commentary
Addressing Immigration Doesn't End at the Border—Schools Need Help
Nov 1, 2021
Julia H. Kaufman
Senior Policy Researcher; Codirector, RAND American Educator Panels; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Pittsburgh Office
Education
B.A. in English Literature, University of Pittsburgh; M.A. in teaching, University of Pittsburgh; Ph.D. in international education, New York University; Postdoctoral Fellowship in learning policy, University of Pittsburgh; Postdoctoral Fellowship in methodology and interdisciplinary research, Carnegie Mellon University and RAND Corporation
Media Resources
This researcher is available for interviews.
To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.
More ExpertsOverview
Julia Kaufman is a senior policy researcher at the RAND Corporation where she codirects the 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 on how to support students' civics knowledge, skills, and dispositions; how state policies can encourage effective use of high-quality materials; implementation and student outcomes associated with the strategies of the Louisiana Department of Education; perceptions and implementation of state standards for kindergarten through twelfth-grade students; and implementation, outcomes, and costs associated with pipelines for preparing, hiring, and supporting high-quality school leaders and teachers. Kaufman has also led several projects to develop innovative measures of instructional practice, including measures of student-centered learning and teachers' mathematics instruction. Prior to coming to RAND, Kaufman's research focused on the main factors that support teachers' use of inquiry-based mathematics curricula and the extent to which survey measures can accurately capture teachers' instruction. She holds a Ph.D. in international education from New York University and an M.A. in teaching from the University of Pittsburgh.
Research Focus
Recent Projects
- An investigation of Louisiana Department of Education strategies and outcomes
- Evaluating new and improved pipelines for preparing, selecting and hiring first-year teachers
- Characteristics of coherent instructional systems and their relationship to outcomes for Black, Latinx, low-income and English-learner designated students
- The American Instructional Resources Survey (AIRS)
- Improving K-12 STEM Instruction through Micro-Credentials
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)
Honors & Awards
- 2018 and 2021 RAND Bronze Medal Awards, RAND Corporation
- 2021 Spotlight Award for Mentorship, RAND Corporation
- Outstanding Dissertation Award, New York University
Recent Media Appearances
Interviews: ABC7 Eyewitness News; CNN; CTV Ottawa News; Here and There, Santa Fe Public Radio; WWL-AM Online
