Selcuk Acar, Ph.D., is an associate professor of educational psychology at the University of North Texas. He received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (with an emphasis in Gifted and Creative Education) from the University of Georgia. His primary area of research interest includes divergent thinking, assessment of creativity, and the education of the gifted and talented. Prior to UNT, Dr. Acar has worked at two different centers specialized in the field of creative education: Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development of University of Georgia, and the International Center for Studies in Creativity of SUNY Buffalo State. In addition to numerous book chapter and encyclopedia entries, Dr. Acar published over 50 peer-reviewed articles primarily on creativity. He has served as a PI in a 3-year grant by the Institute of Education Sciences to develop a new measure of original thinking called MOTES. He is currently serving as an Associate Editor at Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts and Journal of Creativity. He is also on the editorial board of Gifted Child Quarterly, Journal of Creative Behavior, Journal of Advanced Academics, and Creativity Research Journal. Dr. Acar is a recipient of APA Division 10’s 2022 Berlyne Award in recognition of outstanding research by an early career scholar and UNT College of Education’s 2021 Faculty Research Excellence Award.
Dr. Allen’s research aims to address institutional and systemic inequalities within STEM education by supporting the design and implementation of STEM learning reforms. She examines the ways that equity and instructional improvement efforts take on meaning and become consequential for youth and teachers in local practice. Some of her current work examines how efforts to improve STEM education intersect with students’ learning and identity work within and out of school. Her work also explores the relationships among local policy, educators’ organizational contexts, and their efforts to implement reform-based and equity-oriented pedagogies. Allen's research has been published in journals such as Journal of Learning Sciences, Journal of Teacher Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, and AERJ.
Prior to joining the faculty at UNT, Allen was a STEM Researcher at SRI International. Allen received her doctorate in learning sciences and human development at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Before pursuing her doctorate, she taught high school English and reading, writing, and developmental education community college courses in the Seattle area. She has a master in teacher degree from Seattle University and a BA in English Literature from Western Washington University.
Dr. Anderson’s research program aims to promote positive youth development and social change in schools and mentoring programs. She studies the role of nonparental adult relationships in youth’s lives as an important interpersonal context during adolescence and emerging adulthood. Her current work focuses on cultural humility and social justice supports for adults who work with youth in mentoring programs. She is also interested in advancing understanding of how adult mentors benefit and are changed by the experience of mentoring youth. Her work has been published in the American Journal of Community Psychology, Journal of Adolescent Research, and Development Psychology, among others.
Prior to joining UNT, Dr. Anderson earned her Ph.D. in Community Psychology from DePaul University and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health at the University of Illinois Chicago. She earned an M.S. in Education from the Johns Hopkins University and B.A. in Psychology with concentrations in Child Development, and Gender & Women’s Studies from Oklahoma State University. She is currently a research board member of the National Mentoring Resource Center, a program of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Payton Birlew received her Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology with a concentration in Family Science from the University of North Texas in 2017. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Family and Community from the University of North Texas in 2015. Birlew is a Certified Family Life Educator and a certified facilitator of the Prepare/Enrich curriculum.
Birlew is the co-founder of Have & Hold Family Life Education where she provides secular, research-based premarital and relationship education to couples across the state of Texas. She is dedicated to modernizing relationship education by making it accessible and inclusive.
Her research interests include the experiences of nonreligious families (especially related to marriage and parenting), fostering inclusivity and accessibility in Family Life Education, and marriage and relationship education. Birlew has never met a HDFS course she didn’t love to teach and loves working with students as they discover all that HDFS has to offer.
