Rachel E. Schachter

Rachel E. Schachter is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), part of the College of Education. Her research focuses on teachers’ experiences, instructional supports, and early childhood literacy practices to improve learning outcomes for children. She has secured over $9 million in external grants as Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-Investigator (Co-I), with publications in journals like Early Childhood Research Quarterly and Reading Research Quarterly.

Dr. Schachter holds an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan School of Education. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The Ohio State University as an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Fellow. Her research emphasizes coaching effectiveness, teacher motivation, and the intersection of policy and practice in early childhood education.

Her work investigates how educators use curricula, assessments, and coaching to enhance literacy instruction, particularly in early childhood settings. Key themes include classroom practices linked to language gains, the role of teacher beliefs in pedagogy, and leveraging data for instructional decision-making. She collaborates on large-scale studies examining professional development impacts and state-mandated assessments.

Recent studies explore relational trust in group coaching, the empirical foundation of early childhood coaching, and the connection between early language gains and later academic success. Her research bridges theory and practice, aiming to inform policies that strengthen early childhood education systems and support educators.