Institute of Human Development and Social Change

Maria D. LaRusso

Associate Research Scientist Institute of Human Development and Social Change New York University New York, NY, USA [email protected]

[email protected]

EDUCATION

1997-2004 Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Doctor of Education, Human Development and Psychology

1993-1994 Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Master of Education, Human Development and Psychology

1989-1993 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Bachelor of Science, Human Development and Family Studies

HONORS/AWARDS

2009 Jacobs Foundation International Travel Award for presenting at the Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development

2008 Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship, American Association for University Women

2008 Young Scholar Travel Award, International Society for Behavioral Development

2007 Travel Award, Association for Moral Education and the Gift of Time Foundation

2007 Junior Scholar, Inter-American Collaboration Workshop of the International Society for Behavioral Development

2006 Fulbright Scholar

2003 Gender Studies Doctoral Research Award, Harvard University

2002-2003 Advanced Doctoral Fellowship, Harvard University

2000-2001 Spencer Apprenticeship Grant, Harvard University

1997-1998 Larsen Fellowship, Harvard University

1989-1993 Ted Larew Scholarship, Cornell University

PUBLICATIONS Maria D. LaRusso, page 2

LaRusso, M. D., Jones, S. M., Brown, J. L., & Aber, J. L. (in press). School context and micro-contexts: The complexity of studying school settings. In L. M. Dinella (Ed.), Conducting psychology research in school-based settings: A practical guide for researchers conducting high quality science within school environments. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

LaRusso, M. D., Romer, D., & Selman, R. L. (2008). Teachers as builders of respectful school climates: Implications for adolescent drug use norms and depressive symptoms in high school. Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Abadía-Barrero, C. & LaRusso, M. D. (2006). The disclosure model versus a developmental illness experience model for children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS: Findings from a study in São Paulo, Brazil. AIDS Patient Care and STDs. 20 (1), pp. 36-43.

Schultz, L. H., Selman, R. L., & LaRusso, M. D. (2004). The Assessment of Psychosocial Maturity in Children and Adolescents: Implications for the Evaluation of School-based Character Education Programs. Journal of Research in Character Education. 1 (2), pp.67-87.

LaRusso, M. D. & Selman, R. L. (2003). The influence of development and school climate on adolescents’ perceptions of risk and prevention: Cynicism and skepticism. In Romer, D. (Ed.) Reducing adolescent risk: Toward an integrated strategy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

MANUSCRIPTS UNDER REVIEW

LaRusso, M. D. & Selman, R. L. Social awareness and middle school climate: Implications for early adolescent risk behaviors and cynical attitudes toward school based prevention initiatives.

Brown, J. L., Jones, S. M., LaRusso, M. D., & Aber, J. L Targeting and improving the quality of elementary school classroom processes: A school randomized test of the 4Rs Program.

GRANTS

Principal Investigator (contracted by the Colombian Ministry of Education)). “Developing social and emotional competencies to prevent violence and build democracy.” Inter-American Development Bank. Period of support: 3/01/09-5/31/11. Amount of support: $600,000.

Co-Investigator (with Joshua L. Brown (Co-PI) and Stephanie M. Jones (Co-PI)). “Changing Classroom Climate and Other School Micro-Contexts to Promote Children’s Social-Emotional and Academic Development: The 4Rs Setting-Level Study.” William T. Grant Foundation. Period of support: 8/24/06- 8/23/08. Amount of support: $524,340.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

2006-2008 Associate Research Scientist/Co-Investigator, Department of Applied Psychology, New York University.

Spring 2007 Fulbright Scholar, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. Adolescent social development and school climate in Colombia: Mixed methods research. Funded by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars. Maria D. LaRusso, page 3

2005-2006 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Applied Psychology, New York University, New York, NY. Children’s social and emotional development in the contexts of urban elementary schools and a group randomized trial of a school-based intervention. Funded by the American Psychological Association/Institute of Education Sciences Postdoctoral Education Research Training (PERT) fellowship. With J. Lawrence Aber.

2004-2005 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Adolescents’ mental health and a randomized trial of a classroom-based intervention in a suburban, affluent school. Funded by the American Psychological Association/Institute of Education Sciences Postdoctoral Education Research Training (PERT) fellowship. With Martin Seligman.

2003-2004 Consultant, Annenberg Adolescent Risk Communication Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. The National Annenberg Risk Survey of Youth (NARSY): Assessment of School Climate and Health Risk Behaviors in Adolescence. With Daniel Romer and Robert Selman.

2000-2003 Research Fellow, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Middle Grades Risk Prevention Study. Funded by the Department of Education and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. With Robert Selman and Lynn Schultz.

2002-2003 Research Consultant, Secretary of Education of Bogotá, Colombia. Psychosocial Development of Colombian Adolescents. With Angela Bermudez, Lynn Schultz, and Robert Selman.

1994-2002 Research Fellow, Devereux Residential Treatment Center for Girls, Chester, NJ and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Pair Therapy for Girls with Social and Behavioral Problems: Mixed Method Analyses of Change over Time. Funded by the Devereux Foundation. With Caroline Watts and Michael Nakkula.