Miriam C. Boesch, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Special Education. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and her Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Special Education with an emphasis in Severe Disabilities and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) from Purdue University. Her dissertation was awarded the College of Education Outstanding Dissertation Award. Her research focuses on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Specifically, she engages in AAC research to assess teacher preparation needs, compare strategies suitable for individuals with autism and complex communication needs, and reduce challenging behaviors. Dr. Boesch teaches courses pertaining to autism, intervention strategies, and behavior management. She is also the co-author of the book: Implementing Effective Augmentative and Alternative Communication Practices for Students with Complex Communication Needs: A Handbook for School-Based Practitioners. Dr. Boesch also publishes in peer-reviewed journals, presents at national and international conferences, and currently serves on the editorial board for the journals Communication Disorders Quarterly and TEACHING Exceptional Children. She is the recipient of the 2014 College of Education Junior Faculty Research Award and the 2017 College of Education Faculty Teaching Excellence Award from UNT.
Dana Booker holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a concentration in Human Development and Family Science from the University of North Texas. Specifically, Dana has researched child advocacy practices, multi-system collaborations around prevention and intervention, and parent-centered education through her work at Prevent Child Abuse Texas. Her research interests also include working with military families and military systems to identify effective academic prevention strategies for youth. Dr. Booker has received evaluation training from the American Evaluation Association and worked as the program evaluator for the Texas chapter of the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY). It was this opportunity that increased her passion for prevention and intervention work. Originally from Albuquerque, Dana received her B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Educational Psychology from the University of New Mexico. Dana is married to her best friend and is a proud mom of three amazing boys.
Dr. Teresa Cardon is a dually certified SLP & a BCBA-D and has worked with learners with different abilities for over 25 years. Dr. Cardon is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of North Texas. Her research interests include interprofessional education and practice, early intervention, video modeling, autism in the media, and collaboration bias. Dr. Cardon serves on editorial boards for prominent journals, volunteers in various capacities for professional organizations, and enjoys supporting educators and clinicians who work with unique populations.
Dr. Chen engages in doing research and teaching in the area of quantitative methods. Her primary quantitative research interests include Growth Mixture Modeling (GMM), Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), and the application of these methods in longitudinal data analyses and mediation analysis. She is also interested in the application of these methods in educational and family-based data. Her interested substantive areas include children’s psychosocial functioning and self-regulation, school-based prevention, teacher-student relationship and peer relations, and the intersection of family and cultural contexts in shaping Asian American adolescent development.
Jason Chiang received his Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science from Syracuse University, Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and Methodology from SUNY Albany, and Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from University of Toronto. As a first-generation Canadian and American, Dr. Chiang takes pride in his immigrant identity and actively participates in community activities. He is deeply in love with DFW area and everything Texas.
Informed by John Berry's ecological perspective and his work on acculturation strategies, Dr. Chiang's research involves investigating how familial, school, and cultural factors affect immigrant children’s capacity to cope with challenging educational and environmental situations and succeed.
Before moving to Texas, Dr. Chiang had previously taught at University of Akron as Assistant Professor of Instruction, and at Berkshire Community College as Assistant Professor of Psychology. He also worked briefly as a Head Start Administrator in California.
Robin’s background is a bit of winding road, but one he considers divinely guided by God. His early background was in youth ministry with undergraduate majors in Biblical studies and psychology from Evangel University (Springfield, MO). This evolved into a focus on counseling and masters degrees in general and clinical psychology, and eventually LPC licensure. Robin then earned a PhD in educational psychology at Texas A&M University, and this led to his current research and teaching focus on statistics, measurement, and research methodology. The LPC licensure was latter allowed to lapse due to a focus on methodology, but Robin still periodically works with counseling applications. More recently, Robin has completed a doctor of ministry (DMin) degree from Liberty University with a cognate in expository preaching and teaching. Robin is married to an incredible woman and has two awesome, young adult kids. In his spare time, Robin enjoys outdoor activities and being involved at Midway Church.
Jaret Hodges earned a master's degree at the University of Houston, doctorate at Purdue University, and was a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University. His research interests include underrepresented populations in gifted education, rural gifted education, and gifted education policy. He also has an interest in promoting open science practices and the use of computer programming in education research.
