Jessica E. Whittaker
Research Associate Professor; Director of Birth to Eight Initiatives
- Ph.D., University of Maryland, 2008
- B.A., Duke University, 2000
Jessica Whittaker's primary research interests lie in examining the association between early teacher-child interactions and children's academic and social-emotional outcomes. Her work focuses on understanding and supporting the inter-connections among young children’s foundational cognitive, behavioral, and social-emotional skills.
Currently, she is involved in several research efforts to develop and test the efficacy of interventions that include curricula, online coursework, and coaching, designed to improve the quality of early teacher-child interactions and instruction with the goal of identifying evidence-based practices that are scalable and accessible. She is also engaged in efforts to develop valid and reliable measures of classroom processes that relate to children’s development in these areas.
ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2022-23 ACADEMIC YEAR (applications due Dec 1).
Interested applicants may find program information on the EP-ADS doctoral program site and fellowship information on the VEST fellowship site.
Early Childhood Education in Virginia
The Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning strives to ensure every child has the educational experiences they need for success in school and life.
See InitiativesResources
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Related Projects
- Virginia Education Science Training (VEST) Predoctoral Fellowships
- Supporting Teachers To Enhance Math Practice (STEP)
- Preschool Relationships Enhancement Project
- National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning (NCQTL)
- MyTeachingPartner - Mathematics/Science Curricula and Implementation Support System
- Fairfax PreK to Third Grade Project
- Virginia Education Science Training (VEST) Program for Post-Doctoral Fellows
- Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program
- Assessment, Instruction and Mathematics in Kindergarten Classrooms (AIM)
- The Fairfax Prek to Third Grade Project (FP3)
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