Julia Kaufman (she/her/hers) is associate research department director for the Behavioral and Policy Sciences Department, a senior policy researcher at RAND, and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. She also codirects the RAND American Educator Panels. Her research focuses on how states and school systems can support high-quality instruction and student learning, as well as methods for measuring educator perceptions and instruction.
She has led studies in a range of areas from the implementation of K–12 state standards and curriculum materials to factors that support adult and child civic literacy, identity, and engagement. She has also worked closely with a number of state departments of education to support their reform efforts through research and analysis, including the Louisiana Department of Education and a Council of Chief State School Officer network aimed at increasing adoption and use of high-quality instructional materials. Kaufman has also led studies to investigate the implementation, outcomes, and costs associated with pipelines for preparing, hiring, and supporting high-quality school leaders and teachers. Lastly, she has done considerable work to develop innovative measures of instructional practice, including measures of student-centered learning and teachers' mathematics instruction.
Kaufman holds a Ph.D. in international education from New York University and an M.A. in teaching from the University of Pittsburgh.
Selected Publications
Coburn, CE; Russell, JL; Kaufman, JH & Stein, MK, "How teacher social capital shapes the implementation of innovative standards-based mathematics curricula," American Journal of Education, 119(1), 2012
Stein, MK & Kaufman, JH, "Selecting and supporting the use of mathematics curricula at scale," American Educational Research Journal, 47(3), 2010
Kaufman, JH & Stein, MK, "Teacher learning in a shifting policy environment for instruction," Educational Policy, 24(4), 2010
Kaufman, JH, "The interplay between social and cultural determinants of school effort and success," Social Science Quarterly, 85(5), 2004
Kaufman, J.H., Stein, M.K. & Junker, B.J., "Factors associated with alignment between teacher survey reports and classroom observation ratings of mathematics instruction," Elementary School Journal (forthcoming)
Kaufman, J.H., Engberg, J., Hamilton, L., Yuan, K. and Hill, H., "Validity evidence supporting use of anchoring vignettes to measure teaching practice," Educational Assessment, 2019
Schweig, J.D., Kaufman, J.H. and Opfer, V.D., "Day by day: Investigating variation in elementary mathematics instruction that supports the Common Core," Educational Researcher, 49(3), 2020
Kaufman, J.H., Diliberti, M.K., and Hamilton, L., "How principals’ perceived resource needs and job demands are related to their dissatisfaction and intention to leave their school during the COVID-19 pandemic," AERA Open (forthcoming)