Catherine S. Howerter is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Psychology. She earned her PhD in Special Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, her master’s in Educational Psychology from New York University, and my B.A. from Carlow University (Pittsburgh, PA) as a double major in Elementary and Special Education. She was an Associate Professor of Elementary and Special Education at Georgia Southern University. She taught in a K-5 resource room in Washington, D.C., and co-taught at the middle school level (6-8) in Brooklyn, NY. She was an Intervention Specialist at a middle/high school in Las Vegas. She has taught a variety of graduate and undergraduate courses and supervised teacher candidates at different levels.
Professor Hull came to UNT from Baylor University in 2007 and presently coordinates the Research Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics PhD program in the Department of Educational Psychology where he teaches courses in advanced measurement and psychometrics including Classical Test Theory, Generalizability Theory, and Item Response Theory. He also has methodological research interests in experimental and quasi-experimental design and analysis of field trial studies in education, and has more than 25 years of experience conducting program evaluations of educational programs and interventions. His substantive interests include Positive Youth Development and STEM education based on more than 30 years of work in STEM education, and with youth and adolescents in developing countries in the Caribbean region. He was named a Fulbright Scholar in 2019 for this PYD and methods work in evaluation and held a visiting appointment at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica.
Teo (Danielle) Keifert (they/them) is a learning scientist, researcher, educator, and assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of North Texas. Teo studies how young children's brilliance and how to cultivate that brilliance in science classroom learning. They focus on children's practices for inquiry and making. These include resources like engaging in imaginative embodiment by acting like a creature with feet on the back of your head to explore anatomy, engaging in though experiments like imagining standing in boiling water or becoming a water particle to explore states of matter, drawing to make sense of engineering challenges, and creating cardboard representations of important moments to story life experience.
Teo's work examines family culture as a context for young children's inquiring and making sense of the world. They have partnered with COVID-cautious families across the U.S. to develop co-observation methodologies toward more ethically and ecologically valid forms of research with children (Learning, Being and doing in Families Study, Spencer Foundational Small Grant, PI Keifert).
Teo broadens forms of supported sensemaking in classrooms through design-based research and professional learning partnerships; Teo has studies how mixed-reality technologies support young children's sensemaking in science through play and embodiment (Science through Technology Enhanced Play, National Science Foundation grant, PIs Enyedy, Danish), how to support elementary teachers to design for transformational learning for all learners, including multilingual learners (Representations for Teachers as Learners project, McDonnell Foundatioin grant), and how to design for pre-service teachers to make sense of their past learning through the lenses of expansive socio-cultural theories to (re)envision new possibilities for their future students (Equitable Science Sensemaking, National Science Foundation grant, PIs Pierson, Keifert, Jeong, Johnson, Henrie). Through this work, they seek to broaden participation in sciecne practices not just by including more individuals from marginalized communities in science, but also by expanding what counts as science.
Teo earned their PhD from the Learning Sciences program at Northwestern University after five years as a middle math and science teacher and is the proud human of a rescue pup named Gracie.
Lauren Kelly received her doctorate in HDFS/Forensic Science from Texas Tech University. She also completed training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center where she developed skills related to crime scene investigation, trauma-informed counseling, lie detection, victim advocacy and profiling. She also worked for a non-profit in New Mexico as a clinician assisting children who experienced the most severe forms of physical abuse, sexual abuse, and/or neglect. Dr. Kelly teaches family law and public policy, courtship and marriage, families in crisis and families, communities, schools. Dr. Kelly's research focuses on child abuse and outcomes, romantic relationships, sexism, forensic interviewing, and breastfeeding awareness.
Jihyun Lee is an assistant professor in the Research, Measurement and Statistics program in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of North Texas. She earned her Ph.D. in 2022 in the Quantitative Methods program in the Educational Psychology department at the University of Texas at Austin.
