s outcomes will be partially explained by improvements in classroom social processes, namely classroom emotional support and organization. Yet there is little empirical evidence for this hypothesis. Using data from the evaluation of the SEL program INSIGHTS, this article tests whether assignment to INSIGHTS improved low-income kindergarten and first grade students’ math and reading achievement by first enhancing classroom emotional support and organization. Multilevel regression analyses, instrumental variables estimation, and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) were used to conduct quantitative analyses. Across methods, the impact of INSIGHTS on math and reading achievement in first grade was partially explained by gains in both classroom...
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Restoring Opportunity: The Crisis of Inequality and the Challenge for American Education Greg Duncan, University of California Irvine 1J. Research Methods Modeling with Multivariate Structures Chair: J.R. Lockwood, ETS The Synthesis of... more
Restoring Opportunity: The Crisis of Inequality and the Challenge for American Education Greg Duncan, University of California Irvine 1J. Research Methods Modeling with Multivariate Structures Chair: J.R. Lockwood, ETS The Synthesis of Single-Subject Experimental Data: Extensions of the Basic Multilevel Model Wim Van den Noortgate, Mariola Moeyaert, & Maaike Ugille, Catholic University of Leuven Kulak, Susan N. Beretvas, University of Texas Austin, and John Ferron, University of South Florida ABSTRACT Constructing Plausible Ranges of Values of Statistical Power in Twoand Three-Level Cluster Randomized Designs Spyros Konstantopoulos, Michigan State University 3:30 PM 5:00 PM: Session 2 2B. Social and Emotional Interventions in Educational Settings Interventions Targeting Behavioral and Achievement Outcomes in Middle and High Schools Chair: Chris Hulleman, University of Virginia Efficacy of the Check & Connect Dropout Prevention Program: Interim Impacts and Implementation Mindee O'...
Critical consciousness has been linked to a range of positive outcomes, particularly among marginalized youth; yet, evidence on its developmental antecedents remains limited. The current study examines whether arts participation is... more
Critical consciousness has been linked to a range of positive outcomes, particularly among marginalized youth; yet, evidence on its developmental antecedents remains limited. The current study examines whether arts participation is associated with positive change in critical consciousness, and whether these associations differ by youth's social group status. The sample consisted of high school youth (N = 2537; 10% Latinx, 7% Multiracial; 4% Black; 5% Asian; 72% White; 2% Other; 53% Female; Mage = 15.69; age range = 10-20). The results showed that youth with higher arts participation demonstrate higher growth in critical reflection and action, adjusting for baseline critical consciousness, other types of extracurricular participation, and demographic characteristics. The association between arts participation and critical action was significantly stronger for youth of color than for white youth, and the association between arts participation and critical reflection was marginally significantly stronger for white youth than for youth of color. These findings suggest that it is crucial to extend opportunities for arts involvement to all students, and to expand the ways in which arts involvement can promote critical consciousness for youth of varying dimensions of oppression and privilege.
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Although there are reasons to believe that teachers' commitment to learn and enact an evidence-based program (i.e., their commitment to implement) predicts their implementation fidelity, there is surprisingly little quantitative... more
Although there are reasons to believe that teachers' commitment to learn and enact an evidence-based program (i.e., their commitment to implement) predicts their implementation fidelity, there is surprisingly little quantitative research testing this relationship. Using a national large-scale evaluation of three preschool social-emotional interventions, this study investigated how strongly teachers' commitment predicted implementation fidelity and whether commitment was a meaningful predictor of fidelity as compared to other individual factors (i.e., teacher stress at baseline) and contextual factors (i.e., collegial supports, classroom behavioral problems, and classroom quality at baseline). We surveyed 230 preschool teachers in their first year of implementing the interventions; data sources include surveys from teachers and 52 intervention coaches as well as classroom observational data. We found that teachers' baseline commitment consistently predicted implementation fidelity across time and that commitment predicted unique variation in fidelity after accounting for other individual and contextual factors. In addition, implementation fidelity had a moderate positive relationship with teachers' baseline classroom quality and a small negative association with baseline classroom behavior problems. Findings are discussed with respect to implementation science in education.
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Given the potential of afterschool programs to support youth in urban, low-income communities, we examined the role of afterschool classroom ecology in the academic outcomes of Latino and African American youth with and without... more
Given the potential of afterschool programs to support youth in urban, low-income communities, we examined the role of afterschool classroom ecology in the academic outcomes of Latino and African American youth with and without social-behavioral risk. Using multireporter methods and multilevel analysis, we find that positive classroom ecology (i.e., social dynamics, responsive instruction, and organized management) positively predicted academic skills and self-concept across 1 year. For academic skills, the association was magnified for students with social-behavioral difficulties; for academic self-concept, the association was magnified for students without social-behavioral difficulties. No significant relation was found between fall classroom ecology and spring academic engagement; yet in classrooms with more positive ecology, youth with initial social-behavioral risk were more academically engaged. Results suggest the need to consider the role of afterschool classrooms and instr...
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Social–Emotional Learning (SEL) programs are school-based preventive interventions that aim to improve children’s social–emotional skills and behavioral development. Although meta-analytic research has shown that SEL programs can improve... more
Social–Emotional Learning (SEL) programs are school-based preventive interventions that aim to improve children’s social–emotional skills and behavioral development. Although meta-analytic research has shown that SEL programs can improve academic and behavioral outcomes in the short term, few studies have examined program effects on receipt of special education services and grade retention in the longer term. Using an experimental design, the current study leveraged administrative data available through students’ school records (N = 1,634) to examine the impacts of one SEL program implemented in kindergarten and first grade on receipt of special education and grade retention in fifth grade. The study further considered whether impacts varied for low- versus high-income students. Findings revealed no difference between treatment and control group students in grade retention. However, treatment group students were less likely to ever receive special education services by the end of fi...