2000-2002 Independent Program Evaluator, Cambridge Youth Guidance Center, Cambridge, MA. The Voices of Love and Freedom Program in Clinical and Classroom Settings: A Mixed Method Outcome Study.. Funded by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). With Lynn Schultz.

1999-2000 Independent Program Evaluator, Consensus Building Institute, Cambridge, MA. Workable Peace Project: A Quantitative and Qualitative Evaluation. With Deborah Donahue-Keegan.

1999-2000 Research Assistant, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA. Project on Parenting Adolescents. Funded by the Mac Arthur Foundation. With A. Rae Simpson.

2000 Research Training Grant Recipient, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Methods. Funded by the Spencer Foundation. With Michael Nakkula.

1997-1999 Research Assistant, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Project for Young Negotiators: Psychosocial Outcomes. Funded by the Spencer Foundation, Kargman Family Fund, and the Packer Fund. With Michael Nakkula.

1998 Research Assistant, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Outcome Study of Facing Maria D. LaRusso, page 4

History and Ourselves. Funded by the Carnegie Corporation. With Dennis Barr and Robert Selman.

1993-1994 Research Assistant, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Young Adult Close Relationships Study. Funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. With Lynn Schultz.

1993-1994 Research Assistant, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Trauma and Repressed Memories. With Judith Herman.

PRESENTATIONS

LaRusso, M. D. (2008). Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Outcome Evaluations of Civic Education Programs and Policies: A Case Example. Invited talk for the Hemispheric Course on Evaluation of Policies and Programs in Education for Democratic Citizenship (of the Organization of the American States), Antigua Guatemala.

LaRusso, M. D. (2008). Evaluation of Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices. Invited talk at the Advisory Board Meeting of the Organization of the American States, Antigua, Guatemala.

LaRusso, M. D. & Selman, R. L. (2008). Conflict resolution in schools: Implications for adolescent risk behaviors in the United States. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting for the International Society for Behavioral Development, Wuerzburg, Germany.

LaRusso, M. D., Brown, J. L., Jones, S. M., & Aber, J. L. (2008). Aggression and problem behavior in elementary schools in the United Sates: Links to school climate, relationships, and school responses to aggression. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting for the International Society for Behavioral Development, Wuerzburg, Germany.

LaRusso, M. D., Brown, J. L., Jones, S. M., & Aber, J. L. (2008). Variation in climate within and between classrooms: Links to instructional, developmental, and relational characteristics of classrooms. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting for the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.

LaRusso, M. D., Brown, J. L., Jones, S. M., & Aber, J. L. (2008). School climate, relationships, and behavior in elementary school: Longitudinal and mixed method analyses. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting for the American Educational Research Association, New York, NY.

LaRusso, M. D., Brown, J. L., Jones, S. M., & Aber, J. L. (2007). The challenge of assessing and changing school climate: Understanding the complexities of schools as whole units composed of multiple contexts. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting for the Association for Moral Education, New York, NY.

LaRusso, M. D., Brown, J. L., Jones, S. M., & Aber, J. L. (2007). Mixed method analyses of schools as contexts for social and moral development in middle childhood. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting for the Association for Moral Education, New York, NY.

LaRusso, M. D. (2007). Social development, health risk behaviors, and conflict resolution in schools: Developmental and contextual perspectives. Poster presented at the Inter-American Collaboration Workshop of the International Society for Behavioral Development, Gramado, Brazil. Maria D. LaRusso, page 5

LaRusso, M. D. (2007). Mixed methods in the social sciences: Integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches to understanding children’s social development in context. Invited Fulbright talk, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.

LaRusso, M. D., Brown, J. L., Jones, S. M., & Aber, J. L. (2007). Differences in the quality of classroom climate by classroom-level demographic and developmental characteristics. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research, Washington, D.C.

Berg, J., Hoglund, W., LaRusso, M. D., Brown, J. Jones, S., & Aber, J. L. (2007). The role of school climate and an elementary school intervention on the connection between classroom racial/ethnic diversity and child adjustment. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research, Washington, D.C.

LaRusso, M. D., Brown, J. L., Jones, S. M., & Aber, J. L. (2007). The influence of teacher-student relationships, school climate, and gender on social competence and problem behaviors in elementary school. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research on Child Development, Boston, MA.

LaRusso, M. D. (2006). Risk behavior, relationships, and adolescent cynicism: Developmental and contextual analyses. Paper presented at the Annual Convention for the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, LA.

LaRusso, M. D., Brown, J. L., Jones, S. M., & Aber, J. L. (2006). Teacher ratings of school climate: Exploratory factor analysis and relationships with teacher burnout. Poster presented at the Institute of Education Sciences 2006 Research Conference, Washington, D.C.

LaRusso, M. D. (2006). A mixed methods approach to the assessment of school climate. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting for the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

LaRusso, M. D. (2006). Mixed method assessment of school climate as a context for social development. Poster presented in AERA session, “Emerging Scholars and Scholarship in Education Research: AERA, NAE, APA and IES Postdoctoral Fellows and Their Work” at the Annual Meeting for the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

LaRusso, M. D. (2006). Early adolescent social development and the social context of school: Implications for the prevention of health risk behaviors. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research on Adolescence, San Francisco, CA.