Her research has been anchored in the overarching question, "How can we conduct valid quantitative research to investigate psychological and behavioral phenomena?" To address this question, she studies quantitative methods and statistical modeling used for research within the behavioral and social sciences, including education and psychology. Her specialized work in quantitative methods includes meta-analysis, missing data analysis, and latent variable modeling.
In addition, she has actively collaborated with applied researchers in various research fields. Her work is intended to further enhance the quantitative research that investigates educational, psychological, clinical, and social issues.
Hyanghee Lee is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of North Texas. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut in 2018, following completion of her B.A. and M.A. in Child Development and Family Studies at Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea. Prior to joining UNT, she completed two postdoctoral trainings, working with Dr. Kimberly Henry at Colorado State University (2018-2021), and then working with Drs. Greg Fosco and Mark Feinberg at the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Pennsylvania State University (2021-2022). Her research program focuses on the impact of family dynamics on individual and family development trajectories.
Dr. Wendy Middlemiss is a Professor in Educational Psychology at the University of North Texas. She earned her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at Syracuse University in 1992. In her role at the University of North Texas, Dr. Middlemiss is principal investigator for the Home Instruction of Parents of Preschool Youngsters (Texas HIPPY), editor of Family Relations and graduate faculty with a concentration in Human Development and Family Sciences.
Rachel U. Mun is an Associate Professor at the University of North Texas in Educational Psychology. She received her Ph.D. in Education, Learning Sciences and Human Development from the University of Washington. She was also a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Connecticut with the National Center for Research on Gifted Education conducting research on identifying and serving underrepresented gifted learners. Her research interests are two tiered and best described as an intersection between culture, gifted education, and socioemotional well-being. At the micro-level, she explores socioemotional development and decision-making for high-ability students (emphasis on immigrants) within family, peer and academic contexts with the goal to promote well-being. At the macro-level, she examines ways to improve equitable identification and services for K-12 high-ability learners from diverse populations. She has published in Gifted Child Quarterly, Journal for the Education of the Gifted, Journal of Advanced Academics, Roeper Review and Parenting for High Potential.
Pamela Peak earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from the University of North Texas. Dr. Peak has spent more than 30 years working in various capacities in area school districts, but all with students with special needs. Her research focuses on the development and use of educational assessments to reduce the disproportionality of culturally and linguistically diverse students in special education and pre-/in-service teacher preparation. She has developed widely used assessment instruments including the Test of Early Written Language, Third Edition (TEWL-3) and Young Children’s Achievement Test, Second Edition (YCAT-2).
Anne N. Rinn, Ph.D. is Chair of the Department of Educational Psychology and Professor of Educational Psychology and Gifted Education. She has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Houston and a doctorate in Educational Psychology from Indiana University. Her research is related to the social and emotional experiences of gifted individuals and the psychosocial skills necessary for the development of academic talent. She has published around 100 journal articles and book chapters, as well as two textbooks: Social, Emotional, and Psychosocial Development of Gifted and Talented Individuals (Rinn, 2020) and From Giftedness to Gifted Education: Reflecting Theory in Practice (Plucker et al., 2017). She was co-editor of the Journal of Advanced Academics from 2017-2022.
Megan Rojo is an incoming Assistant Professor of Special Education in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of North Texas. Prior to her career in higher education, she taught in Texas public schools for nearly 10 years, as both a bilingual generalist and a mathematics intervention specialist. Rojo received her Ph.D. in Special Education with an emphasis in Learning Disabilities and Behavioral Disorders from the University of Texas at Austin followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. Dr. Rojo’s research focuses on early interventions for students with or at risk of being diagnosed with a mathematics disability. Specifically, she is interested in developing and testing early algebra readiness and STEM interventions for elementary and middle school students. Dr. Rojo has expertise in research methodologies including randomized controlled trials, single-case research designs, and meta-analysis.
