Skip to main content

James S. Kim

James Kim

Faculty Info

Professor of Education

Degrees

Ed.D., Harvard University, (2002)

Vitae/CV

james-kim-78017.pdf

Areas of Expertise

James Kim

Email

james_kim@gse.harvard.edu

Personal Site

http://scholar.harvard.edu/jameskim

Office

Larsen 505

Faculty Coordinator

Cruz Brito

James Kim is an expert on literacy intervention and experimental design. His professional mission is to conduct a systematic program of policy relevant research in literacy that focuses on improving outcomes for low-income students and struggling readers. He leads the READS Lab (Research Enhances Adaptations Designed for Scale in Literacy), a research-based collaborative initiative to identify and scale adaptive solutions for improving children’s literacy learning opportunities and outcomes. As part of the Reach Every Reader (RER) Initiative, the READS Lab is partnering with practitioners in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) and researchers at the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative (MITili) and Florida State University to improve Kindergarten to Grade 3 reading outcomes. His current research priority is to understand how building children’s domain knowledge and reading engagement can foster long-term improvements in reading comprehension. He serves on the editorial boards of Reading Research Quarterly, the Journal of Educational Psychology, and the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. Prior to graduate school, he was a middle school U.S. history teacher.

Click here to see a full list of James Kim's courses.

