July 18, 2006
The following is an extensive list of top experts in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) schools of Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Business and Medicine who are available to answer questions on everything from No Child Left Behind, bullying and nutrition to standardized testing and reading. For interviews, contact either Gail Short at 205-934-8931 or the UAB Office of Media Relations at 205-934-3884.
Accountability
Scott Snyder, Ph.D. – associate professor of education
Expertise: accountability in education, state accountability assessment models and early intervention and statistics
Credentials: directs the UAB School of Education’s Center for Educational Accountability, which promotes improvement in educational outcomes of students, schools and agencies
Bullying
Loucrecia Collins, Ed.D. – assistant professor of educational leadership
Expertise: bullying, conflict resolution
Credentials: coordinator of the “Don’t Laugh at Me” Birmingham Consortium, a program that uses songs, games, videos and classroom activities to teach children about respecting others; Collins teaches in the Department of Leadership, Special Education, Foundations and Technology.
Child Abuse/Child Sexual Abuse
Renitta Goldman, Ph.D. – professor of special education
Expertise: signs and effects of physical, emotional and sexual abuse
Credentials: teaches in the Department of Leadership, Special Education, Foundations and Technology; author of “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Child Abuse & Neglect,” “Silent Shame: The Sexual Abuse of Children and Youth” and co-editor of the book “Current Issues and Trends in Education”
Child Injuries/Pedestrian Safety
David Schwebel, Ph.D. – associate professor of psychology
Expertise: child safety, pedestrian accidents involving children, psychological causes of childhood injuries
Credentials: director of the UAB Department of Psychology’s Youth Safety Lab, where he conducts laboratory-based studies of factors that lead to child and adolescent injuries; He has published articles in Child Development, Journal of Safety Research and the Journal of Pediatric Psychology.
Credit Advice for College Students
Lance Nail, Ph.D. – associate professor of finance
Expertise: personal finance
Credentials: chairman of the Department of Finance, Economics, Quantitative Methods; Nail’s articles have been published in the Journal of Financial Economics and the Journal of Applied Corporate Finance.
Discipline
Vivian Friedman, Ph.D. – professor of child and adolescent psychiatry
Expertise: parenting, child psychology
Credentials: a child, adolescent, couples and family therapist; teaches in the UAB Department of Psychiatry
Early Childhood Education
Jerry Aldridge, Ed.D. – professor of early childhood education
Expertise: early childhood education, personality development, self-esteem, separation anxiety and first day of school jitters
Credentials: teaches in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction; author and co-author of more than 100 journal articles and eight books, including “Self Esteem: Loving Yourself at Every Age,” “No Easy Answers: Helping Children With Attention and Activity Level Differences” and “Current Issues and Trends in Education.” Aldridge also is former president of the U.S. National Committee for the World Organization for Early Childhood Education.
Deborah H. Strevy, Ph.D. – assistant professor of early childhood education
Expertise: early childhood education, reading, literature, literacy, oral tradition, storytelling, writing, speech and theatre
Credentials: teaches in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. She is a language consultant and storyteller.
Eating Disorders
Mary Boggiano, Ph.D. – associate professor of psychology
Expertise: food addiction, eating disorders
Credentials: published articles in journals, including the International Journal of Eating Disorders, Behavioral Medicine and Physiology & Behavior
Retta Evans, Ph.D. – associate professor of health education
Expertise: health education, health behaviors, obesity, eating disorders and exercise
Credentials: published articles in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing and Perceptual and Motor Skills. She is a member of the State Obesity Task Force, the State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and the Alabama Black Belt Action Commission. Evans teaches in the UAB Department of Human Studies.
Michael J. Froning, Ed.D. – dean of the UAB School of Education
Expertise: taught courses examining critical issues in high school education and “American Schools in Crisis”
Credentials:has been a member of the National Advisory Board of the Mathematics Education Collaborative, the Council of Great City Colleges of Education and the Urban Educator Corps of the Great Cities Universities
English as a Second Language (ESL, ELL Education)
Julia Austin, Ph.D. – director and principal investigator for the School of Education’s Office of English as a Second Language
Expertise: ESL education
Credentials: principal investigator of programs that train teachers and school personnel how to work with children who are learning English as their second language
Evolution/The Teaching of Evolution
Lee Meadows, Ph.D. – associate professor of education
Expertise: science education, science reform, professional development for science teachers
Credentials: co-author of the journal article “Managing the Conflict Between Evolution and Religion” in The American Biology Teacher, Feb. 2000
First Day of School Jitters/Self Esteem
Jerry Aldridge, Ed.D. – professor of early childhood education
Expertise: early childhood education, personality development, self-esteem, separation anxiety and first day of school jitters
Credentials: teaches in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction; author and co-author of more than 100 journal articles and eight books, including “Self Esteem: Loving Yourself at Every Age,” “No Easy Answers: Helping Children With Attention and Activity Level Differences” and “Current Issues and Trends in Education.” Aldridge also is former president of the U.S. National Committee for the World Organization for Early Childhood Education.
