My research focuses on the effects of early childhood interventions and public policies on children’s development, especially on children from low-income families (student and Postdoctoral mentee co-authors are underlined).
Weiland, C., Guerrero Rosada, P., Taylor, A., Penfold, L., Kushner, R., Snow, C., Xia, Y., & McCormick, M. (In press). Scaling high quality: An implementation study of Boston’s
Universal Pre-K expansion to community-based programs. Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
McCormick, M., Hanno, E., Weiland. C…. Snow, C. (2025). Moving beyond point in time estimates: Using growth models to understand when PreK convergence happens,
how, and for which skills. Child Development.
Working Paper Policy and Practice Summary
Weiland, C., Wu, T., Unterman, R., Shapiro, A., Lightner, S., Staines, T., & Taylor, A. (2025). Impacts of oversubscribed Boston Pre-K programs through middle school. Annenberg Working
Paper.
Working Paper Policy and Practice Summary
Berne, J., Jacob, B., Weiland, C., & Strunk.K. (2025). The impacts of grade retention policy with minimal retention. NBER and Annenberg Working Paper.
Berne, J., Jacob, B., Musaddiq, T., Shapiro, A., & Weiland, C. (2025). Impacts of Michigan Transitional Kindergarten through third grade. Annenberg Working Paper.
Berne, J., Cordoba Garcia, K., Jacob, B., Musaddiq, T., Owusu, S., Shapiro, A., & Weiland, C. (2025). Transitional Kindergarten: The new kid on the early learning block. Educational Researcher.
Wu, T., & Weiland, C. (In press). Leveraging modern machine learning to improve early warning systems and reduce chronic absenteeism in early childhood. Annenberg Working Paper.
Weiland, C., McCormick, M., Duer, J., Friedman-Krauss, A., Pralica, M., Xia, S., Nores, M., & Mattera, S. (2024). The mixed-deverlity Pre-K opportunity gap? Differences in demographics, quality, and children's gains in community-based versus public school programs across five large-scale systems. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 68, 247-259.
Berne, J., Jacob, B., Musaddiq, T., Shapiro, A., & Weiland, C. (2024). The effect of early childhood programs on third-grade test scores: Evidence from Transitional Kindergarten in Michigan. Annenberg Working Paper.
Rebecca Unterman & Christina Weiland
Unterman, R., & Weiland, C. (2024). Quantifying and predicting variation in the medium-term effects of an oversubscribed prekindergarten program. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness.
Working paper (published journal article in press)
Weiland, C., Unterman, R., Dynarski, S., Abenavoil, R., Bloom, H. .... & Weixler, L. (In press). Lottery-based evaluations of early education programs: Opportunities and challenges for building the next generation of evidence. AERA Open.
Wu, T., Weiland, C., McCormick, M., Hsueh, J., Snow, C., & Sachs, J. (2024). One score to rule them all? Comparing the predictive and concurrent validity of 30 Hearts and Flowers scoring approaches. Assessment.
Weiland, C., Page, L., Musaddiq, T., Martin, E., & Homitsky, S. (2023). The efficacy of text-based mentoring for postpartum mothers: A pilot study. Maternal and Child Health Journal.
Thompson, M., Weiland, C., McCormick, M., Hsueh, J., Snow, C., & Sachs, J. (2023). The role of early schooling in shaping inequality in academic, executive functioning, and social-emotional skills. Socius.
Leyva, D., Yeomans-Maldonado, G., Weiland, C., Shapiro, A., Leech, K., Pilot, I., & Wolf, S. (2023). Literacy measures that leverage the strengths of Spanish-speaking Latino kindergarteners. Journal of Literacy Research, 1-15.
Weiland, C., Moffett, L., Guerrero Rosada, P., Weissman, A., Zhang, K., Maier, M., Snow, C., McCormick, M., Hsueh, J., & Sachs, J. (2023). Learning experiences vary across young children in the same classroom: Evidence from the Individualizing Student Instruction measure in the Boston Public Schools. Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
Jones Harden, B., Brett, B.E., Gross, J.,T., Weiland, C., Berne, J., Klein, E.L., & Tirrell-Corbin, C. (2023). Benefits of pre-kindergarten for children in Baltimore, MD. Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
Moffett, L., Weissman, A., McCormick, M., Weiland, C., Hsueh, J., Snow, C., & Sachs, J. (2022). Enrollment in Pre-K and children's social-emotional and executive functioning skills: To what extent are associations sustained across time? Journal of Educational Psychology.