  • Asher, C. A., Scherer, E., & Kim. J. S. (2022). Using a factorial design to maximize the effectiveness of a parental text messaging intervention. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 15(3), 532-557. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2021.2009073
  • Kim, J. S., Burkhauser, M. A., Relyea, J. E., Gilbert, J. B., Scherer, E., Fitzgerald, J., Mosher, D. & McIntyre, J. (2022). Longitudinal Randomized Trial of a Sustained Content Literacy Intervention from First to Second Grade: Transfer Effects on Students’ Reading Comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology. Advanced Online https://doi:10.1037/edu0000751
  • Kim, J. S., & Burkhauser, M. A. (2022). Teaching for Transfer Can Help Young Children Read for Understanding. Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 103, No. 8, 20-24. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00317217221100006
  • Kim, J. S., & Wei, Z. (2022). Tier 1 Instructional Strategies to Improve K-4 Reading Comprehension. EdResearch for Recovery, Annenberg Brown University. https://annenberg.brown.edu/sites/default/files/EdResearch_for_Recovery_Brief_25.pdf
  • Kim, J. S., Gilbert, J., Yu, Q., & Gale, C. (2021). Measures Matter: A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Educational Apps on Preschool to Grade 3 Children’s Literacy and Math Skills. AERA Open, 7(1): 1-19. https://doi:10.1177/23328584211004183
  • Kim, J. S., Relyea, J. E., Burkhauser, M. A., & Scherer, E., & Rich, P. (2021). Improving Elementary Grade Students’ Science and Social Studies Vocabulary Knowledge Depth, Reading Comprehension, and Argumentative Writing: A Conceptual Replication. Educational Psychology Review, 33: 1935-1964. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-021-09609-6
  • Kim, J. S., Burkhauser, M. A., *Mesite, L., *Ascher, C., *Relyea, J. E., Fitzgerald, J., & Elmore, J. (2021). Improving Reading Comprehension, Science Domain Knowledge, and Reading Engagement through a First-Grade Content Literacy Intervention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 113(1), 3-26. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000465
  • Hale, E., & Kim, J. S. (2020). An Examination of Low-Level Questions in Informational Read Alouds. Elementary School Journal, 120(4), June 2020.
  • Hemphill, L., Kim, J. S., & Troyer, M. T. (2019). Improving Struggling Readers’ Literacy Skills Through Talk about Text. In Grover, T., Uccelli, P., Rowe, M., & Lieven, E. (Eds.), Learning Through Language: Towards an Educationally Informed Theory of Language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/97813167183537.
  • Kim, J. S. Making Every Study Count: Learning from Replication Failure to Improve Intervention Research. Educational Researcher.
  • Kim, J. S., Asher, C. A., Burkhauser, M., Mesite, L., & Leyva, D. (2019). Using a Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART) to Develop an Adaptive K-2 Literacy Intervention with Personalized Print Texts and App-Based Digital Activities. AERA Open, 5(3): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419872701
  • Jones, S. M., LaRusso, M., Kim, J. S., Kim, H. Y., Selman, R., Uccelli, P., Barnes, S. P., Donovan, S., & Snow, C. (2019). Experimental Effects of Word Generation on Vocabulary, Academic Language, Perspective Taking, and Reading Comprehension in High-Poverty Schools. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness. DOI: 10.1080/19345747.2019.1615155
  • Wantchekon, K., & Kim, J. S. (2019). Exploring the Relationship Between Reading Engagement and Reading Comprehension by Achievement Level. Reading & Writing Quarterly. DOI:10.1080/10573569.2019.1594474
  • Qin, W., Kingston, H C., & Kim, J. S. (2019). "What Does Retelling 'Tell' about Children's Reading Proficiency?" First Language, 39(2): 177-199. https://doi.org/10.1177/0142723718810605
  • Troyer, M., Kim, J. S., Hale, E., Wantchekon, K., & Armstrong, C. (2019). Relations Among Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation, Reading Amount, and Comprehension: A Conceptual Replication. Reading and Writing, An Interdisciplinary Journal, 32: 1197-1218. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-018-9907-9
  • Quinn, D. M., & Kim, J. S. (2018). Experimental Effects of Program Management Approach on Teachers’ Professional Ties and Social Capital. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 40(2): 196-218. DOI: 10.3102/0162373717742198
  • Kim, J. S., Armstrong, C., & Kelley-Kemple, T. (2017). Practices Matter: Elementary Teachers’ Literacy Survey and Student Outcomes Study. Cambridge, MA: READS Lab.
  • Quinn, D. M., & Kim, J. S. (2017). Scaffolding Fidelity and Flexibility in Educational Program Implementation: Experimental Evidence from a Literacy Intervention. American Educational Research Journal, 54(6): 1187-1120. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831217717692
  • Capotosto, L., Kim, J. S., Burkhauser, M. A., Park, S. O., Mulimbi, B., Donaldson, M., & Kingston, H. C. (2017). “Family support of third-grade reading skills, motivation, and habits.” AERA Open, 3(3): 1-16. DOI: 10.1002/rrq.178
  • Kim, J. S., Hemphill, L., Troyer, M. T., Thomson, J. M., Jones, S. J., LaRusso, M. & Donovan, S.(2017). “Engaging Struggling Adolescent Readers to Improve Reading Skills.” Reading Research Quarterly, 52(3): 357-380. DOI: 10.1002/rrq.171
  • Lynch, K. & Kim, J. S. (2017). “Effects of a Summer Mathematics Intervention for Low-Income Children.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39(1): 31-53. DOI:10.3102/0162373716662339
  • Kim, J. S., Burkhauser, M. B., Quinn, D. M., Guryan, J., Kingston, H. C., & Aleman, K. (2017). “Effectiveness of Structured Teacher Adaptations to an Evidence-Based Summer Literacy Program.” Reading Research Quarterly, 52(4): 443-468.
  • Cooc, N., & Kim, J. S. (2017). “Peer Influence on Children’s Reading Skills: Social Network Analysis of Elementary School Classrooms.” Journal of Educational Psychology 109(5): 727-740.
  • Ackman, E., White, T., & Kim, J. S. (2016). “Facilitating Policymakers’ Use of the Evidence on Summer Loss and Summer Programs.” In Alexander, K., Pitcock, S. & Boulay, M. (Eds.), Summer Learning and Summer Learning Loss: Theory, Research, and Practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
  • Graham, S., Bruch, J., Fitzgerald, J., Friedrich, L., Furgeson, J., Greene, K., Kim, J., Lyskawa, J., Olson, C.B., & Smither Wulsin, C. (2016). Teaching secondary students to write effectively (NCEE 2017-4002). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from the NCEE website: http://whatworks.ed.gov
  • Kim, J. S., Hemphill, L., Troyer, M. T., Thomson, J. M., Jones, S. J., LaRusso, M. & Donovan, S. (2016). Engaging Struggling Adolescent Readers to Improve Reading Skills.Reading Research Quarterly, 1-26. DOI: 10.1002/rrq.171
  • Guryan, J., Kim, J. S., Park, K. S. (2016). “Motivation and Incentives in Education: Evidence from a Summer Reading Experiment.” Economics of Education Review 55: 1-20.
  • Capotosto, L. & Kim, J. S. (2016). “Literacy Discussions in Low-Income Families: The Effect of Parent Questions on Fourth Graders’ Retellings.” First Language 36(1): 50-70.
  • Lynch, K. & Kim, J. S. (2016). Effects of a Summer Mathematics Intervention for Low-Income Children.Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, XX (X), 1–23. DOI: 10.3102/0162373716662339
