Dana Miller-Cotto, PhD
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  • Research
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  • Training
  • Presentations

Dana Miller-Cotto, Ph.D.

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I am an educational psychologist who aims to understand the cognitive and affective mechanisms that underlie mathematics learning and instruction. My research interests span cognitive development, math education, and learning science using longitudinal, experimental, and meta-analytic techniques. I am particularly interested in identifying opportunities that promote learning in math and the cognitive processes that facilitate learning. Specifically:
  1. How do students' early home and school experiences promote/inhibit improvement in math and executive functions (the ability to regulate and control actions and cognitions)? 
    1. How do these experiences differ based on race/ethnicity and family income?
  2. How and why are executive functions related to math ability? ​​
    1. ​In what ways can we design interventions with the development of math knowledge and executive functions in mind?
I am a currently Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Delaware in the School of Education and Human Development collaborating with Dr. Nancy Jordan on a project aiming to understand individual differences in how students learn fractions. Before joining the University of Delaware, I was a Research Scientist for the EF+Math Program fiscally sponsored by NewSchools Venture Fund with a partial appointment at the Neuroscape Research Center. 

Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC) and the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Pittsburgh collaborating with Dr. Chris Schunn. In this role I collaborated on a large scale course re-design of Micro and Macro Economics, two courses that rely heavily on mathematical knowledge, by designing an intervention aimed at reducing performance gaps between Black and Latinx and their White and Asian peers while improving performance for all students enrolled.

​I 
earned my Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Temple University under the advisement of Dr. James Byrnes. I contributed to developing the Opportunity-Propensity Model which seeks to explain academic achievement when considering students' classroom opportunities and the assets they bring to their learning environments (e.g. prior knowledge, working memory, identities).  This model informs how I design classroom interventions that promote mathematics knowledge and executive functioning skills when considering children's backgrounds and experiences. 
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CV Here


"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops".


Upcoming Presentations

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"Applying the Integrative Theory to mathematics and executive function: Predicting school readiness for Asian-American, Black, and Latino children"

University of Maryland
Developmental Science Colloquium Series
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology
[Virtual Talk]
September 23rd, 2020
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​"Understanding Executive Function and Mathematics Development for Ethnic Minority Children through Family Practices"

Kent State University
Cognitive Brown Bag Series
[Virtual Talk]
October 19th, 2020
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