McCormick, M., Pralica, M., Weiland, C., Hsueh, J., Moffett, L., Guerrero-Rosada, P.,Weissman, A., Zhang, K., Snow, C., Maier, M., Davies, E., Taylor, A., & Sachs, J. (2022). Does kindergarten instruction matter for sustaining the PreK boost? Evidence from individual- and classroom-level survey and observational data. Developmental Psychology. doi: 10.1037/dev0001358
Christina Weiland & Pamela Morris
Weiland, C., & Morris, P. (In press). The risks and opportunities of the COVID-19 crisis for building longitudinal evidence on today's early childhood education programs. Child Development Perspectives.
Diana Leyva, Anna Shapiro, Gloria Yeomans-Maldonado, Christina Weiland, & Kathryn Leech
Leyva, D., Shapiro, A., Yeomans-Maldonado, G., Weiland, C., & Leech, K. (2022). Positive impacts of a strengths-based family program on Latino kindergarteners' narrative language abilities. Developmental Psychology.
Diana Leyva, Gloria Yeomans-Maldonado, Christina Weiland, & Anna Shapiro
Leyva, D., Yeomans-Maldonado, G., Weiland, C., & Shapiro, A. (2022). Latino Kindergarteners' math growth, approaches to learning, and home numeracy practices, 80, Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology.
Michelle F. Maier, Meghan P. McCormick, Samantha Xia, JoAnn Hsueh, Christina Weiland, Abby Morales, Marina Boni, Melissa Tonachel, Jason Sachs, & Catherine Snow
Maier, M, McCormick, M.P., Xia, S., Hsueh, J., Weiland, C. .... Snow. C. (2022). Content-rich instruction and cognitive demand in PreK: Using systematic observations to predict child gains. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 60, 96-109.
Lillie Moffett, Amanda Weissman, Christina Weiland, Meghan McCormick, JoAnn Hsueh, Catherine Snow, & Jason Sachs
Moffett, L., Weissman, A., Weiland, C., McCormick, M., Hsueh, J., Snow, C. , & Sachs, J. (2021). Unpacking pre-K classroom organization: Types, variation, and links to school readiness gains. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 77.
Christina Weiland, Erica Greenberg, Daphna Bassok, Anna Markowitz, Paola Guerrero Rosada, Grace Luetmer, Rachel Abenavoli, Celia Gomez, Anna Johnson, Brenda Jones-Harden, Michelle Maier, Meghan McCormick, Pamela Morris, Milagros Nores, Deborah Phillips, & Catherine Snow
Weiland, C., Greenberg, E., Bassok, A. ,Markowitz, A., Guerrero Rosada, P., Luetmer, G.... & Snow, C. (2020). Historic crisis, historic opportunity: Using evidence to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on young children and early care and education programs. Ann Arbor, MI and DC: Unversity of Michigan Education Policy Initiative and Urban Institute Policy Brief.
Christina Weiland, Jason Sachs, Meghan McCormick, JoAnn Hsueh, & Catherine Snow
Weiland, C., Sachs, J., McCormick, M., Hsueh, J., & Snow, C. (2021). Fast-response research to answer practice and policy questions. Future of Children, 31.
Meghan McCormick, Christina Weiland, JoAnn Hsueh, Mira Pralica, Amanda Weissman, Lillie Moffett, Catherine Snow, & Jason Sachs
McCormick, M., Weiland, C., Hsueh, J., Pralica, M., Weissman, A., Moffett, L., Snow, C., & Sachs, J. (2021). Is skill type the key to the PreK fadeout puzzle? Differential associations between enrollment in preK and constrained and unconstrained skills across kindergarten. Child Development.
Diana Leyva, Christina Weiland, Anna Shapiro, Gloria Yeomans-Maldonado, & Angela Febles
Leyva, D., Weiland, C., Shapiro, A., Yeomans-Maldonado, G., & Febles. (2021). A strengths-based, culturally responsive family intervention improves Latino kindergarteners' vocabulary and approaches to learning. Child Development.
Christina Weiland, Rebecca Unterman, & Anna Shapiro
Weiland, C., Unterman, R., & Shapiro, A. (2021). The kindergarten hotspot: Literacy skill convergence between Boston Prekindergarten enrollees and non-enrollees. Child Development.
Sarah Kabay, Christina Weiland, & Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Kabay, S., Weiland, C., & Yoshikawa, H. (2020). Costs of the Boston Public Prekindergarten program. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness.
Paola Guerrero Rosada, Christina Weiland, Meghan McCormick, JoAnn Hsueh, Jason Sachs, Catherine Snow, & Maier, M.
