About

Jennifer L. Maeng is a Research Associate Professor at the UVA School of Education and Human Development. Her current scholarship addresses three interconnected domains: professional development that facilitates teachers’ implementation of research-based STEM instruction; understanding the experiences of underrepresented students in STEM; and the role of contextual factors of the educational setting, such as school climate and safety, in supporting effective teaching and learning. Maeng primarily employs mixed methods approaches that draw heavily on surveys, interviews, and observations as data sources. Her work is currently funded through the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Justice. In addition to her research, Maeng teaches an undergraduate elective course each spring titled 'debunking classroom myths,' where students explore misconceptions encountered in K-12 settings and everyday life, learning how to critically evaluate and debunk these misconceptions through instruction.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Pedagogy
• Psychology
• Mathematics education
• Political Science
• Public relations
• Medical education
• Medicine

Selected publications

• School team fidelity in behavioral threat assessment.

  Journal of Threat Assessment and Management · 2026-02-26 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Supporting K-5 computer science integration through high-quality teacher professional development

  Computers and Education Open · 2026-04-06

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  • Relatively few elementary teachers have sufficient confidence and pedagogical content knowledge to integrate computer science into their classrooms. • A state-wide computer science integration professional development opportunity was offered through a randomized controlled trial to K-5 teachers to investigate its effects on their capacity to teach computer science and their reported implementation of standards aligned, computer science-integrated lessons. • Targeted, sustained professional development was causally related to improvements in teachers’ confidence to teach CS, experience integrating CS standards into core content lessons, and ability to engage students during CS lessons. • Teachers randomized to the treatment condition taught statistically significantly more CS lessons than teachers randomized to the control group. Workforce development and education leaders have increasingly emphasized the need for high-quality computer science (CS) instruction for K-12 students. Though states have created and mandated the implementation of CS curriculum standards, few in-service teachers have been provided sufficient opportunities to develop CS pedagogical content knowledge and self-efficacy. This study evaluated the effect of a CS integration professional development (PD) program on K-5 teachers’ perceptions of their capacity to teach CS and their implementation of CS-integrated lessons using a randomized controlled trial design. Treatment included an intensive online summer institute with school year follow-up. Results indicate statistically significant effects of the PD on teachers’ confidence to teach CS, experience integrating CS into core content, and ability to engage students during CS lessons; treatment teachers also taught significantly more CS lessons than control teachers. Findings indicate that the program provides a scalable model for delivering PD designed to expand access to CS at the elementary level.

  PublisherDOI

• How do schools support students after a behavioral threat assessment?

  Journal of School Psychology · 2026-04-19

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Student attacks following a school threat assessment: Statewide trends in student and case characteristics.

  Journal of Threat Assessment and Management · 2025-04-17 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Equity in law enforcement actions following a school threat assessment.

  Law and Human Behavior · 2025-08-01 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  These results are consistent with prior studies in smaller samples of Virginia schools. This study contributes to the policy debate over the role of law enforcement officers in schools by showing that schools using threat assessment teams with officers did not generate high rates of law enforcement actions or inequitable outcomes often observed for disadvantaged student groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Referral Rates for School Threat Assessment

  Psychology in the Schools · 2025-01-27 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  ABSTRACT Although behavioral threat assessment and management (often shortened to “threat assessment”) has become widely used in US schools, no studies have systematically examined how frequently schools conduct threat assessments and how threat assessment rates vary as a function of student and school demographics. Of particular concern is that students with disabilities receive threat assessments at disproportionately high rates. This study examined the 1‐year frequency of threat assessments in a statewide sample of 611 elementary, 341 middle, and 269 high schools reporting 15,301 threat assessments, of which 41% concerned students with disabilities. We identified threat assessment rate differences associated with student grade, gender, race/ethnicity, and disability status. We further examined the association between threat assessment rates and school‐level demographic characteristics including racial/ethnic composition, prevalence of economically disadvantaged students, and proportion of students with a disability. To place these results in context, we compared findings for threat assessment with out‐of‐school suspension rates. We discuss reasons why students with disabilities might be referred for BTAM at a high rate and recommend practices for assuring their educational rights and needs are safeguarded. Evolving school threat assessment policies should recognize the practice demands placed on school staff to evaluate a substantial number of students.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• How prevalent are adverse academic outcomes following a school threat assessment?

  Preventing School Failure Alternative Education for Children and Youth · 2025-11-26 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Through a Bot’s Eyes

  Science and Children · 2025-07-04

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Behavioral Threat Assessment and Equity in Exclusionary School Discipline

  School Psychology Review · 2025-02-14 · 6 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• How Do Schools Support Students After a Threat Assessment?

  2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Randy L. Bell

  29 shared

• Lindsay B. Wheeler

  23 shared

• Amanda Gonczi

  21 shared

• Brooke A. Whitworth

  20 shared

• Dewey G. Cornell

  University of Virginia

  13 shared

• Robert M. Handler

  10 shared

• Whitney N. McCoy

  10 shared

• Shannon L. Navy

  Kent State University

  7 shared

Labs

• Youth Violence ProjectPI