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News from Baylor School of Education

Tag Archives: Department of Educational Psychology

September 18, 2017
by Baylor Instant Impact
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New Faculty Members Join Baylor School of Education [09/15/2017]


The School of Education welcomed five new full-time faculty members for the 2017-18 academic year, including additions in each academic department. A couple are familiar faces, while others are new to Baylor.

Jessica Akers, PhD, BCBA-D
Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology
Department of Educational Psychology
PhD: Utah State University, Special Education, Applied Behavior Analysis
MA: California State University, Fresno, Applied Behavior Analysis
BA: California State University, Fresno, Psychology
Post-doctoral fellowship: University of Nebraska Medical Center

Dr. Jessica Akers has worked with children with autism and related disabilities in home-, center-, and school-based programs targeting both skill acquisition and the reduction of challenging behavior.

Her research interests include strategies for promoting appropriate social and play skills and verbal behavior in individuals with autism and related disabilities. She is primarily interested in targeting appropriate play between children with autism and their typically developing peers and siblings. She has published her research in journals including the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Learning and Motivation, and The Analysis of Verbal Behavior. Continue Reading →

September 11, 2017
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After-school Academics at the BCDD [09/11/2017]

Samantha Rivera gained experience teaching literacy in small groups at the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities.

Autism might not be what you think it is. “Some behaviors associated with autism are much more manageable than people think, especially in academic settings,” said Dr. Tracey Sulak, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology. “You can integrate some children with autism into a regular academic setting, but you have to know how to do it.”

Baylor sophomores learned just that — and more — through a hands-on teaching experience offered at the Baylor Center for Developmental Disabilities (BCDD) for the first time in the spring. Previously, the field experience associated with Sulak’s class, Literacy for Learners with Special Needs, was taught in a school setting. Sulak moved the class to an afternoon time slot so that she could create a community after-school academic program at the BCDD for children from multiple schools and also for children who were already clients of the BCDD’s behavior-based programs. Continue Reading →

February 24, 2017
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Visiting Educators Will Share Secrets to Finnish School Success and Speak about Book Co-written with Baylor Professors [02/24/2017]

Two educational experts from Finland will speak at Baylor on the active learning model that they credit as the basis of education success in the country. Eija Kimonen, Ph.D., and Raimo Nevalainen, Ph.Lic., are both university professors whose research focuses on active learning in Finnish schools. They are co-editors of the book Reforming Teaching and Teacher Education: Bright Prospects for Active Schools, from Sense Publishers. Kimonen teaches at the University of Eastern Finland, and Nevalainen teaches at the University of Jyväskylä.

In a lecture sponsored by the School of Education and the Department of Educational Psychology, Kimonen and Nevalainen will speak on Wednesday, March 1, at 4 p.m., in the Packard Auditorium (Room 101) of Marrs McLean Science Building. Both the Baylor and wider educational community are invited to the free lecture, which requires no reservations. Continue Reading →

January 20, 2016
by Baylor Instant Impact
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SOE Grad Students Present Action Research at CSOTTE [01/20/2016]

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SOE graduate students (l-r) Shannon King, Mollie Musgrove and Jordan Barlow

Three Baylor graduate students presented research posters in the “Emerging Scholars Track” at the annual conference of the Consortium of State Organizations for Texas Teacher Education (CSOTTE) in the fall.

CSOTTE-Jordan-blog-325Jordan Barlow, Shannon King and Mollie Musgrove attended the 2015 conference and presented the in-classroom action research that they had conducted while School of Education seniors serving as teaching interns. Barlow and King are master’s candidates in the Department of Educational Psychology, and Musgrove is a master’s candidate in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction.

Barlow, who earned her BSEd in elementary education, conducted research in five sixth-grade science classes, exploring the best avenues for teaching science vocabulary words and whether allowing students a choice in their learning activities would make a difference. Continue Reading →

September 23, 2015
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Baylor School of Education Student Wins Statewide Scholarship [09/23/2015]

Jackie-TASPA-Blog-650Jackie Searles is madly in love with education. Her eyes brighten, and the excitement in her voice rises when she speaks passionately about the special education students who have made a huge impact on her life. “My students give me so much more than I could ever give them,” she said.

Searles, who is a special education major in Baylor’s School of Education, received the 2015-2016 Texas Association of School Personnel Administrators (TASPA) scholarship for her unfailing passion and service to her students. She is one of only three students statewide to receive the award. Continue Reading →

March 17, 2015
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SOE Grad Programs Ranked by U.S. News [3/17/2015]

USnews-DocStudents

Baylor School of Education is one of only three Texas schools in the top 100 of the newly released list of 2016 Best Graduate Schools of Education from U.S. News.

Baylor School of Education advanced to No. 83, up nine places from its last ranking in 2014. To determine the rankings, U.S. News surveyed graduate education programs at 357 schools granting doctoral degrees in fall 2014. Continue Reading →

March 13, 2015
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SOE’s Dr. Grant Morgan Wins Prestigious Award for Paper [03/13/2015]

GrantBlog

Dr. Grant Morgan, assistant professor in the Baylor School of Education’s (SOE) Department of Educational Psychology, is a recipient the Bruce Thompson Outstanding Paper Award from the Southwest Educational Research Association (SERA).

This is the second time Morgan has won the award in three years, and he won a similar award in a different region while he was a doctoral student at the University of South Carolina. In 2013, Morgan’s winning paper was co-authored with Aaron R. Baggett, PhD ’14, then a doctoral student at Baylor SOE. Continue Reading →

March 9, 2015
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EDP Doctoral Student Wins Dissertation Award [3/9/2015]

Scalzo-Blog-450Baylor School of Education Doctoral Candidate in Educational Psychology Rachel Scalzo received the James L. Kopp Memorial Scholarship for her dissertation, “The Analysis of Behavioral Indicators as a Measure of Satiation.” The scholarship is awarded to only three students statewide, and Scalzo is the first Baylor recipient.

As part of the award, Scalzo gets to present her research at the Applied Behavior Analysis International Conference in San Antonio May 22 – 26, and the award defrays a portion of the costs to travel.

In February, Scalzo and her mentor, Dr. Tonya Davis, SOE assistant professor in Educational Psychology, attended the four-day Texas Association for Behavior Analysis Regional Conference in Houston, where Scalzo presented her research and received her award. Continue Reading →

May 7, 2014
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Dr. Susan Johnsen Receives Prestigious Award from Council for Exceptional Children [5/7/2014]

NewJohnsenThumbDr. Susan Johnsen, Professor of Educational Psychology in the Baylor School of Education, received the Outstanding Leadership Award from the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving the educational success of individuals with disabilities and/or gifts and talents. The author of more than 200 publications, Johnsen is an expert in gifted education, and this is the first time the CEC award has been given to an educator in the field of gifted education. Continue Reading →

April 15, 2014
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SOE Grad Student Elected to AERA Graduate Student Council [4/15/2014]

KariHodgesKari Hodge, a graduate student in the Baylor School of Education’s Educational Psychology Department, was elected as one of nine officers of the Gradate Student Council of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). She is the first Baylor representative to serve in such a role.

Continue Reading →