Guerrero, P.R., Weiland, C., McCormick, M., Hsueh, J., Sachs, J., Snow, C., & Maier, M. (2020). Null relations between CLASS scores and gains in children's language, math, and executive function: A replication and extension study. Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
Meghan McCormick, Mira Pralica, Paola Guerrero Rosada, Christina Weiland, Barbard Condliffe, JoAnn Hsueh, Jason Sachs, & Catherine Snow
McCormick, M.P., Pralica, M., Rosada, P.G., Weiland, C., Condliffe, B., Hsueh, J., Sachs, J., Snow, C. (2020). Can center-based care reduce summer slow-down prior to kindergarten? Exploring variation by family income, race/ethnicity, and dual language learner status. American Education Research Journal.
Meghan McCormick, Amanda Ketner Weissman, Christina Weiland, JoAnn Hsueh, Jason Sachs, & Catherine Snow
McCormick, M.P., Ketner Weissman, A., Weiland, C., Hsueh, J., Sachs, J., & Snow, C. (2020). Time well spent: Home learning activities and gains in children's academic skills in the prekindergarten year. Developmental Psychology.
Christina Weiland, Rebecca Unterman, Anna Shapiro, Sara Staszak, Shana Rochester, & Eleanor Martin
Weiland, C., Unterman, R., Shapiro, A., Staszak, S., Rochester, S., & Martin, E. (2019). The effects of enrolling in oversubscribed prekindergarten programs through third grade. Child Development.
Christina Weiland, Rebecca Unterman, & Anna Shapiro
Weiland, C., Unterman, R., & Shapiro, A. (2019). When do the literacy skills of preschool attenders and non-attenders converge? Evidence from Boston. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Ford School Education Policy Initiative Working Paper Series.
Meghan McCormick, Christina Weiland, JoAnn Hsueh, Michelle Maier, Rama Hagos, Catherine Snow, Nicole Leacock, & Laura Schick
McCormick, M., Weiland, C., Hsueh, J., Maier, M., Hagos, R., Snow, C., ... & Schick, L. (2019). Promoting content-enriched alignment across the early grades: A study of policies and practices in the Boston Public Schools. Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
Anna Shapiro, Eleanor Martin, Christina Weiland, & Rebecca Unterman
Shapiro, A., Martin, E., Weiland, C., & Unterman, R. (2019). If you offer it, will they come? Patterns of application behavior in a universal preschool context. AERA Open Special Issue, "The Role of Place, Geography, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Educational Research."
Anna Shapiro and Christina Weiland
Shapiro, A., and Weiland, C. (2019). What is in a definition? The how and when of special education subgroup analysis in preschool evaluations. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
Shana Rochester, Christina Weiland, Rebecca Unterman, Meghan McCormick, and Lillie Moffett
Rochester, S., Weiland, C., Unterman, R., McCormick, M., and Moffett, L. (In press). The little kids down the hall: Associations between school climate, pre-k classroom quality, and pre-k children's gains in receptive vocabulary and executive function. Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
Eleanor Martin, Christina Weiland, and Lindsay Page
Martin, E., Weiland, C., & Page, L. (2018). Text-based mentoring for postpartum moms: A feasibility study. Early Child Development and Care.
Pamela Morris, Maia Connors, Allison Friedman-Krauss, Dana McCoy, Christina Weiland, Avi Feller, Lindsay Page,
Howard Bloom, and Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Morris, P. A., Connors, M., Friedman-Krauss, A., McCoy, D. C., Weiland, C., Feller, A., ... & Yoshikawa, H. (2018). New findings on impact variation from the Head Start Impact Study: Informing the scale-up of early childhood programs. AERA Open, 4.
Christina Weiland, Meghan McCormick, Shira Mattera, Michelle Maier, and Pamela Morris
Weiland, C., McCormick, M., Mattera, S., Maier, M., & Morris, P. (2018). Preschool Curricula and Professional Development Features for Getting to High-Quality Implementation at Scale: A Comparative Review Across Five Trials. AERA Open, 4.
Deborah A. Phillips, Mark Lipsey, Ken A. Dodge, Ron Haskins, Daphna Bassok, Margaret R. Burchinal, Greg J. Duncan,
Mark Dynarski, Katherine A. Magnuson, and Christina Weiland
Phillips, D.A., Lipsey, M., Dodge, K.A., Haskins, R., Bassok, D., Burchinal, M.R., Duncan, G.J.,Dynarski, M., Magnuson, K.A., & Weiland, C. (2017). Puzzling it out: The current state of scientific knowledge on pre- kindergarten effects. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
Ajay Chaudry, Taryn Morrissey, Christina Weiland, and Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Chaudry, A., Morrissey, T., Weiland, C., & Yoshikawa, H. (2017). Cradle to kindergarten: A new plan to combat inequality. New York, NY: Russell Sage.