Vivian Friedman, Ph.D.– professor of child and adolescent psychiatry
Expertise: parenting, child psychology
Credentials: a child, adolescent, couples and family therapist; teaches in the UAB Department of Psychiatry
Gender Equity in Math, Science, Technology Education
(See “Technology Education”)
Grades: Excessive Push for Grades
Vivian Friedman, Ph.D. – professor of child and adolescent psychiatry
Expertise: parenting, child psychology
Credentials: a child, adolescent, couples and family therapist; teaches in the UAB Department of Psychiatry
Health Education
Brian Geiger, Ed.D. – associate professor of health education
Expertise: health education and school health programs
Credentials: teaches in the School of Education’s Department of Human Studies, assistant director of the Center for Educational Accountability and faculty member in the Center for Health Promotion; project evaluator on government funded grants aimed at increasing effective substance abuse and violence prevention programs, diversity training, detection of diabetes risk factors and student mentoring initiatives
Mathematics Education
Michael Froning, Ed.D.– Dean of the UAB School of Education
Expertise: the state of high school mathematics education
Credentials: member of the National Advisory Board of the Mathematics Education Collaborative, Council of Great City Colleges of Education and Urban Educator Corps of the Great Cities Universities
Constance Kamii, Ph.D. – professor of math education
Expertise: math instruction
Credentials: expert in general mathematics, Piaget’s theory of constructivism, author of books and journal articles on math education
Charles Calhoun, Ph.D. – associate professor of mathematics education
Expertise: elementary school mathematics; dealing with math anxiety
Credentials: chairman of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education
Tommy Smith, Ed.D. – associate professor of math education
Expertise: high school mathematics education, technology in mathematics teaching
Credentials: teaches in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction; Smith was part of a team that coordinated the EdGrid program for education students. The program teaches students how to use computers and Internet-based investigative techniques to solve real-world problems through computer simulation.
No Child Left Behind
Scott Snyder, Ph.D. – associate professor of education
Expertise: accountability in education, evaluation of teacher education programs and training programs, state accountability assessment, early intervention and statistics
Credentials: directs the UAB Center for Educational Accountability, which promotes improvement in educational outcomes of students, schools and agencies through data-based decisions focused on reform
Multicultural Education
Anarella Cellitti, Ph.D. – associate professor of early childhood education
Expertise: international education, multicultural education, effects of violence on children
Credentials: teaches in the UAB Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Nutrition
Kathy Hubbert, M.S., R.D. – registered dietitian
Expertise:obesity, weight control
Credentials: registered dietitian with the UAB EatRight Weight Management Program
Obesity/Body Image
Retta Evans, Ph.D. - associate professor of health education
Expertise: health education, health behaviors, obesity, eating disorders and exercise
Credentials: published articles in journals, including the Journal of Pediatric Nursing and Perceptual and Motor Skills; She is a member of the State Obesity Task Force, the State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and the Alabama Black Belt Action Commission. Evans teaches in the UAB Department of Human Studies.
Physical Education
Donna Hester, Ph.D. – associate professor of physical education
Expertise: elementary and middle school physical education, fitness activities physical education requirements in Alabama
Credentials: executive director of the Alabama Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; teaches in the Department of Human Studies
Race Equity in Math, Science, Technology Education
(See “Technology Education”)
Reading/Literacy
Kathleen Martin, Ph.D.– assistant professor of education
Expertise: child development, early literacy acquisition, language development
Credentials: Martin teaches in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Maryann Manning, Ed.D. – professor of education
Expertise: reading, reading and writing instruction
Credentials: reading and writing editor for Teaching K-8 magazine; written more than 200 journal articles; Manning teaches in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Retention
Jerry Aldridge, Ed.D. – professor of early childhood education
Expertise: early childhood education, personality development, self-esteem, separation anxiety and first day of school jitters
Credentials: teaches in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction; author and co-author of more than 100 journal articles and eight books, including “Self Esteem: Loving Yourself at Every Age,” “No Easy Answers: Helping Children With Attention and Activity Level Differences” and “Current Issues and Trends in Education.” Aldridge also is former president of the U.S. National Committee for the World Organization for Early Childhood Education.