LaRusso, M. D. (2006). Early adolescent social development, risk prevention, and the social context of school: Quantitative and qualitative analyses. Developmental Colloquium talk, Department of Applied Psychology, New York University.

LaRusso, M. D. (2005). Early adolescents' critiques of school culture: A developmental interpretation of social context. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting for the Association for Moral Education, Cambridge, MA.

LaRusso, M. D. (2005). Social development and risk behavior: The importance of the relationship culture of schools. Paper presented at the Annual Convention for the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.

LaRusso, M. D. (2005). A developmental perspective on school atmosphere, risk behavior, and early Maria D. LaRusso, page 6

adolescents’ interpretations of relationships. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research on Child Development, Atlanta, GA.

LaRusso, M. D. (2004). Adolescents’ and teachers’ experiences of citizenship education: Examining the interconnected influences of social/moral development and social context. Workshop presented at the National Educational Forum on Citizenship Education, Bogotá, Colombia.

LaRusso, M. D., Schultz, L. H., & Selman, R. L. (2003). La madurez psicosocial de una muestra de estudiantes de 7o y 9o grado de Bogotá (The psychosocial maturity of a sample of students in 8th and 10th grades in Bogotá). Invited presentation at the teleconference: Moral and Social Development and Citizenship Education, Bogotá, Colombia.

LaRusso, M. D. & Watts, C. L. (2002). Promoting social competence in girls with relational disorders: A mixed methods approach to understanding clinical and developmental change. Paper presented at the Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research on Adolescence, New Orleans, LA.

LaRusso, M. D. (2001) From fighting and power strategies to negotiation and fairness strategies: the validity and reliability of a measure of interpersonal development in childhood and adolescence. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research on Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.

LaRusso, M. D. (Chair). (2000). How to Effectively Combine Qualitative and Quantitative Research, Spencer Research Forum with Charles Teddlie, Richard Light, Michael Nakkula, and John Willet, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.

LaRusso, M. D. (2000). Interpersonal negotiation and social perspective-taking among at-risk youth: Assessing the critical transitional steps in development. Paper presented at the Harvard Student Research Conference and International Forum, Cambridge, MA.

UNIVERSITY TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2008 Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Assistant Professor, Psychology Department Undergraduate courses: . Understanding Youth in Context . Adolescents in Film: Risks and Relationships

2007 Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia Fulbright Scholar/Visiting Professor Undergraduate course: . Understanding Youth in Context: Developmental Risks and Opportunities within Families, Schools, and Communities

1997-2002 Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA Teaching Fellow for the following graduate courses: . Social and Moral Development . Proseminar in Human Development (seminar for first year doctoral students) . Research Experience in Risk and Prevention . Adolescent Development in the Schools . Psychology of Girls and Women Maria D. LaRusso, page 7

1996-1997 Raritan Valley College, North Branch, NJ Adjunct Instructor, Psychology Department Undergraduate course: . Developmental Psychology

1996 Centenary College, Hackettstown, NJ Adjunct Instructor, Psychology Department Undergraduate course: . Developmental Psychology I: Childhood and Adolescence

SPECIALIZED TRAINING/SEMINARS

2008 Workshop on Quasi-Experimental Design and Analysis in Education. August 11-15. Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

2006 Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), Summer Institute on Advanced Statistics and Methods, The State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.

2006 Randomizing Groups to Evaluate Place-based Programs, Professional Development and Training Courses at the Annual Meeting for the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

2005 SRCD Developmental Science Teaching Institute, Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research on Child Development, Atlanta, GA.

2004 Applying Multiple Social Science Research Methods to Educational Problems: A National Forum, Center for Education, National Research Council of the National Academies, Washington, D.C.

CLINICAL EXPERIENCE

1995-1997 Child and Family Therapist, Child and Adolescent Services, Saint Clare’s Hospital, Boonton, NJ.

1996-1997 Program Supervisor, Strong Mothers, Safe Children Program, Jersey Battered Women’s Service, Morris Plains, NJ.

1995 Child and Family Therapist, Children’s Home-based Intervention Program, Saint Clare’s Hospital, Boonton, NJ.

1994-1995 Counselor, Jersey Battered Women's Service, Morris Plains, NJ.

1994-1995 Clinical Intern, Children’s Home-based Intervention Program, Saint Clare’s Hospital, Boonton, NJ.

1993 Counselor, Project Hope, Parsipany, NJ.

1992-1993 Counselor, Suicide Prevention & Crisis Service, Ithaca, NY.

1991.1993 Counselor, Ithaca Rape Crisis, Ithaca, NY. Maria D. LaRusso, page 8

COMMITTEES

2002-2004 Gender Studies Doctoral Students Association 1999-2000 Doctoral Student Advisory Committee 1998-1999 Teaching for Teaching Fellows Working Group 1997-1998 Harvard Admissions Committee, Risk and Prevention Program, Coordinator

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

American Educational Research Association Society for Research on Child Development Society for Research on Adolescence American Psychological Association Association for Moral Education Society for Prevention Research International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development