Christina Weiland
Weiland, C. (2016). Launching Preschool 2.0: High quality public programs at scale. Behavioral Science and Policy, 2 (1), 37-46.
Christina Weiland
Weiland, C. (2016). Impacts of the Boston prekindergarten program on the school readiness of young children with special needs. Developmental Psychology, 52(11).
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Christina Weiland, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn.
Yoshikawa, H., Weiland, C., Brooks-Gunn, G. (In press). When does preschool matter? Future of Children, 26(2), 21-35.
Christina Weiland, Dana Charles McCoy, Elizabeth Grace, and Soojin Oh Park
Weiland, C., Charles McCoy, D., Grace, E., & Oh Park, S. (2017). Natural opportunity? Low-income parents’ responses to their children’s impending kindergarten entry. AERA Open, 3(1).
Mary Catherine Arbour, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Richard Murnae, Christina Weiland, M. Clara Barata, and Catherine Snow
Arbour, M.C., Yoshikawa, H., Murnane, R., Weiland, C., Barata, M.C., & Snow C.E. (2016). Testing for moderation of impact of the UBC preschool intervention by student absenteeism. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. DOI: 10.1080/19345747.2015.1109013
Howard Bloom and Christina Weiland
Bloom, H., & Weiland, C. (2015). Quantifying variation in Head Start effects on young children’s cognitive and socio-emotional skills using data from the National Head Start Impact Study. New York, NY: MDRC Working Paper.
Diana Leyva, Christina Weiland, M. Clara Barata, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Catherine Snow, Andrea Rolla, and Ernesto Treviño
Leyva, D., Weiland, C., Barata, M.C., Yoshikawa, H., Snow, & A., Treviño, E. (2015). Teacher–Child Interactions in Chile and Their Associations With Prekindergarten Outcomes. Child Development, 86, 781-799.
Mark Lipsey, Christina Weiland, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Sandra Wilson, and Kerry Hofer
*Lipsey, M., Weiland, C., Yoshikawa, H., Wilson, S., & Hofer, K. (2015). Prekindergarten age-cutoff regression-discontinuity design: Methodological issues and implications for application. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 37, 296-313.
*Note: the first two authors contributed equally to this article and are listed alphabetically.
Susana Mendive, Christina Weiland, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, and Catherine Snow
Mendive, S., Weiland, C., Yoshikawa, H., & Snow, C. (2015). Opening the black box: Intervention fidelity in a randomized trial of a preschool teacher professional development program in Chile. Journal of Educational Psychology. 108, 130-145.
Christina Weiland and Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Weiland, C. & Yoshikawa, H. (2014). Does peer socio-economic status predict children’s gains in receptive vocabulary and executive function in prekindergarten? Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35(5), 422-432.
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Diana Leyva, Catherine Snow, Ernesto Treviño, Andrea Rolla, M. Clara Barata, Christina Weiland, and Mary Catherine Arbour
Yoshikawa, H., Leyva, D., Snow, C.E., Treviño, E., Rolla, A., Barata, M.C., Weiland, C., & Arbour, M.C. (2015). Impacts on classroom quality of an initiative to improve the quality of preschool education in Chile: A cluster-randomized trial. Developmental Psychology, 51, 309-322.
Christina Weiland, M. Clara Barata, and Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Weiland, C., Barata, M.C., & Yoshikawa, H. (2014). The co-occurring development of executive function skills and receptive vocabulary in children enrolled in an urban preschool program. Infant and Child Development, 23, 4-21.
Christina Weiland, Kchersti Ulvestad, Jason Sachs, and Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Weiland, C., Ulvestad, K., Sachs, J. & Yoshikawa, H. (2013). Associations between classroom quality and children’s vocabulary and executive function skills in an urban public prekindergarten program. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28, 199-209.
Christina Weiland and Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Weiland, C. & Yoshikawa, H. (2013). The impacts of an urban public prekindergarten program on children’s mathematics, language, literacy, executive function, and emotional skills. Child Development, 84, 2112-2130.
Christina Weiland, Christopher Wolfe, Michael Hurwitz, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Douglas Clements, and Julie Sarama
Weiland, C., Wolfe, C., Hurwitz, M., Yoshikawa, H., Clements, D., & Sarama, J. (2012). Early mathematics assessment: Validation of the short form of a prekindergarten and kindergarten mathematics measure. Educational Psychology, 32, 311-333.
Christina Weiland and Hirokazu Yoshikawa
Weiland, C. & Yoshikawa, H. (2012). The effects of large-scale economic change and policies on children’s developmental contexts and developmental outcomes. Child Development Perspectives, 6, 342-350.