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The professionals and paraprofessionals who work daily with youth in low-resource, marginalized communities are integral to youth wellbeing; yet, their professional development, and the factors that promote it, are not well understood. In... more
The professionals and paraprofessionals who work daily with youth in low-resource, marginalized communities are integral to youth wellbeing; yet, their professional development, and the factors that promote it, are not well understood. In this introduction to the special issue, Understanding and Strengthening the Child- and Youth-Serving Workforce in Low-Resource Communities, we focus on understudied practitioners operating in an array of sectors and settings, such as home visitors, mental health paraprofessionals, early childhood assistant teachers, teachers in low-income countries, school resource officers, juvenile justice staff, and after-school and community-based program workers. We put forward a conceptual model detailing the interactive, layered set of proximal-to-distal ecological factors that influence the practice and professional development of these workers, and show how papers in the current issue address these layers in their examination of workforce development. We conclude with a summary of the contributions and lessons from this work - including the value of a whole-person approach, the importance of sharing process across research stages, and the need to build on the foundation provided by community psychology and implementation science - toward the twin goals of understanding and building the skills and strengths of the workforce, and ultimately, enhancing youth development.
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Schools remain among the most frequent providers of children's mental health services, particularly in low-income urban settings. Several decades of research have focused on training teachers to implement evidence-based interventions... more
Schools remain among the most frequent providers of children's mental health services, particularly in low-income urban settings. Several decades of research have focused on training teachers to implement evidence-based interventions for minimizing disruptive behavior. Studies consistently demonstrate robust improvements in student behavior and learning; however, the impact on teachers' work-related stress or satisfaction is not well understood. Six urban, high-poverty elementary schools were randomly assigned to a school mental health services model (Links to Learning; L2L) for referred, disruptive students or to services and professional development as usual (SAU). Teachers (n = 71, K-4 general education teachers) in L2L schools participated in professional development and consultation in two universal and two targeted interventions to reduce disruptive behaviors and promote learning. Teachers (n = 65) in SAU schools participated in professional development as usual. Multiple regression models examined teacher reports of individual-level self-efficacy, classroom-level student functioning, and school-level organizational health as predictors of stress and satisfaction. Findings revealed no significant difference between conditions on teacher work-related stress or satisfaction. Organizational health was the strongest predictor of stress and satisfaction. Training on and implementation of evidence-based classroom interventions did not appear to significantly impact teachers' work-related stress or satisfaction. Instead, findings point to organizational climate and teacher connectedness as potential levers for change, supporting prior work on teacher stress and satisfaction in schools. The significance of targeting organizational factors may be particularly significant in urban school districts.
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This special issue highlights recent research on measures of early adolescents' development and the school contexts in which they spend their time. We are particularly interested in measures with direct application-providing... more
This special issue highlights recent research on measures of early adolescents' development and the school contexts in which they spend their time. We are particularly interested in measures with direct application-providing actionable data to teachers, principals, parents, school counselors, or the students themselves, in ways that promote social-emotional and academic learning. In this introduction, we highlight the ways in which articles in this special issue offer rigorous, relevant, and feasible approaches to this measurement work and discuss future directions for research and practice in this area.
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Children in late elementary and middle school tend to form friendships with same-race peers. Yet, given the potential benefits of cross-race friendships, it is important to understand the individual and contextual factors that increase... more
Children in late elementary and middle school tend to form friendships with same-race peers. Yet, given the potential benefits of cross-race friendships, it is important to understand the individual and contextual factors that increase the likelihood of cross-race friendship over time. Guided by contact hypothesis and systems theory, we examine the student and classroom predictors of change in same-race friendships over 1 school year using a sample of 553 African American and European American students in 53 classrooms. Results suggest that same-race friendships increase over time, with greater increases among European American and older children. Youth externalizing behavior predicted a greater increase in same-race friendships; classroom support predicted less of an increase in same-race friendships from fall to spring. Lastly, African American students in classrooms with greater differential teacher treatment were more likely to engage in cross-race friendships over time. Finding...
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Schools have long been the primary setting for children's mental health services but have neither the resources nor the expertise to manage these services independently. The critical importance of school success for children's... more
Schools have long been the primary setting for children's mental health services but have neither the resources nor the expertise to manage these services independently. The critical importance of school success for children's adjustment provides a strong rationale for schooling as an essential component of children's mental health services. In this article, we review evidence for how schooling and mental health coalesce, suggesting an alignment of school and community mental health resources that prioritizes successful schooling as a key mental health outcome. We describe collaborative principles and ecological practices that advance a public health focus on children's mental health while also reducing the burden on schools to maintain mental health services. We close with a model of mental health services illustrating these principles and practices in high-poverty urban schools and propose future directions for research and practice to promote positive mental healt...
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Abstract An extensive literature demonstrates the relationship between academic self-concept and academic achievement, but the relationship between non-academic subdomains of the self and academic success in children and adolescents... more
Abstract An extensive literature demonstrates the relationship between academic self-concept and academic achievement, but the relationship between non-academic subdomains of the self and academic success in children and adolescents remains less clear. The current study examined longitudinal associations between social and behavioral self-concept, mental health symptoms, and indicators of academic achievement. Children (n = 364) from 36 classrooms across five elementary schools participated in the study. Children reported attitudes about the self, and teachers assessed children’s mental health symptoms and academic functioning at two time points. Structural equation models indicated that behavioral self-concept predicts subsequent academic engagement and study skills in low-income urban youth through improvement in academic self-concept and reduction in mental health symptoms. Findings point toward the potential promise of non-academic self-concept as a target for intervention to improve youth academic outcomes.