Bridging Substantive Framing and Psychometric Rigor for Measuring Social, Health, and Educational Constructs
Despite advances in measurement theory and psychometric models, some widely used measures in the social, health, and educational sciences have substantial gaps in evidence of their reliability and validity. Funded by NICHD and the Institute of Education Sciences, my work in this area aims to both apply cutting-edge psychometric tools in conceptually meaningful ways for publication in mainstream substantive journals and to offer accessible explanations regarding how and why modern measurement models can inform the social and health sciences.
- Gordon, R. A., Peng, F., Curby, T. W., & Zinsser, K. M. (2021). Using the many-facet Rasch model to improve observational quality measures: An introduction and application to measuring the teaching of emotion skills. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 55, 149-164.
- Gordon, R. A. & Peng, F. (2020). Evidence regarding the domains of the CLASS PreK in Head Start classrooms. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 53, 23-39.
- Fujimoto, K. A., Gordon, R. A., Peng, F. & Hofer, K. (2018). Examining the category functioning of the ECERS-R across eight datasets. AERA Open, 4(1), 1-16.
- Gordon, R. A. (2015). Measuring constructs in family science: How can IRT improve precision and validity? Journal of Marriage and Family, 77, 147-176.
Rigorous Translational Science: Supporting Mutually Beneficial Partnerships with Practice, Policy, and Public Audiences and the Pipeline from Statistical Advances to Applications
As a multidisciplinary, policy scholar, I bridge multiple substantive and methodological fields and engage with stakeholder audiences of practitioners, policymakers, and the public. I have worked to leverage such positions by bringing new ideas and approaches across these bridges and by working in “two-way-street” partnerships and “adversarial collaborations” that take advantage of the unique expertise and perspectives of all participants.
- Gordon, R. A. & Superfine, B. (2021). Who owns educational products developed with federal funds? Intellectual property rights in Prek-12 education. Journal of Educational Policy, 36, 557-575.
- Speirs, K. E., Gordon, R.A., Powers, E. T., Koester, B. D. & Fiese, B. H. (2019). Licensed family child care providers’ participation in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP): Greater benefits and fewer burdens in highly urban areas? Early Education and Development, 31, 153-176.
- Gordon, R. A., Rowe, H., & Garcia, K. (2015). Promoting family resilience through evidence-based policymaking: Reconsidering the link between adult-infant bedsharing and infant mortality. Family Relations, 64, 134-152.
- Gordon, R. A. & Heinrich, C. J. (2004). Modeling trajectories in social program outcomes for performance accountability. American Journal of Evaluation, 25,161-189.
Adolescent Educational and Social Opportunities and Appearance-Related Identities
The transition to adulthood offers substantial opportunities but also challenges for young people. My most recent research in this area considers youths’ appearance, aiming to understand how snap judgments about visible characteristics and self-presentation combine to affect trajectories of physical, mental, social, and academic health from early childhood into adulthood.
- Gordon, R. A., Branigan, A. R., Khan, M. A., & Nunez, J. G. (2022). Measuring skin color: Consistency, comparability, and meaningfulness of rating scale scores and handheld device readings. Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology, 10, 337-364.
- Pivnick, L. K., Gordon, R. A., & Crosnoe, R. (2020). Crowd sourcing: Do prototypical peer crowds match reality? Social Psychology Quarterly, 83, 272-293.
- Crabbe, R., Pivnick, L., Bates, J., Gordon, R. A. & Crosnoe, R. (2019). Contemporary college students’ reflections of their high school peer crowds. Journal of Adolescence Research, 34, 563-596.
- Gordon, R.A., Crosnoe, R. & Wang, X. (2013). Physical attractiveness and the accumulation of social and human capital in adolescence and young adulthood. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development (Volume 78, Issue 6).
Opportunities and Challenges Related to Early Care and Education
During the latter half of the 20th century, the daily experiences of young families transformed such that most infants, toddlers, and preschoolers spend substantial time with non-parental caregivers outside of their own homes. My work has examined both the factors that go into parents’ early care and education decisions as well as the consequences of these decisions for their own and their children’s physical and emotional well-being.
- Curby, T. W., Zinsser, K. M., Gordon, R. A., Ponce, E., Syed, G., & Peng, F. (2022). Emotion-focused teaching practices and preschool children's social and learning behaviors. Emotion, 22, 1869-1885.
- Cordon, R. A., Sheridan, K., Bates, J., de Souza, S. & Pradzinski, A. (2020). Child care arrangements and gender: A national portrait of preschool-aged children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 53, 40-49.
- Augustine, J., Crosnoe, R. & Gordon, R.A. (2013). Early child care and illness among preschoolers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 54, 315-334.
- Gordon, R. A., Kaestner, R., Korenman, S. & Abner, K. (2011). The Child and Adult Care Food Program: Who is served and why? Social Service Review, 85, 359-400.
The Contextual Environments and Achievement Consequences of Early Care and Education Settings
My research brings together multiple fields and methods to examine how early care and education contexts support children’s transition to school, especially in relation to their classrooms experiences and various strategies for measuring such contexts.
- Gordon, R. A., Sosinsky, L. S., & Colaner, A. (2019). Directors’ reports about program-wide pedagogical approaches: Using institutional theory in a mixed methods study of Chicago-area centers serving 3- and 4-year old children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 49, 1-17.
- Abner, K., Gordon, R. A., Kaestner, R. & Korenman, S. (2013). Does child care quality mediate associations between the type of care and child development. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75, 1203-1217.
- Gordon, R. A., Colaner, A., Usdansky, M. L. & Melgar, C. (2013). Beyond an ‘either-or’ approach to center and home-based care choices: Characteristics of families who combine types or use just one. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28, 918-935.
- Gordon, R. A., Fujimoto, K., Kaestner, R., Korenman, S. & Abner, K. (2013). An assessment of the validity of the ECERS-R with implications for assessments of child care quality and its relation to child development. Developmental Psychology 49:146-160.