Jeffrey S. Kress, Ph.D. is Senior
Research Assistant at the William Davidson School of Jewish Education at the
Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. His work involves community based
action - research on a variety of
topics in Jewish education and identity development. In particular, his work
focuses on bringing theoretical and methodological innovations from the fields
of social, clinical, and developmental psychology into the discussion of Jewish
identity. The Jewish Identity Development project examines how
ecological/environmental variables interact with self identity, both Jewish and
in general, and draws on statistical techniques based on using multidimensional
scaling models to explore the inter‑relatedness of different aspects of
the self-concept.
Dr. Kress was an invited participant in the "New research on American Jewish identity and its implication for Jewish education and community-building" (Brandeis University, July 4-5, 1999) and “Setting the agenda: Critical issues in American Jewish life” (Jewish Theological Seminary, September, 2000) conferences. He has co-authored articles on the topics of social competence, program development, and Jewish identity, that have been published in the Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, the Journal of Special Education, the Journal of Primary Prevention, and the Jewish Education News. He has presented his work at conferences of the Society for Community Research and Action, the Society for Research in Child Development, the Network for Research in Jewish Education, and the Jewish Educator's Assembly. Dr. Kress hosts a "listserv" discussion group on the topic of community psychology and spirituality/religion.
Dr. Kress received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University and completed an the Internship program in Clinical/Community Psychology and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ. Before coming to the Davidson School, he worked as a program development specialist at the Social Decision Making Program at University Behavioral HealthCare-UMDNJ. This work focused on teacher training and consultation regarding a research validated curriculum to teach students social and emotional skills.