School Administration/Leadership
Jerry Patterson, Ph.D. – professor of educational leadership
Expertise: education leadership, organizational change
Credentials: former school superintendent, assistant superintendent, elementary school principal, and high school teacher; author of five nationally recognized books, including “The Anguish of Leadership” (2000), in which he profiled 14 school veteran school superintendents around the nation about the problems and challenges they face as school leaders. In his book “Coming Even Cleaner About Organizational Change” (2003) Patterson discusses new ways to think about organizational change, leadership and resilience. Patterson teaches in the Department of Leadership, Special Education, Foundations and Technology.
School Counseling
Larry Tyson, Ph.D. – associate professor of counseling education Expertise: school counseling, peer mediation, cinematherapy for group counseling, legal issues in school counseling, preparing for college
Credentials: program coordinator of the Department of Human Studies’ school counseling program
Science Education
Lee Meadows, Ph.D. – associate professor of education
Expertise: science education reform
Credentials: Meadows teaches in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
David Radford, Ph.D. – associate professor of science education Expertise: science education, science teacher retention and mentoring Credentials: Radford is leading a five-year, $4.4 million National Science Foundation funded study determine how to keep novice teachers in urban schools from quitting the profession and how to improve science and math instruction. Radford teaches in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Special Education/Inclusion
Karen Dahle, Ph.D. – professor of special education
Expertise: inclusion of students with moderate to severe disabilities in the general classroom, autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and developmental disorders
Credentials: published articles on autism and inclusion in national, refereed journals; teaches in the Department of Leadership, Special Education, Foundations and Technology
Renitta Goldman, Ph.D. – professor of special education
Expertise: special education, child abuse
Credentials: coordinator of the UAB School of Education’s special education programs; project director of a federally supported program to designed to help teachers earn a master’s degree in special education and ESL certification; co-author of book “Current Issues and Trends in Education” and “Teaching Children to Read”; teaches in the Department of Leadership, Special Education, Foundations and Technology
Jennifer Kilgo, Ed.D. – professor of special education
Expertise: early childhood special education
Credentials: teaches in the School of Education’s Department of Leadership, Special Education, Foundations and Technology; author and co-author of numerous journal articles, books and book chapters on special education.
Lou Anne Worthington, Ph.D. – associate professor of special education
Expertise: special education, behavioral interventions, legal issues and curriculum and instruction
Credentials: teaches in the School of Education’s Department of Leadership, Special Education, Foundations and Technology
Standardized Testing
Scott Snyder, Ph.D. – associate professor of education
Expertise: state accountability assessment models, applied statistics
Credentials: directs the UAB Center for Educational Accountability, which promotes improvement in educational outcomes of students, schools and agencies
Teacher Education/Training
Deborah L. Voltz, Ed.D. - associate professor of education
Expertise: urban education and special education
Credentials: Voltz directs the Urban Education Project, a new initiative to develop research, programs and policies aimed at raising academic achievement in Birmingham metropolitan area schools. She teaches in the Department of Leadership, Special Education, Foundations and Technology.
Teacher Mentoring/Resilience
Janice Patterson, Ph.D. - associate professor of education
Expertise: teacher mentoring, new teacher induction and mentoring, resilient teachers and schools
Credentials: co-author of the book “Bouncing Back: How Your School Can Succeed in the Face of Adversity”
Technology Education
Gypsy Abbott, Ph.D. – professor and research scientist
Expertise: gender and race equity in math, science and technology education
Credentials: research focuses on ways to increase gender and race equity in math, science and technology education; principal investigator of EdGrid Moving K-12 Teachers into 21st Century Science with 21st Century Technology, which was designed to implement the technology of math modeling and scientific visualization into teacher education. Abbott also led the GK-12 EdGrid Graduate Teaching Fellowship project for graduate students in the sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology disciplines. She is a professor in the School of Education’s Department of Human Studies.
Urban Education
Deborah L. Voltz, Ed.D.- associate professor of education
Expertise: urban education and special education
Credentials: Voltz directs the Urban Education Project, a new initiative to develop research, programs and policies aimed at raising academic achievement in Birmingham metropolitan area schools. She teaches in the Department of Leadership, Special Education, Foundations and Technology.
Tondra Loder, Ph.D. – assistant professor of educational foundations
Expertise: race and ethnicity in American education, urban education, education and urban policy
Credentials: Loder is author of several articles on inner city youth development organizations. She teaches in the Department of Leadership, Special Education, Foundations and Technology.