Home / Contributors / Robert C. Pianta
Robert C. Pianta

Robert C. Pianta, Ph.D.

A former special education teacher, Dr. Pianta is a developmental, school, and clinical child psychologist whose work focuses on how children's experiences at home and in school affect their development. He is particularly interested in how relationships with teachers and parents, and experiences in classrooms, can help improve outcomes for at-risk children and youth. He consults regularly with federal agencies, foundations, and universities.

Positions

  • Director, Center for the Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning
  • Novartis US Foundation Professor of Education, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
  • Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

 

Education

  • Ph.D., 1986, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, Psychology
  • M.A., 1978, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, Special Education

 

Relevant Publications

  • Stuhlman, M., & Pianta, R. (2004). Teacher-child relationships and children's success in the first years of school. School Psychology Review, 33, 444-458.
  • Pianta, R. C., Hamre, B., & Stuhlman, M. (2003). Relationships between teachers and children. In W. Reynolds & G. Miller (Eds.), Comprehensive Handbook of Psychology: Vol. 7. Educational Psychology (pp. 199-234). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  • NICHD Early Child Care Research Network. (2004). Social functioning in first grade: Associations with earlier home and child care predictors and with current classroom experiences. Child Development, 74, 1639-1662.
  • Pianta, R., & Stuhlman, M. (2004). Conceptualizing risk in relational terms: Associations among the quality of child-adult relationships prior to school entry and children's developmental outcomes in first grade. Educational and Child Psychology, 21, 32-45.
  • Pianta, R. C. (1999). Enhancing relationships between children and teachers. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

 

Contributed Content