Dr. Stipek's scholarship concerns early childhood and elementary education, especially focused on math and motivation. In addition to her scholarship, Dr. Stipek has an interest in policies affecting young children and early childhood education,. She served for five years on the Board on Children, Youth and Families at the National Research Council; she was the Chair of National Research Council Committee for Increasing High School Students' Engagement and Motivation to Learn and she directed the MacArthur Foundation Network on Teaching and Learning. She currently chairs the Heising-Simons Development and Research on Early Math Education Network. While a professor at UCLA, Dr. Stipek served as Director of the Corinne Seeds University Elementary School and the Urban Education Studies Center.