The Center on Teaching and Learning (CTL) is part of the University of Oregon’s College of Education. Research Associates with Ph.D. training and expertise in education, psychology, and other domains collaborate with a host of support staff to successfully manage federal grants and the UO DIBELS Data System.
Mari Strand Cary brings experience in federal grant leadership and management, developmental psychology, and educational technology development to her role as Director of KinderTEK grants. Leading all aspects of the research and development endeavor, she facilitates smooth collaborations; quality product development, research design, and implementation; dissemination to key stakeholders; and IP and marketing efforts.
Ben Clarke is an author of the IES RTI Practice Guide and brings his extensive expertise in RTI and assessment to the KinderTEK project. He has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on many federally funded projects include core curricula and intervention development and large-scale efficacy tests.
Lina Shanley brings her Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership training as well as her training and teaching experience in Special Education to the project. She authored the KinderTEK curriculum; helps lead and conduct school-based studies, teacher trainings, user-testing and focus groups; and plays a large role in data analysis and dissemination.
Cathy Watkins combines technology, project coordination and data management expertise with a knowledge of school systems and special education. In addition to managing project needs, Cathy directs the quality assurance team with app development, leads the data collection team with assessment training, classroom observations and provides technical and instructional support to participating educators. She developed an observation tool for use with both KinderTEK projects and the relational database underlying observation data collection and data management.
Cathy Dorrah-Stewart provides support for technology coordination, training and implementation, including educational technology testing and device management, development of training materials, and conducting field training and technology support for teams collecting education research data. She has a strong interest in accessibility and assistive technology evaluation. Cathy holds a Master’s degree in Special Education, Early Intervention from the University of Oregon.
Marcia Moore is an experienced project coordinator who has worked on several of CTL’s math intervention grants. Working within the constraints of each participating school, she manages a team of data collectors and ensures all research protocols are up to date and followed by research staff. She is adept at assessment development and adaptation for research contexts,, has experience as a licensed teacher, and is particularly interested in educational technologies and curriculum and assessment development.
Jason Prideaux is the lead software developer on the KinderTEK project. He has a M.S in Computer and Information Science and over 15 years of experience developing software for both research and commercial use. He has extensive experience working with other disciplines such as education, clinical and cognitive sciences. He is in charge of the development of the KinderTEK iPad App and the KinderTEK Teacher Dashboard.
Scott McCammon leads the CTL Software Development team and is experienced in MySQL databases, web design, software engineering, and systems development. He and his team provide website and database design and hosting services, support revisions to the KinderTEK app, and will be responsible for the “bridge” to the DIBELS Data System.
Kathy Jungjohann is a special education faculty member who teaches graduate coursework in instructional methods and has over 20 years experience training pre-service teachers. She leads curriculum development and professional development efforts for all of CTL’s math curricula and interventions, including the IES- and OSEP-funded KinderTEK work.
Patrick C. Kennedy, Ph.D., is a Research Associate at the Center on Teaching and Learning at the University of Oregon. His research interests include analytic methods, formative assessment, observation-based measurement, and data-based decision-making. Dr. Kennedy also has extensive experience developing and implementing experimental research designs (e.g., randomized controlled trials, regression discontinuity), and has conducted analyses to support instructional decision-making using advanced analytic techniques such as hierarchical linear modeling, structural equation modeling, and Item Response Theory.
The Evaluation & Research Team (ERT) from the Office of Child Development is a permanent division of the Office of Child Development. ERT executes an average of 20 research projects each year, including data collection, analysis, and reporting to funders. ERT has a record of working across contexts, populations, and partnering with many community organizations in Pittsburgh, including early childhood centers. Overall, the Office of Child Development has been conducting local, national, and international research for over 30 years. We pride ourselves on conducting rigorous research, in applied settings, that addresses questions that support the development of young children.
OCD Director of Evaluation and Research. Caitlin received her doctorate in special education from the University of Oregon in 2014, followed by a three-year post-doctoral research appointment at the Ohio State University. She brings a strong set of analytic, data and project management skills to her evaluation work, including a diverse methodological background. A former special education teacher, Caitlin also has significant education content-expertise, including a focus on early childhood special education, language and literacy instruction, multitiered systems of support, educator training and professional development, and measuring complex classroom processes.
OCD Senior Evaluation & Research Coordinator. Cecily received her Master in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work with a COSA focus and her Bachelor in Social Work from Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA. The hallmark of Cecily’s experience is collaborative partnership with for-profit organizations, schools/government agencies, nonprofit organizations and nationally funded research projects - Fifth Third Bank, UPMC, Pittsburgh Public Schools, Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Trying Together and the University of Pittsburgh SEED Lab. Cecily’s primary research interests are focused on disproportionality and disparities within early childhood settings and implementation science.
OCD Research Coordinator, Developmental Healthcare Consultant. Molly has a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s degree in special education from the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her doctoral degree in special education from the University of Pittsburgh in 2017. Throughout her doctoral study, she worked as a researcher, college instructor, and consultant. Molly has a strong background in applied behavior analysis and precision teaching. A former special education teacher, Molly is interested in academic instructional design, behavioral interventions, and classroom management strategies for individuals with low-incidence disabilities.
Established in 1960, Oregon Research Institute is a private, nonprofit, behavioral science research center. More than 40 scientists and 150 staff members conduct research on education and instruction, child and adolescent social behavior, parenting, family functioning, personality, health behavior, physical activity, and statistical analysis methods. ORI provides a remarkably collaborative environment with an institutional review board, online library, office productivity services, and human resources, and accounting support, and grant management for researchers at its central office in Eugene and satellites in Portland and Seattle.
Keith Smolkowski is a senior research scientist at Oregon Research Institute interested in academic and social behavior of school-age children within the fields of education and prevention science. He brings expertise in the design and analysis of large-scale and complex research studies, developed as an investigator or lead research analyst on over 50 federally funded projects.
Ryann Crowley is a senior data analyst at the Oregon Research Institute. She provides expertise unveiling “user experience” stories of the KinderTEK program. She communicates the data derived insights to inform decisions, improve data accuracy, and advance student and teacher (customers) experiences with the KinderTEK program and evaluates the effectiveness of KinderTEK on student educational outcomes.
Concentric Sky is a U.S. technology firm with expertise and proven success in enterprise web development, social media, and mobile application development. Together with CTL, they developed KinderTEK with IES funding and were involved in the initial expansion funded by OSEP.
Emberex builds customized, intuitive software for researchers and educators. They helped refine KinderTEK through OSEP funds.
The research reported here was supported by the U.S. Department of Education through the Institute of Education Sciences Grants R324A110286 and R305A170044 and the Office of Special Education Programs Grant H327S140019, all to the University of Oregon. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service or enterprise mentioned in this publication is intended or should be inferred.