Dr. Horn is Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Kansas. Dr. Horn focuses on the development of effective instructional approaches for infants and young children with developmental delays and disabilities. Her research examines how these effective strategies can be implemented within the context of ongoing routines and activities in inclusive environments. Dr. Horn is the editor of the journal Young Exceptional Children.
Dr. Susan Palmer is a research professor at the University of Kansas, in the Beach Center on Disability and the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities at the Life Span Institute at KU, and a courtesy professor in the Department of Special Education. Her work involves grant-related school-based research, but she also supports graduate student research within these and dissertations. Dr. Palmer has contributed to writing over 70 published articles, presented information nationwide, and co-authored book chapters and several volumes related to self-determination and inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education curriculum.
Dr. Gretchen Butera is a professor of special education in the School of Education, Indiana University Bloomington. Dr. Butera's research focus includes effective practices for early intervention and preschool children with disabilities and their families and effective teacher education in special education. She was the principal investigator for SPEDFIST, a federally funded personnel preparation grant that focuses on the preparation of highly-qualified special educators at the graduate level.
Joan Lieber, Ph.D., is Professor of Special Education in the College of Education at the University of Maryland. Her research interests include inclusion and teachers' beliefs and practices. She has 8 years of public school teaching experience. Dr. Lieber co-directs an early childhood special education model demonstration project that includes young children with disabilities in community-based programs.
Samuel L. Odom, Ph.D., is the former Director of the Frank Porter Graham (FPG) Child Development Institute where he remains as a Senior Research Scientist. Prior to his work at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dr. Odom served in faculty positions at Indiana University and Peabody College/Vanderbilt University. Dr. Odom received a master's degree in special education in 1976 and an educational specialist degree in educational psychology from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 1979. He earned his doctorate in 1982 in education and human development from the University of Washington.
Throughout his career, Dr. Odom has held positions as a preschool teacher, student teaching supervisor, program coordinator, teacher educator, and researcher. Dr. Odom's research interests include interventions and teaching approaches that promote social competence of young children, effective intervention approaches for children with autism, and early childhood curricula that promote children's school success. He is the author or co-author of over 175 journal articles and book chapters and has edited 10 books on early childhood intervention and developmental disabilities. His current research is addressing treatment efficacy for children and youth with ASD in elementary and high school grades. Also, he is the Co-Director of the National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice at FPG. Dr. Odom is an associate editor for Exceptional Children and is on the editorial board of Journal of Early Intervention, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, and Early Childhood Research Quarterly. He received the Special Education Outstanding Research Award from the American Educational Research Association Special Education Special Interest Group in 1999, the Merle Karnes Contribution to the Field Award from the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) in 2001, and the Outstanding Special Education Research Award from CEC in 2007. In 2013, he received the Arnold Lucius Gesell Prize awarded for career achievement in research on social inclusion and child development from the Theordor Hellbrugge Foundation in Munich, Germany. In 2016, he received an honorary doctoral degree from Stockholm University. He is currently a visiting professor at Stockholm University and San Diego State University.
Marci J. Hanson, Ph.D., is Professor in the Department of Special Education at San Francisco State University (SFSU). At SFSU, Dr. Hanson is actively engaged in teaching, research, and service related to young children and their families. In addition to these responsibilities, she directs the SFSU joint doctoral program in special education with the University of California, Berkeley, and codirects the early childhood special education graduate program. She is a consultant with the child and adolescent development faculty of the Marian Wright Edelman Institute for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families at SFSU and with San Francisco Head Start.
Audra Classen, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Classen graduated from the special education program at the University of Kansas. Her research interests and expertise lie in supporting young children's emotional literacy development, developing social-emotional curriculum and interventions, and teaching practitioners to utilize assessment techniques. In addition, Dr. Classen is actively engaged in research to develop culturally responsive services for military families and their young children.
Jill Clay, M.A., was a doctoral student in special education at Indiana University prior to her untimely death in December 2014. She was an experienced special education teacher and taught for 12 years at Fairview Elementary School in Bloomington, Indiana. She was interested in children's early literacy and effective preparation of teachers who could address the needs of children who struggle in learning to read.
Debra Drang, Ph.D., is an administrator at a private special education school in Rockville, Maryland. She has over 15 years of experience in special education and has served in a variety of capacities, including teacher, mentor, trainer/coach, and researcher. Dr. Drang has a strong record of applying current, research-based best practices to everyday classroom life. Her areas of interest include inclusion, universal curriculum design, tiered instruction/intervention, classroom management, and progress monitoring.
Amber Friesen, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Early Childhood Special Education program of the Department of Special Education and Communicative Disorders at San Francisco State University. Her research focuses on supporting young children at risk for or diagnosed with disabilities and their families. Dr. Friesen teaches graduate courses in early development, family partnerships, and preschool interventions. Before becoming a faculty member, Dr. Friesen worked as both a teacher and paraprofessional.
Jean Kang, Ph.D., completed her doctoral degree in early childhood unified education at the University of Kansas and has served as a visiting faculty member at the same department. She is currently Assistant Professor in the Birth to Kindergarten Program in the Department of Specialized Education Services at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her area of interest is promoting school readiness of young children and increasing family involvement in their child's education.
Alina Mihai, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Special Education in the School of Education at Indiana University Kokomo. A former teacher of young children with and without disabilities, Dr. Mihai focuses her research and teaching on effective strategies for children with developmental delays and disabilities, particularly teaching practices that promote early literacy development. Her research interests also include investigating how early childhood teachers can be supported in their efforts to effectively enact evidence-based practices in a developmentally appropriate manner and the translation of research findings into best practice in the field of early childhood special education.
Potheini Vaiouli, Ph.D.,
is Limited Term Lecturer in the College of Education at Purdue University. Dr. Vaiouli holds a doctorate in special education from Indiana University and a master's degree in music therapy from New York University. She has extensive experience working in special education classrooms in a variety of roles (teaching, supervising, and incorporating music-based learning to support students' growth). Her research interests involve working with young children with special needs and their families to promote engagement and learning through music and music therapy interventions.