  • Kim, J. S., Guryan, J., White, T. G., Quinn, D. M., Capotosto, L., & Kingston, H. C. (2016). Delayed Effects of a Low-Cost and Large-Scale Summer Reading Intervention on Elementary School Children’s Reading Comprehension. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 9(S1), 1-22. DOI: 10.1080/19345747.2016.1164780”
  • White, T. G., Kim, J. S., Kingston, H. C., & Foster, L. F. (2014). Replicating the Effects of a Teacher-Scaffolded Voluntary Summer Reading Program: The Role of Poverty.Reading Research Quarterly, 49(1), 5-30. DOI: 10.1002/rrq.62
  • Kim, J. S. & Quinn, D. M. (2013). The Effects of Summer Reading on Low-income Children’s Literacy Achievement from Kindergarten to Grade 8: A Meta-analysis of Classroom and Home Interventions.Review of Educational Research, 83(3), 386-431.
  • Olson, C.B., Kim, J. S., Scarcella, R., Kramer, J. S., Pearson, M., van Dyk, D., Collins, P., & Land, R. (2012). Enhancing the Interpretive Reading and Analytical Writing of Mainstreamed English Learners in Secondary School: Results From a Randomized Field Trial Using a Cognitive Strategies Approach. American Educational Research Journal, 49(2), 323-355.
  • White, T. G., & Kim, J. S. (2011). “Solving the Problem of Summer Reading Loss.” Phi Delta Kappa 92(7): 64-67.
  • Kim, J. S, Olson, C.B., Scarcella, R., Kramer, J. S., Pearson, M., van Dyk, D., Collins, P., & Land, R. (2011). A Randomized Experiment of a Cognitive Strategies Approach to Text-Based Analytical Writing for Mainstreamed Latino English Language Learners in Grades 6-12. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness 4(3), 231-263.
  • Kim, J. S., Capotosto, L. C., Hartry, A., & Fitzgerald, R. (2011). Can a Mixed-Method Literacy Intervention Improve the Reading Achievement of Low-Performing Elementary School Students in an After-school Program? Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial of READ 180 Enterprise. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 33(2), 183-201.
  • White, T. G., & Kim, J. S. (2010). “Can Silent Reading in the Summer Reduce Socioeconomic Differences in Reading Achievement?” In Hiebert, E. H., & Reutzel, D. R. (Eds.), Revisiting Silent Reading: New Directions for Teachers and Researchers (pp. 67-94). Newark, DE: International Reading Association
  • Gersten, R., Dimino, J., Jayanthi, M., Kim, J. S., & Santoro, L. E. (2010). Teacher Study Group: Impact of the Professional Development Model on Reading Instruction and Student Outcomes in First Grade Classrooms. American Educational Research Journal, 47(3), 694-739.
  • Kim, J. S., & Guryan, J. (2010). The Efficacy of a Voluntary Summer Book Reading Intervention for Low-Income Latino Children from Language Minority Families.Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, (3), 505-515.
  • Kim, J. S., Samson, J. F., Fitzgerald, R., & Hartry, A. (2010). A Randomized Experiment of a Mixed-Methods Literacy Intervention for Struggling Readers in Grades 4-6: Effects on Word Reading Efficiency, Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary, and Oral Reading Fluency. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 23 (1), 1109-1129.
  • White, C. E. & Kim, J. S. (2009). “Putting the Pieces of the Puzzle Together: How Systematic Vocabulary Instruction and Expanded Learning Time Can Address the Literacy Gap.” Center for American Progress: Washington, DC. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/05/elt_language_development.html
  • Kim, J. S. (2008). “Research and the Reading Wars.” In. Hess, F. M. (Ed.), When Research Matters:How Scholarship Influences Education Policy (pp. 89-111). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
  • Kim, J. S. (2008). “Research and the Reading Wars.” Phi Delta Kappan 89(5): 372-375.
  • Kim, J. S. (2008). “How to Make Summer Reading Effective.” Johns Hopkins University, National Center for Summer Learning. http://www.summerlearning.org/media/researchandpublications/ResearchBrief03FINAL9.10.08K im.pdf
  • White, T. G., & Kim, J. S. (2008). Teacher and Parent Scaffolding of Voluntary Summer Reading. Reading Teacher, 62(2), 116-125.
  • Kim, J. S. (2008). Research and the Reading Wars. In. Hess, F. M. (Ed.), When Research Matters: How Scholarship Influences Education Policy (89-112). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
  • Kim, J. S. (2008). Research and the Reading Wars.Phi Delta Kappan, 89 (5), 372-375.
  • Kim, J. S. & White, T. G. (2008). Scaffolding Voluntary Summary Reading for Children in Grades 3 to 5: An Experimental Study. Scientific Studies of Reading, 12 (1), 1-23.
  • Kim, J. S. (2007). “The Relative Influence of Research on Class Size Policy.” In Loveless, T. & Hess, F. M. (Eds.), Brookings Papers on Education Policy 2006/2007 (pp. 273-295) Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
  • Kim, J. S. (2007). The Relative Influence of Research on Class Size Policy. Brookings Papers on Education Policy (9), 273-295.
  • Kim, J. S. (2007). The Effects of a Voluntary Summer Reading Intervention on Reading Activities and Reading Achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(3), 505-515.
  • Sunderman, G., & Kim, J. S. (2007). The Expansion of Federal Power and the Politics of Implementing the No Child Left Behind Act. Teachers College Press, 109(5), 1057-1085.
  • Sunderman, G. L., Orfield, G., & Kim, J. S. (2006). “The Principals Denied by NCLB are Central to Visionary School Reform. “ The Education Digest 72(2): 19-24.
  • Sunderman, G., L., & Kim, J. S. (2006). “Implementing Supplemental Educational Services: Implications for School Districts and Educational Opportunity.” In Wong, K. K., & Rutledge, S. A. (Eds.), System- wide Efforts to Improve Student Achievement. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
  • Kim, J. S. (2006). “The Effects of a Voluntary Summer Reading Intervention on Reading Achievement: Results from a Randomized Field Trial.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 28(4), 335-355.
  • Sunderman, G. L., Orfield, G., & Kim, J. S. (2006). The Principals Denied by NCLB are Central to Visionary School Reform. The Education Digest, 72,(2), 19-24.
  • Sunderman, G., L., & Kim, J. S. (2006). Implementing Supplemental Educational Services: Implications for School Districts and Educational Opportunity. Wong, K. K., & Rutledge, S. A. (Eds.), System-wide Efforts to Improve Student Achievement (63-92). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
  • Sunderman, G., Kim, J. S., & Orfield, G. (2005). NCLB Meets School Realities, Lessons from the Field. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage/Corwin Press.
  • Sunderman, G., Kim, J. S., & Orfield, G. (2005). NCLB Meets School Realities, Lessons from the Field. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage/Corwin Press.
  • Kim, J. S., & Sunderman, G. (2005). Measuring Academic Proficiency Under the No Child Left Behind Act: Implications for Educational Equity. Educational Researcher, 34(8), 3-12.
  • Kim, J. S. (2004). Summer Reading and the Ethnic Achievement Gap.Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 9(2), 169-188.
  • Brennan, R. T., Kim, J. S., Wenz-Gross, M., & Siperstein, G. N. (2001). The Relative Equitability of High-Stakes Testing versus Teacher-Assigned Grades: An Analysis of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS).Harvard Educational Review, 71(2), 173-216.
  • Kim, J. S. (1993). Addressing Curriculum Deficiencies on Martin Luther King Jr. Through Computer-Assisted Instruction and Multimedia Resources” (ERIC Access Number: ED362442).

