Principal Investigators
Dr. Delinda van Garderen
Delinda van Garderen, PhD, is a Professor of Special Education at the University of Missouri. Her research interests focus on students with learning disabilities, struggling learners, visual representations in mathematics word problem solving, STEM literacy, argumentation, and teacher practice and development. Recent or current research projects include teacher professional development to integrate STEM literacy in instruction, how students and teachers use representations to solve mathematics word problems, student development and intervention in number (e.g., conservation of quantity, numerical magnitude), and use of Universal Design for Learning to plan instruction to meet the needs of all learners in science. She has mentored doctoral graduate students in educational research training and has prepared many graduate and undergraduate students to be teachers in both general and special education. She has written approximately 50 peer-reviewed articles, one co-authored book, and ten book chapters and has received over 6.5 million dollars on federally funded grants.
Dr. William Folk
William Folk, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, co-PI, served on the faculties of the University of Michigan Medical School and the University of Texas-Austin before joining the University of Missouri as chair of the Department of Biochemistry. There he was responsible for 25 regular faculty, over 150 staff, and the education of over 300 undergraduate majors, 45 graduate students and 90 medical students. By the end of his tenure, the Department’s external grant support increased five-fold to become MU’s strongest biomedical science department. Dr. Folk initiated efforts that strengthened collaborative research and outreach education with College of Education faculty. When serving as Senior Associate Dean for Research in the School of Medicine, he was responsible for facilitating research and training of medical and graduate students, fellows and junior faculty, and directed the Office of Medical Research. Dr. Folk also served as associate director of MU Health Care’s Ellis Fischel Cancer Center, directed an NIH-funded Center for International Phytotherapy Research (TICIPS) and an NIH-funded Center for Botanical Interaction Studies (MU-CBIS). He has extensive experience with cross-cultural science research and education/learning as a result of collaborations in over a dozen countries, including the implementation of communities of learning and practice. Dr. Folk has mentored 25 PhD students, 20 postdoctoral fellows, and numerous undergraduates and medical students in research training. He leads research programs focusing upon viruses, medicinal plants and botanical supplements and science education. Dr. Folk led an NIH postdoctoral training program at the University of Michigan, a DOD-funded breast cancer research training program for undergraduates at MU, an HHMI science education program (Maps in Medicine), and the ShowMe InABox science enrichment program for middle schools.
Dr. Amy Lannin
Amy Lannin, PhD, Associate Professor, English Education; Director of Campus Writing Program, University of Missouri, co-I, also directs the Missouri Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project. Other funded grant projects include the STEM Literacy Project (National Science Foundation grant: “Anchoring Students in Real-life Issues that Integrate STEM Content and Literacy”) and Show Me Literacies Collaborative (Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education grant: “Comprehensive Literacy Development”). Lannin has published in Science Scope, WPA Journal, Writing & Pedagogy, The English Journal, and has a chapter in the edited collection Writing Program Architecture: Thirty Cases for Reference and Research. Her research focus includes writing instruction and assessment across the curriculum.
Dr. John Lannin
John K. Lannin, PhD, is a Professor of mathematics education. His research interests focus on developing students’ understanding of generalization and justification in grades K-12. Recent research projects student development and intervention in number (e.g., change and invariance, numerical magnitude) and the use of middle & high school algebraic reasoning. He has mentored doctoral graduate students has developed learning activities for many graduate and undergraduate students to be teachers in mathematics education. Prior to earning his PhD, he taught middle and high school mathematics for 10 years.
Dr. Jessica Rodrigues
Jessica Rodrigues, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in Special Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a postdoctoral fellow in the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. She has over six years of experience conducting research in local schools and teaching evidence-based mathematics interventions to learners at risk for mathematics difficulties. Her research interests include mathematics screening for the identification of struggling learners, developing and testing mathematics interventions, and investigating novel research communication strategies to mitigate the research-practice gap.
Consultant
Dr. Renee Stites Kruep
Renee Stites Kruep, PhD, is an assistant teaching professor in Literacy Education at the University of Missouri. She draws on over a decade of teaching middle and high school English as well as leading curriculum redesign and professional development. Her academic interests, publications, and national conference presentations include topics such as sustaining teachers through quality professional learning, integrated literacy instruction, and inclusive young adult literature to inspire adolescent readers.
Program Manager
Dr. Lizzie McCollom
email emmcg9@umsystem.edu
Lizzie McCollom, PhD, is a Research Assistant Professor in the Special Education Department at the University of Missouri and serves as the program manager for the Linking Science, Math, and Literacy for All Learners project. Dr. McCollom’s background is in school psychology and she recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Southern Methodist University. Her research interests include implementation science, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), coaching, and academic interventions.
Evaluation Team
Dr. Soo-Yeon Cho
Soo-Yeon Cho, PhD, is a Senior Researcher at the Assessment Resource Center, University of Missouri. She has been an evaluator on programs and projects funded at the federal, state, and county levels. She has led and conducted all stages of the evaluation: designing, collecting data, analyzing data, and submitting reports to government and foundation agencies, with a recent focus on STEM educational programs. She conducted performance evaluation of teacher training programs for the national accreditation of the MU College of Education. She also served as an evaluator for a SAMHSA-PBHCI Integrated Care Project on quality improvements to monitor intervention effectiveness.
Dr. William Romine
William Romine, PhD., Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, Wright State University; internal evaluation, assessment development. William Romine is an Associate Professor in Wright State University’s Biological Sciences department, with joint appointments in Teacher Education and Computer Science. He directs the Data Science for Education laboratory at Wright State where he and his students focus on educational measurement using tests and surveys, social media, and sensors. Dr. Romine and his students use these measures to construct dynamic models for both learning and affective change related to science.
Graduate Research Assistant
Faith Shahale
Faith Shahale is a dedicated first- year master’s in special education – Learning Disabilities student at the University of Missouri- Columbia (MU). She brings over a decade of hands-on experience in the field of special needs and education. Faith has demonstrated success as a high school learning support teacher and has a wealth of experience working with students in Kenya, ranging from kindergarten to the 12th grade. She is committed to advancing knowledge in special education through research and practical application and aims to contribute valuable insights to the academic community. Faith’s research interests include curriculum adaptations for inclusive classrooms and access to the general curriculum for learners with disabilities.
Past Contributors
Cassandra Smith, PhD, Research Assistant Professor, University of Missouri
Heba Abdelnaby, PhD, Former Doctoral Student, University of Missouri
Tara Atchison-Green, MEd, Former Doctoral Student, University of Missouri
Meera Chandrasekhar, PhD, Professor of Physics, University of Missouri
Rachel Juergensen, PhD, Assistant Professor of Special Education, Delaware State University
Tracey Kenyon Milarsky, PhD., Postdoctoral Fellow in Special Education, University of Missouri
Qingli Lei, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow in Special Education, University of Illinois – Chicago
Bridget Murphy, Senior Research Coordinator, Assessment Resource Center (ARC), University of Missouri
Torrey Palmer, PhD, Consultant in Literacy, Teaching and Curriculum
Gouranga Saha, PhD, Professor of Education, Lincoln University