Rachel Chastain-Gross

Research Coordinator II
Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies

rcg@coe.ufl.edu 

Biography 

Rachel Chastain-Gross joined the Anita Zucker Center in 2018 as a coach with the BEST in CLASS project providing practice-based coaching to support teachers to prevent challenging behaviors in the classroom. In August 2021, she transitioned to the role of Research Coordinator. While continuing to coach, she also supports coaches across the two research sites and assists in coordinating several other projects, including one project focused on sustainment of BEST in CLASS practices in classroom settings and another project focused on determining the effectiveness of BEST in CLASS.  

Before joining the Anita Zucker Center, she was an elementary school teacher for 10 years, first in Marion County, then at PK Yonge Developmental Research School. Rachel received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Elementary Education with a specialization in children’s literature from the College of Education at the University of Florida.