  • Improving Early Literacy at Scale through Personalized Diagnosis and Intervention (2018-2022)
    Chan- Zuckerberg Foundation

    “Personalized learning” is an emerging movement in education, generating both optimism and skepticism in the field. We are optimistic because of the enormous possibilities implicit in helping every learner reach his or her full potential by leveraging advances in technology, but we also recognize challenges to large-scale change due to the thin evidence base and constraining policy and practice environments. We share with many in education a deep commitment to the principles of equity and excellence motivating much of the move to personalized learning. Building on a joint planning process begun in January 2017, the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and MIT are pleased to submit this proposal for a $30 million joint initiative to improve early literacy through personalized diagnosis and intervention. Because we believe that personalized learning will take root and expand only if it can make demonstrable progress in addressing pressing education challenges, we will focus on applying principles of personalization toward the goal that all children achieve mastery of foundational literacy skills by the end of third grade.

  • Efficacy of the Core Knowledge Language Arts Listening and Learning Read Aloud Program in Kindergarten through Second Grade Classrooms (2016-2021)
    IES

    Dr. Kim will be directing the evaluation of the core knowledge program and helping postdocs and research assistants run the impact analyses. Specifically, he will work with the PI and core project staff to develop an analysis plan, direct the evaluation of the efficacy of the Core Knowledge Language Arts Listening and Learning Read Aloud Program, articulate the fully specified multi-level models used to estimate treatment impacts on child-level vocabulary, listening comprehension and domain knowledge outcomes, and guide the secondary analyses that examine whether the quality of read alouds mediate treatment effects on child outcomes and the baseline, child-level moderators of treatment effects. A research assistant will be supervised by Dr. Kim and will be responsible for organizing a student-level data set that will be used for the impact analyses, cleaning the data set at each wave of data collection, monitoring and reporting attrition across waves, and conducting descriptive analyses to check for baseline equivalence, attrition across waves, and posttest differences on the child-level outcomes. Dr. Kim will train the RA to follow the principles outlined in Scott Long’s “The Workflow of Data Analysis Using Stata” to ensure that data files are organized to produce replicable results.

Contact Information

Featured Articles

All articles