The Director of New York University's Steinhardt's Early Childhood Education program, Erin is a Full Professor and holds a Doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a Masters in teaching from Fordham University, and a Masters in school psychology from Columbia University. Erin works with teachers in New York City schools and leads professional development seminars. She is also co-Founder of Nested - a nonprofit focused on advancing family wellbeing through research driven solutions. In addition, she is Chief of Education at Cooper - a platform designed to bring together parents, researchers, and teachers around issues of child development. She is also the co-host of the parenting podcast, Parenting Understood.
In addition, Erin leads research programs investigating perinatal mental health among birthing and non-birthing parents, and examining relationships with mothers, fathers and teachers and the impacts of these relationships on children's development in early and middle childhood. She also conducts randomized control trials of relationship-building interventions on the language and social development of children from low-income families and neighborhoods.
Erin has published in educational and psychology journals including the American Educational Research Journal, Journal of Educational Psychology, and Journal of Applied Psychology. Her work is supported by grants from several institutions including the Institute for Education Sciences. She is a member of the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and the Society for Research in Child Development.
Selected Publications
- Neuhaus, R., & O’Connor, E.E. (in press). The Interplay Between Sensationalism and Scientific Information Framing: Examining the Representation of Screen Time Research Online and on Social Media in the United States. Journal of Children and Media
- O’Connor, E.E. (January 25, 2025). The Case for Grandparent Paid Leave. Psychology Today.
- O’Connor, E.E. (December 27, 2024). Adequate Support: Key to Addressing Perinatal Mental Health. Psychology Today.
- O’Connor, E.E. (December 11 2024). What Caregivers Want: A Policy Blueprint for Perinatal Mental Health. Psychology Today.
- O’Connor, E.E. (November 20, 2024). The ROI of Parental Leave. Psychology Today.
- O’Connor, E.E. (November 5, 2024). The Potential Cost of Honesty in Perinatal Screening.Psychology Today.
- O’Connor, E.E. (October 23, 2024). The Stigma of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders.Psychology Today.
- O’Connor, E.E. (September 27, 2024). Parenting is Hard: Let's Do Something About It. Psychology Today.
- O’Connor, E.E. (July 18, 2024). Fathers Suffer, Too: The Reality of Perinatal Mental Health. Psychology Today.
- O’Connor, E.E. (June 12, 2024). Grieving the Joy That Wasn’t: Healing from Perinatal Mood Disorders. Psychology Today.
- O’Connor, E.E. (March 6th, 2024). The Story of Paid Parental Leave is Complex. Psychology Today.
- O’Connor, E.E. (February 13th, 2024). The Power of Parental Connection. Psychology Today,
- Horn, E.P., McCormick, M.P., O'Connor, E.E., McClowry, S.G., & Hogan, F.C. (2021). Trajectories of teacher-child relationships across kindergarten and first grade: The influence of gender and disruptive behaviors. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 55(2), 107 - 118.
- Goldie, P. & O’Connor, E.E. (2021). The gender achievement gap: Do teacher-student relationships matter? Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research,
- Han, J., O'Connor, E. E., & McCormick, M. P. (2020). The role of elementary school and home quality in supporting sustained effects of pre-K. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(5), 956–972.
- Neuhaus, R., McCormick, M.P. & O’Connor, E.E. (2020). The mediating role of child-teacher dependency in the association between early mother-child attachment and behavior problems in middle childhood, Attachment & Human Development,
- McCormick, M. P., Neuhaus, R., Horn, E.P., O'Connor, E. E., White, H. I., Harding, S., Cappella, E., & McClowry, S. G. (2019). Social-emotional learning, special education referral, and grade retention from kindergarten through fifth grade: Long-term effects of early intervention on policy-relevant outcomes. AERA Open.
- Han, J., O'Connor, E. E., & McCormick, M. P. (2020). The role of elementary school and home quality in supporting sustained effects of pre-K. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(5), 956–972
- McCormick, M.P., White, H.I., Horn, E.P., Lacks, R., O’Connor, E.E., Cappella, E., & McClowry, S. (2018). Instructional support and academic skills: Impacts of INSIGHTS in classrooms with shy children. Early Education & Development, 1-25.
- McCormick, M.P., White, H.I., Horn, E.P., Lacks, R., O’Connor, E.E., Cappella, E., & McClowry, S. (2018). Instructional support and academic skills: Impacts of INSIGHTS in classrooms with shy children. Early Education & Development, 29(5), 691-715.
- Han, J., O’Connor, E.E., McCormick, M.P., & McClowry, S.G. (2017). Child temperament and home- based parent involvement at the transition to kindergarten: Evidence from a low-income, urban sample. Early Education and Development, 28(5), 590 – 606.
- McCormick, M.P., O’Connor, E.E., & Horn, E.P. (2017). Can teacher-child relationships alter the effects of early socioeconomic status on achievement in middle childhood? Journal of School Psychology, 64, 76-92.
- Collins, A., O'Connor, E.E, & McClowry, S. (2017). The role of a temperament intervention in kindergarten children's standardized academic achievement. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 5(2), 120-139.
- Collins, B. O’Connor, E.E., Supplee, L. & Shaw, D. (2017). Behavior problems in elementary school among low-income boys: The role of teacher-child relationships. The Journal of Educational Research. 110(1), 72-84.
- Collins, A. & O'Connor, E.E. (2016). Teacher-child relationships and child temperament in early achievement. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 6(1), 174-194.
- McCormick, M.P., Cappella, E., O’Connor, E.E., Hill, J., & McClowry, S.G. (2016). Do effects of social-emotional learning programs vary by level of parent participation? Evidence from the randomized trial of INSIGHTS. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 9(3), 364-394.
- McCormick, M.P., O’Connor, E.E., & Barnes, S.P. (2016). Mother-child attachment styles and math and literacy skill development in middle childhood: The mediating role of children’s exploration and engagement. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 36(3), 295 – 306.
- McCormick, M.P., Cappella, E., O’Connor, E. E. & McClowry, S. (2015). Social-emotional learning and academic achievement: Using causal methods to explore classroom-level mechanisms. AERA Open.
- McCormick, M.P., O’Connor, E. E., Cappella, E., & McClowry, S.G. (2015). Getting a good start in school: Differential effects of INSIGHTS on the behaviors and engagement of children with high maintenance temperaments. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 30, 128-139.