Laura L. Brock

Assistant Professor

Laura Brock is an Assistant Profesor in the Teacher Education Department at the College of Charleston. She entered the profession as a special educator working with adjudicated adolescents in a residential treatment facility. After relocating to Charleston, she became interim Head of Special Education at Burke High School downtown. Dr. Brock observed a strong relation between cognitive and emotional functioning in her students and returned to graduate school to gain a deeper appreciation for the ways in which early intervention can ameliorate developmental trajectories. As a Research Fellow for the Institute of Education Sciences, she was trained to conduct longitudinal examinations of the ways in which we can intervene with at-risk youth to close the achievement gap and buffer children from associated long-term risk factors. Dr. Brock is excited to be back in Charleston working in the communities that inspired her to return to graduate school. When she is not sharing what she has learned about child development in the classroom, she is at home learning even more from her own two children, Benjamin and Maggie.

---

Education

2004-2008  University of Virginia. Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Applied Developmental Science (formerly Risk and Prevention in Education Sciences).

1999-2001 University of New Hampshire. Certification in Special Education. Emphasis in emotional and behavioral disorders.

1993-1997 University of Georgia, B.A. History; minor in French.

1992-1993 Lycée Sainte Marie aux Mines, Alsace, France. Baccalaureate studies in literature and philosophy.

---

Research Interests

Three main research interests have in common a desire to understand children's development in context or a child x environment model. Moreover the interplay between cognitive/academic and social/emotional development is examined:

• The relation between teacher's emotional consistency and children's classroom performance
• The relation between early fine-motor, visuo-spatial, and executive function skills and children's adjustment to the early years of school
• The impact of socio-emotional intervention on long-term development for children at sociodemographic risk for school failure

 

---

Courses Taught

EDEE 407: Creating Learning Environments

EDFS 427: Mathematics and Reasoning for Students with Disabilities

EDEE 690: Creating Effective Learning Communities

EDFS 440: Clinical Practice in Special Education

EDFS 654: Human Growth and Development

---

Honors and Awards

FELLOWSHIPS

2004-2008 Institute of Education Sciences Predoctoral Interdisciplinary Research Training Fellow: Risk and Prevention in the Education Sciences.

GRANTS

Mashburn, A., Grissmer, D. W., Cottone, E. A., Deutsch, N., Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., Blodgett, J., Brock, L. L., & Laird, B. (2011-2015). Efficacy of the WINGS Afterschool Social and Emotional Learning Program. Institute of Education Sciences. University of Virginia. L.L. Brock: Principal Investigator for College of Charleston Sub-Award.

Grissmer, D. W., & Mashburn, A. (2009-2012). The Impact of Fine Motor Skill Training on Math Achievement for At-Risk Youth. National Institutes of Child Health and Development. University of Virginia. L.L. Brock: Principal Investigator for College of Charleston Sub-Award. 

Grissmer, D. W., Grimm, K., & Konold, T. (2009-2011). Developing Intervention Strategies to Close Kindergarten Readiness Gaps for Minority and Disadvantaged Children. National Science Foundation. University of Virginia. L.L. Brock: substantive consultant in developmental psychology.

 

---

Publications

EMPIRICAL PUBLICATIONS

Ponitz, C. C., Brock, L. L., Murrah, W. M., Bell, L. H., Warzalla, S. L., Morrison, F. J., & Grissmer, D. W. (in press). Contributions of motor skills and executive function to kindergarten achievement. Child Development.

Brock, L. L., Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., Nathanson, L., & Grimm, K. J. (2009). The Contribution of 'Hot' and 'Cool' Executive Function to Children's Academic Achievement and Classroom Behavior. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 24, 337-349.

Nathanson, L., Rimm-Kaufman, S.E., & Brock, L.L. (2009). Kindergarten adjustment difficulty: The Contribution of children's effortful control and parental control. Early Education and Development, 20, 775-798.

Ponitz, C. C., Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., Brock, L. L., & Nathanson, L. (2009). Contributions of gender, early school adjustment, and classroom organizational climate to first grade outcomes. Elementary School Journal, 110, 142-162.

Rimm-Kaufman, S.E., Curby, T.W., Grimm, K., Nathanson, L., & Brock, L.L. (2009).  The contribution of children's self-regulation and classroom quality to children's adaptive behaviors in the kindergarten classroom. Developmental Psychology, 45, 958-972.

Brock, L. L., Nishida, T. K., Chiong, C., Grimm, K.J., & Rimm-Kaufman, S. E. (2007). Children's perceptions of the classroom environment and social and academic performance: A longitudinal analysis of the contribution of the Responsive Classroom® Approach. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 129-149.

EMPIRICAL PUBLICATIONS (Pending)

Brock, L. L., Rimm-Kaufman, S.E., & Wanless, S. B. (2011). The combined contributions of delay inhibition, working memory, and activity setting to first grade performance. Manuscript under review.

Brock, L. L., & Curby, T. W. (2011). Pre-K Teachers’ Emotional Consistency and Relationships with Children: Relations to Concurrent and Later Competence and Problem Behaviors. Manuscript under review.

Curby, T. W., Brock, L. L., & Hamre, B. K. (2011). The role of consistency in preschool teacher-child interactions. Manuscript under review.

Ponitz, C. C., Brock, L. L., Murrah, W. M., Grissmer, D. W., & Morrison, F. J. (2011). Kindergarten entry predictors of achievement through 2^nd grade. Manuscript in preparation.

Brock, L. L., & Curby, T. W. (2011). Children’s Adaptability and Teacher’s Emotional Consistency: Achievement, Social Skills, and Emotional Reactivity in Third Grade. Manuscript in preparation.

Cameron, C. E. & Brock, L. L. (2011). Do Fine Motor Skills Moderate the Contribution of Executive Function to Preschool Achievement? Manuscript in preparation.

Brock, L. L., Locasale-Crouch, J., Curby, T. W., & Mevissen, B.* (2011). Predictors of Teacher’s Emotional Consistency. Manuscript in preparation.

Brock, L. L., Curby, T. W., & Maggio, S. * (2011). Children’s Executive Function and Teacher’s Emotional Consistency in the Early Years of School: Risk and Resilience. Manuscript in preparation.

*College of Charleston Student Contributions

INVITED MANUSCRIPTS

Brock, L. L., Brock, C. D., & Thiedke, C. (in press). The role of executive function in medical non-adherence: A different perspective. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine.

POPULAR-PRESS PUBLICATIONS

Brock, L. L. & Rimm-Kaufman, S. E. (2006). Children’s self-regulation and school readiness: the transition to kindergarten. Children and Families: The Magazine of the National Head Start Association, 20(1), 42-48.