Leigh McLean

Associate Research Professor

Dr. Leigh McLean is an Associate Research Professor in the School of Education and Center for Research in Educational and Social Policy at the University of Delaware. In her program of research, she investigates how teachers’ emotions and emotion-related experiences including well-being impact their effectiveness. She is particularly interested in how teachers’ emotions impact their instructional practices, and the role that early-career teachers’ emotions play as they transition into the career. She holds expertise in quantitative, mixed-methods, and longitudinal study design and implementation, multileveled data analysis, and classroom observation. She is currently PI on two federally funded projects: one from the Institute of Education Science exploring how elementary teachers’ feelings and beliefs impact their effectiveness in the content areas they teach, and one from the National Science Foundation exploring how the mentored teaching experience impacts elementary mathematics teachers’ effectiveness during the early career stage.

Prior to joining the University of Delaware, Dr. McLean was a post-doctoral researcher and research faculty member in the School of Social and Family Dynamics and the Teachers College at Arizona State University. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Florida State University and Arizona State University, respectively.

Dr. McLean has been published in several outlets focusing on children’s development, educational processes, and teaching including Child Development, Contemporary Educational Psychology, and Teaching and Teacher Education and her work has been featured in news outlets including EdWeek and The Today Show.

Educational Background

• Ph. D., Developmental Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 2015.
• M.S., Developmental Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 2012.
• B.S., Human Development and Family Sciences/Early Childhood Development and Education, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, 2010.

Professional Experience 

• Associate Research Professor, Center for Research on Educational and Social Policy, School of Education, University of Delaware, 2023–present
• Assistant Research Professor, Center for Research on Educational and Social Policy, School of Education, University of Delaware, 2022–2023
• Assistant Research Professor, School of Social and Family Dynamics/Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Arizona State University, 2018–2022
• Post-Doctoral Research Associate, School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, 2015–2018
• Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, 2012–2015
• Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 2010–2012

Recent Grants

• McLean, L. (PI), Youngs, P., Jones, N., & Kelcey, B. Supplement: The Impacts of Preservice Supervised Field Experiences on Elementary Mathematics Teachers’ Retention and Effectiveness. National Science Foundation, Supplemental Funding for Postdoctoral Researchers to Mitigate COVID-19 Impacts on Research Career Progression, 2 years ($250,000).
• McLean, L. (PI), Youngs, P., Jones, N., & Kelcey, B. The Impacts of Preservice Supervised Field Experiences on Elementary Mathematics Teachers’ Retention and Effectiveness. National Science Foundation, EHR Core Research Program, Track 1/Level 2, 3 years, July 2021–June 2024 ($1,500,000).
•  McLean, L. (PI), Fabes, R.A., Ruzek, E., Grimm, K., Abry, T. & Jimenez, M. Exploring Elementary Teachers’ Feelings, Beliefs and Effectiveness across Mathematics, Science and Literacy. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, Education Research Grants/Effective Teachers and Effective Teaching, Goal 1, 4 years, July 2018–June 2024 (timeline extended due to COVID-19 pandemic) ($1,400,000).

Recent Professional Awards

• Research Institute for Implementation Science in Education (RIISE) Fellow, School Mental Health Assessment, Research & Training Center (SMART), University of Washington, 2022
• Nominee, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) Teaching Award, Arizona State University, 2020.