Duan Zhang

Associate Professor

Faculty
Morgridge College of Education

Katherine A. Ruffatto Hall, 1999 East Evans Avenue Denver, CO 80208-1700

What I do

I am an associate professor in the Research Methods and Statistics Program of the Department of Research Methods and Information Science at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver.

Professional Biography

After getting my PhD in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University, I came to join DU as a faculty member in the Research Methods and Statistics Program at the Morgridge College of Education at the University of Denver.

I teach courses in intermediate & advanced statistics, survey design, and research methods.

With my past experiences in both applied statistics and child development, I have been actively involved in research studies funded at different levels in early development and children’s psychological well-beings. I am also a big fan of adopting instructional technology in statistics education.

Degree(s)

Ph.D., Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, 2005
MS, Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, 2002
BS, International Economics, University of International Business and Economics, China, 2000

Professional Affiliations

American Educational Research Association
American Psychological Association
Psychometric Society

Research

My research interests are focused on two areas: first, methodological area in multilevel modeling using Structural Equation Modeling and Hierarchical Linear Modeling and its application in social science context; my substantive area is in parenting practice and school readiness in early childhood. In particular I study how parenting practice and home environment can contribute to positive academic and social emotional development at school for marginalized student populations.

Currently I am working on a project in which we use large-scale national data to model the longitudinal growth of math achievement between K through 8th grade, and explore family and parenting factors that may moderate the growth.

Areas of Research

quantitative methodology

survey design

statistical modeling

structural equation modeling

hierarchical linear modeling

latent growth curve modeling

statistical power analysis

missing data analysis

early childhood education

parenting practice and academic achievement for marginalized student populations

psychological adjustment of low social class college students

Key Projects

ELO in Colorado

Featured Publications

Franko, M., & Zhang, D. (2021). Aligning preschool and kindergarten classroom learning experiences: Effects on children’s school readiness. In S. T. Vorkapic & J. LoCasale-Crouch (Eds.), Supporting children’s well-being during early childhood transition to school (pp. 60–84). Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-4435-8

Presentations

Zhang, D. (2018). Assessing Parent Involvement: A Content Analysis of Current Measures. American Psychological Association Convention 2018. San Franscico: American Psychological Association.

Pearcy, K.- ann L., & Zhang, D. (2018). Effects of Executive Functioning on Math Achievement: A LGCM Analysis From Kindergarten to 2nd Grade. American Psychological Association Convention 2018. San Francisco: American Psychological Association Convention.

Zhang, D. (2018). Teh Effects of Home Activities on Math Achievement in Elementary School. AERA 2018. New York City: American Educational Research Association.

Burke, I. H., & Zhang, D. (2018). Embracing Uncertainty: Defining a Structural Model of Public Library Use and Services Using Large-Scale Public Use Data. Empirical Librarians 2018. University of Tennesseee at Knoxville: American Librarians Association.

Burke, I. H., & Zhang, D. (2015). Statistical Categorization Methods as Applied to Geographic Data Sets. International Meeting of Psychometric Society. Beijing, China.