New College of Education Faculty for Fall 2009

The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education would like to extend a hearty welcome to 15 new faculty members who have joined the departments of kinesiology and health education; special education; curriculum and instruction; and educational psychology. The new recruits hail from top universities around the nation and, in their areas of expertise, highlight the College of Education’s strong commitment to boosting academic achievement for all student populations and preparing teachers for the realities of a 21st century classroom.

Department of Special Education

Dr. Nina Zuna

Assistant Professor

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Examining individual and family characteristics and system variables that affect quality of life in families that have children with disabilities, including cross-cultural comparisons; understanding attitudinal and skill-based behaviors of professionals who work with families and families' competence and empowerment in working with professionals; looking at the social and emotional characteristics of individuals with autism.

Dr. Terry Falcomata

Assistant Professor

ACADEMIC INTERESTS:  Assessment and treatment of severe destructive behavior displayed by individuals with developmental disabilities and autism, using functional analysis methods and functional communication training (FCT); factors influencing choice (e.g., self-control, impulsivity), including the role of dimensions of reinforcement and the application of stimulus equivalence methods for teaching skills to children with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Dr. Andrea Flower

Assistant Professor

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Behavioral and academic interventions for students with behavioral disorders or at risk for behavioral disorders; response to intervention; systems of positive behavior support. 

Dr. Barbara Pazey

Assistant Professor

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Public school leadership and the development of administrator training programs that foster creativity, innovation and 21st century skills for special population students; trends and issues in special education administration; law and disabilities; organizational behavior; the principalship.

Department of Kinesiology and Health Education

Dr. Darla M. Castelli

Associate Professor (Physical Education Teacher Education)

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Physical education teacher education; technology-enhanced teaching; beneficial effects of physical activity on cognitive function/

Dr. Thomas Hunt

Assistant Professor (Sport Management and Physical Culture and Sports)

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Physical culture, sport studies and sport management; serving as Assistant Director for Academic Affairs in the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center, assisting with the Stark Center’s new book series, publication of the Center’s journal, grant writing for the Center, planning museum exhibits and public programming for the Center; sport law (Hunt has a J.D.); sport policy; how government regulations have affected the American sports scene.

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Dr. Carmen Martinez-Roldan

Associate Professor (Bilingual/Bicultural Education)
ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Sociocultural theories of learning and literacy; Latino students’ and immigrant students’ literacy/biliteracy development; multicultural children’s literature; reader response theories; qualitative research; critical discourse analysis.

Dr. Jennifer Keys Adair

Assistant Professor (Early Childhood Education)

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Comparative and cross-cultural approaches to early childhood education; immigration policy and schooling; social justice and anthropological perspectives in teacher education; intersection of race, class and gender between young children, parents and teachers; public discourse surrounding cultural differences and immigration.

Dr. Rebecca M. Callahan

Assistant Professor (Bilingual/Bicultural Education)

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: First and second language acquisition; Latino students and college readiness; ESL and immigrant academic achievement; academic benefits of friendship ties for Latino students; Proposition 227 and the English Language Learner achievement gap.

Dr. Cesar Delgado

Assistant Professor (Science and Mathematics Education)

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Technology supports for science learning; inquiry-oriented science curriculum development; development of learning progressions for atomic structure and inter-atomic interactions, size and scale and nature of matter.

Dr. Ramon Antonio Martinez

Assistant Professor (Language and Literacy Studies)

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Language and literacy; bilingualism and bilingual education; investigating connections between language, race and the social construction of space in Los Angeles area schools.

Dr. Kathryn M. Obenchain

Assistant Professor (Social Studies Education)

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Social studies instruction; identifying and exploring opportunities for teaching democratic values and offering citizenship education; enhancing critical thinking skills through experiential education; social science education and research methods in Romania.

Dr. Detra Price-Dennis

Assistant Professor (Language and Literacy Studies)

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: How pre-service teachers use critical pedagogy tenets to expand on literacy practices of middle school students as they respond to children’s and young adult literature that examines equity, diversity and social change; social justice, critical literacy and critical conscious pedagogy as related to issues of teacher education.

Department of Educational Psychology

Dr. Keisha Bentley

Assistant Professor (Area II Human Development and Culture)

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: Resiliency in African American adolescents; racial socialization; class and upward mobility; racism and development/well being; altruism and community investment.

Dr. Youngsuk Suh

Assistant Professor (Area III Quantitative Methods)

ACADEMIC INTERESTS: IRT modeling and estimation; cognitive assessment using cognitive diagnostic models; differential item functions; validity and dimensionality; equating and vertical scaling.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910