Rhona S. Weinstein
Professor of the Graduate School
Education: 
Ph.D., Yale University
Research Area: 
Clinical Science
Research Interests: 
Community psychology (children, schools, and community settings): Classroom/school processes and positive development; expectations about ability and self-fulfilling prophecies; educational equity and school reform.
  • whatshotResearch Description

    Recipient of the Berkeley Citation for Distinguished Achievement and Service (2007)

    Recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence (2006)

    Recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award (1996)

    Professor Weinstein earned her B.A. (first class honors) and M.A. in psychology at McGill University and her Ph.D. in clinical/community psychology at Yale University.  She joined the psychology faculty at UC Berkeley in 1973, served as visiting faculty at the University of London and University of Auckland, and in 2007, became Professor Emerita and Professor of the Graduate School.  Weinstein served two terms as Director of the Clinical Science Program and Psychology Clinic, and in 2003, became faculty co-director for research and development in UC Berkeley's efforts, in collaboration with Aspire Public Schools, to create an early college secondary school for "first in the family to go to college" youth. The California College Preparatory Academy opened its doors in August 2005.  She has taught courses and practica in community psychology (American Cultures perspective), social and community interventions, self-fulfilling prophecies, school reform, and ethics – all linking research with participatory action. 

    Weinstein's research focuses on the multi-layered dynamics of expectations and self-fulfilling prophecies, as these impact the educational opportunities and development of minority and poor children, and on school reform for educational equity. With the development of the teacher treatment inventory (TTI), her research shifted focus to the perceptions of children in the classroom, as mediators and moderators of the strength of teacher expectancy effects, and to the contextual features of classrooms, schools, and educational trajectories that promote positive or negative prophecies. Her recent co-edited book Achieving College Dreams (Oxford University Press, 2016) describes a collaborative effort to raise academic expectations and promote educational equity in new school development.  Her earlier book, Reaching Higher: The Power of Expectations in Schooling (Harvard University Press, 2002), received the Division K Book Award from the American Educational Research Association and the Virginia and Warren Stone Prize from Harvard University Press. A fellow of APA, APS, and AERA, Weinstein has received awards for teaching, diversity, school reform, and science, including Distinguished Contributions to Theory and Research in Community Psychology and the Seymour B. Sarason Award from Division 27 of the American Psychological Association.

  • placeSelected Publications
    Books

    Weinstein, R.S., & Worrell, F. (Eds.) (2016).  Achieving College Dreams: How a University-Charter District Partnership Created an Early College High School.  New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Weinstein, R. S. (2002). Reaching Higher: The Power of Expectations in Schooling. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Papers

    Weinstein, R. S. (2018). Pygmalion at 50: Harnessing its power and application in schooling (Special Issue). Educational Research and Evaluation, 24, 3-5, 346-365.

    Hunter Quartz, K., Weinstein, R. S., Kaufman, G., Levine, H., Mehan, H., Pollock, J.Z., & Worrell, F. (2017). University-partnered new school designs: Fertile ground for research-practice partnerships. Educational Researcher, 46, 143-146.

    Weinstein, R. S. (2016). Children’s awareness of differential treatment: Toward a contextual understanding of teacher expectancy effects.  In S. Trusz and P. Babel (Eds.) Intrapersonal and interpersonal expectancies: Research, Applications, and Future Directions. Hove: UK: Psychology Press.

    Rubie-Davies, C., Weinstein, R.S., Huang, F., Gregory, A., Cowan, P.A., & Carolyn, C.P. (2014).  Successive teacher expectation effects across the early school years. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35,181-191.

    Bohlmann, N. & Weinstein, R. S. (2013). Classroom context, teacher expectations and cognitive development: Predicting young children’s self-judgments of mathematics ability. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 34, 288-298.

    Weinstein, R.S. (2012). Nurturing human potential in the context of schooling: The legacy of Seymour B. Sarason. Journal of Community Psychology, 40, 203-205.

    McKown, C., Gregory, A., & Weinstein, R.S. (2010). Expectations, stereotypes, and self-fulfilling prophecies in classroom and school life. J. Meece & J. Eccles (Eds.) Handbook of  research on schools, schooling, and human development. Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Strambler, M. J., & Weinstein, R.S. (2010). Psychological disengagement in elementary school among ethnic minority students. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology,31,155-165.

    Weinstein, R. S. (2008). Schools that actualize high expectations for all youth: Theory for setting change and setting creation. In B. Shinn & H. Yoshikawa (Eds.) Toward positive youth development: Transforming schools and community programs. Oxford University Press.

    Gregory, A. & Weinstein, R. S. (2008). The discipline gap and African Americans: Defiance or cooperation in the high school classroom. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 455-475.

    McKown, C. & Weinstein, R.S. (2008). Teacher expectations, classroom context, and the achievement gap. Journal of School Psychology, 46, 235-261.

    Weinstein, R. S. (2006). Reaching higher in community psychology: Social problems, social settings, and social change. American Journal of Community Psychology, 37, 9-20.

    Cappella, E., & Weinstein, R.S. (2006). The prevention of social aggression in girls. Social Development, 15, 434-462.

    Weinstein, R. S. (2004). Reflections on becoming a community psychologist. In J. Kelly & A. Song (Eds.). "Six community psychologists tell their stories: History, contexts, and narrative." Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community, 28, 125-147.

    Weinstein, R.S., Gregory, A., & Strambler, M. (2004) Intractable self-fulfilling prophecies: Fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education. American Psychologist, 59, 511-520.

    McKown, C., & Weinstein, R. S. (2003). The development and consequences of stereotype-consciousness in middle childhood. Child Development, 74, 498-515.

    Donohue, K. M., Perry, K. E., & Weinstein, R. S. (2003). Classroom instructional practices and children's rejection by their peers. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 24, 91-118.

    Weinstein, R. S. (2002). Overcoming inequality in schooling: A call to action for community psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30, 21-42.

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