Dr. Anondah Saide is a developmental psychologist with a mixed-methods research approach. Dr. Saide’s research program spans two distinct but related areas. The first pertains to the complex interplay between culture and cognitive development. For example, Dr. Saide seeks to understand how family background influences children’s reasoning about religious (e.g., God), scientific (e.g., germs), and existential (e.g., death) concepts. By extension, Dr. Saide examines how cognitive biases may enhance or constrain the learning of cultural concepts.
The second area of her research program examines how cultural concepts become components of worldview commitments (e.g., political, religious, moral) in adulthood and the socioemotional correlates (e.g., anxiety) of those commitments. Dr. Saide's scholarship is committed to promoting transparency, diverse perspectives, and public engagement in the scientific process. Dr. Saide’s scholarship can be found in journals such as Cognitive Science, the British Journal of Developmental Psychology, the Journal of Cognition and Culture, and Frontiers in Psychology.
Nicole Sankofa is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of North Texas. She graduated from Spelman College with a double major in Psychology and Women's Studies and earned a PhD in Educational Psychology from The Ohio State University. She uses a transformativist paradigm and qualitative methodologies to examine the role of self-determination on adolescent/adult development, psychological well-being, and academic outcomes across school, work, and juvenile detention settings. Dr. Sankofa is the course steward for the sequence of qualitative doctoral courses in the Department of Educational Psychology.
Melissa Savage earned her Ph.D. in Special Education from Purdue University in 2016. Prior to joining the faculty at UNT, Dr. Savage was an IES postdoctoral research associate at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and spent four years as a secondary Special Education teacher in Indiana. She holds degrees in both Special Education and Exercise Science.
Her research focuses on the use of technology to increase engagement and independence in healthy behaviors and community participation for adults and transition-age youth with developmental disabilities. Along with mentor Kara A. Hume, Dr. Savage received a grant from the Organization from Autism Research for her Step It Up project, focusing on increasing physical activity for adults with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability. She has published in journals such as Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Research in Developmental Disabilities, Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability, and TEACHING Exceptional Children.
Michael Siller, PhD, is a developmental psychologist studying how children with autism develop and learn. He is particularly interested in learning that occurs in familiar daily routines and natural environments. His research includes descriptive longitudinal studies to understand developmental mechanisms, intervention trials to determine efficacy, and implementation science to make evidence-based practices accessible to providers in the community. Dr. Siller published the first pair of longitudinal studies to show that responsive parental behaviors reliably predict the long-term (16-year) language gains in autistic children. He also completed two clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of Focused Playtime Intervention, a parent-coaching intervention aligned with the Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) framework. Further, Dr. Siller co-founded an inclusive, university-affiliated laboratory preschool focused on autism and developed professional development programs for community-based preschool teachers. As the Executive Director of the UNT Kristin Farmer Autism Center, Dr. Siller strives to integrate clinical and educational services, and aims to support the implementation of evidence-based practices in community settings. He envisions a world in which children with or at increased likelihood for autism can access interventions promptly and transition seamlessly between intense clinician-delivered interventions, inclusive educational settings, and supportive learning environments at home and in the community. Dr. Siller’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and numerous private foundations (e.g., Autism Speaks, The Far Fund, The Marcus Foundation). Dr. Siller co-edited the Springer Handbook of Parent Implemented Interventions for Very Young Children with Autism, and his articles have been published in leading journals.
James Uanhoro is an assistant professor in the Research, Measurement and Statistics program in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of North Texas. He received his Ph.D. in 2021 in the Quantitative, Research, Evaluation and Measurement program in the Department of Educational Studies at Ohio State University.
Uanhoro's work focuses on the similarities between multilevel regression models and commonplace measurement models — structural equation models, classical test theory and item response models. Specifically, he attempts to leverage insights from both groups of models to better understand patterns in complex data analysis contexts. Underlying much of this work is Bayesian data analysis, which he also applies in research collaborations with social scientists. Finally, James has an interest in building easy-to-use statistical tools that allow researchers better understand patterns in their data, and better communicate insights from their studies.