Research Scientist
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Short Biography – Education – Current Projects – Selected Publications
Short Biography
Gabrielle Rappolt-Schlichtmann’s work focuses on researching the impact of emotion on learning and developing technology that supports the affective component of Universal Design for Learning. In particular, Dr. Rappolt-Schlichtmann brings expertise in the developmental neuroscience of at-risk children, especially the impact of children’s experiences of stress on emotion and cognitive performance in the context of school.
Before joining CAST Dr. Rappolt-Schlichtmann worked for several years at the Kessler Institute and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey studying post-traumatic stress disorder and its impact on attention, learning and memory. In addition she served as the solicitations editor of the Harvard Educational Review, and as a research associate on several national research projects, including the national evaluation of Early Head Start.
Dr. Rappolt-Schlichtmann's dissertation research focused on studying the physiologic stress response of young children living in poverty. Her research showed how early adverse experiences associated with poverty can organize children's behavior, cognition and biology in the context of school; she demonstrated experimentally that teachers can directly impact children’s physiologic stress responses. This work was funded by a National Institutes of Health Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award.
Ed.D., Human Development and Psychology, Mind, Brain and Education; Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA
Ed.M., Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA
B.S., Behavioral Neuroscience, Trinity College, Hartford, CT
UDL Inquiry Science Collaborative – Currently in the first of four years of National Science Foundation Funding, this project will create both the knowledge and the infrastructure necessary for cost-effective, efficient development and production of universally designed inquiry-oriented science curricula. Science curriculum developers and publishers will be able to apply the design heuristics and utilize the authoring system to incorporate into their curricula UDL features such as highlighting critical text; categorizing and organizing notes from reading, experiments, and discussions; and multimedia coaches that provide models of successful practice. Teachers will have access to exemplar units in Chemistry and Biology that demonstrate universally designed science curriculum. Students with learning disabilities will have the embedded supports necessary for them to make progress in science thereby enabling them to reach their full academic potential.
UDL Science Notebook – In partnership with the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) at the University of California, Berkeley, CAST is developing and investigating a universally designed, web-based science notebook that supports 4th- and 5th-grade students in learning science. Science notebooks are a common component of activity-based science learning; students use them to emulate the activities of professional scientists by recording, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data. Yet, for students with disabilities these are often difficult tasks that impede learning. The intervention—including a prototype universally designed science notebook (UDSN), a teacher training module, and a teacher guide—will embody the essential characteristics of traditional science notebooks enhanced by Universal Design for Learning principles and research-validated approaches to support science learning, content area writing, and formative assessment. For the purposes of the research, the Magnetism and Electricity (M&E) module from the Full Option Science System (FOSS), the most widely used hands-on elementary science program, will be the instructional curriculum in which the UDSN is studied.
Rappolt-Schlichtmann, G., Tenenbaum, H., Keopke, M. & Fischer, K. (2007). Transient and robust knowledge: Contextual support and the dynamics of children’s reasoning about density. Mind, Brain, and Education , 1(2), 98-108.
Ayoub, C. & Rappolt-Schlichtmann, G. (2007). Child maltreatment and the development of alternate pathways in biology and behavior. In D. Coch, G. Dawson, & K. Fischer (Eds.), Human behavior, learning, and the developing brain: Atypical development . New York: The Guilford Press.
Ayoub, C., O'Connor, E., Rappolt-Schlichtmann, G., Fischer, K., Rogosch, F., Toth, S., & Cicchetti, D. (2006). Cognitive and emotional differences in young maltreated children: A translational application of dynamic skill theory. Development and Psychopathology , 18(3), 679-706.
Tenenbaum, H., Rappolt-Schlichtmann, G., & Zanger, V. (2004). Children’s learning about water in a museum and in the classroom. Early Childhood Research Quarterly , 19(1), 40-58.
Meyer, A., & Rose, D.; with Rappolt, G. & Strangman, N. (2002). Teaching every student in the digital age: Universal Design for Learning . Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
