The Center for Research on Culture, Development and Education at New York University focuses on examining the intersection between culture and developmental processes as they influence school readiness and educational outcomes among children and youth from diverse ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Our work focuses on three interrelated components of education - engagement, learning, and performance. Engagement refers to active participation and involvement in school-related activities, and attitudes about achievement. Learning refers to the process of acquiring knowledge or skills
relevant to school readiness and academic success. Performance refers to academic outcomes, such as grades or standardized test scores.

Scientific Mission

Our scientific mission is to examine how families, schools, peers, work, and the media jointly contribute to the academic engagement, learning, and performance of children and youth from diverse cultures. To accomplish this mission we seek to:

• Describe and understand the experiences of culturally diverse children within each of the educationally relevant contexts.
• Identify the underlying processes that link experiences in specific contexts to school readiness and academic outcomes, and examine how such processes may vary within and across cultural groups.
• Integrate and map how these contextual influences affect one another and jointly shape the developmental trajectories of engagement, learning and school performance.

Educational Mission

The educational mission of the Center is to transmit research findings, through training and dissemination, to three communities:

• A new generation of scholars from diverse backgrounds who are engaged in research on culture and its role in child learning, engagement, and performance.
• The broader research community.
• Policy makers and practitioners in education (including school administrators and teachers).

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