Sean Darling-Hammond

I seek to expand belonging by combining backgrounds in education, law, and public policy with methodological approaches stemming from psychology and econometrics. My work attempts to identify the causes and consequences of racial bias, as well as mechanisms that might ameliorate both bias and its impacts. Related works review: links between anti-Asian rhetoric and anti-Asian bias; correlations between county-level anti-Black bias and COVID-19 racial disparities; the debiasing impacts of interracial contact in workplaces; and psychological mechanisms that ameliorate teachers’ racial disparities in disciplinary responses to students. I also conduct research to ascertain the health, behavioral, and academic impacts of school-based restorative practices (such as conflict resolution practices), and to determine whether these practices can help ameliorate racial disparities.

Areas of Interest

I am passionate about breaking down methodological and departmental silos, and working with others (in health, education, psychology, and law) to conduct research that uncovers potent policy insights. I am formally trained in methods for conducting randomized controlled trials and econometric analyses of large-scale datasets, but have also worked closely with research teams that have employed qualitative approaches (e.g., interviewing, content analyses, and focus groups). My work largely centers issues of equity—identifying causes of social inequity on the one hand, and evaluating approaches to ameliorate inequity on the other. Some work reviews sources of, and interventions to reduce, racial bias. Other work appraises promising policy approaches (such as school-based restorative practices) for reducing racial inequity and racial disparities in a variety of outcomes (e.g., discipline, behavior, physical and mental health, and academic engagement and achievement).

Committee Participation

Curriculum Committee

Selected Publications

• Darling-Hammond, Sean, Michaels, Eli, Allen, Amani, Chae, David, Thomas, Marilyn, Nguyen, Thu, Muhajid, Mahasin, and Johnson, Rucker (2020). After “The China Virus” Went Viral: Racially Charged Coronavirus Coverage and Trends in Bias Against Asian Americans. Health, Education & Behavior.
• Darling-Hammond, Sean, Fronius, Trevor, Sutherland, Hannah, Guckenberg, Sarah, Petrosino, Anthony, and Nancy Hurly (2020). Effectiveness of Restorative Justice in U.S. K-12 Schools: A Review of Quantitative Research. Contemporary School Psychology
• Darling-Hammond, Sean, Lee, Randy, and Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton (2020). Interracial Contact at Work: Does Workplace Diversity Reduce Bias? Group Processes & Intergroup Relations.
• Okonofua, Jason, Perez, Amanda, and Sean Darling-Hammond (2020). When Policy and Psychology Meet: Mitigating the Consequences of Bias in Schools. Science Advances.
• Darling-Hammond, Sean (2017). Designed to Fail: Implicit Bias in Our Nation’s Juvenile Courts. UC Davis Journal of Juvenile Law and Policy 21(2): 169-193

Selected works in progress

• Darling-Hammond, Sean, Eberhardt, Jennifer, Okonofua, Jason, and Ruiz, Michael. The dynamic nature of student discipline. R&R in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
• Darling-Hammond, Sean. Student effects of exposure to restorative practices. Forthcoming by Learning Policy Institute.