Department of Special Educational Child Development (SPCD)

Holly Johnson is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education and Child Development at UNC Charlotte. Her research and teaching interests include multi-tiered interventions, applied behavior analysis, positive behavior interventions and support, teacher support through effective professional development and coaching, and student engagement. Education Ph.D. – University of North Carolina at Charlotte […]

LuAnn Jordan is an Associate Professor of Special Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She teaches courses in written expression methods and the Introduction to Special Education course in the Graduate Certificate program, for which she also serves as program director. Jordan’s current areas of interest and research include written expression for […]

Ya-yu Lo is a Professor of Special Education at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She serves as program director for the M.A.T. in Special Education, as well as the Special Education and ABA concentrations in the M.Ed. in Special Education. Lo specializes in school-based multi-tiered interventions using applied behavior analytic approach for urban […]

Michael S. Matthews is a Professor and Program Director for the Academically/Intellectually Gifted graduate programs at UNC Charlotte. He has served as co-editor of the Journal of Advanced Academics and Gifted Child Quarterly, and is a former Board Member of the Talented & Gifted Division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC-TAG) and the National Association for Gifted Children […]

Laura McCorkle is an Associate Professor of Child and Family Development and Early Childhood Mental Health Certificate Director in the Cato College of Education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her areas of interests include personnel preparation, early intervention, coaching, mentorship, and using technology to support pre-service candidates. McCorkle regularly teaches courses related […]

Hedda Meadan, Ph.D., BCBA-D, is the Snyder Distinguished Professor in the Department of Special Education and Child Development at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Her research focuses on social-communication skills and challenging behavior of children with autism and other developmental disabilities and intervention methods to enhance these spheres of functioning. Meadan and her […]

Ann M. Mickelson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education and Child Development at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She also serves as the Graduate Director of the M.Ed in Special Education: Child and Family Studies Concentration and the M.A.T in Child and Family Studies. Mickelson’s experiences as an early […]

Christopher O’Brien is Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Director for General and Adapted Special Education in the Department of Special Education and Child Development at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Education Teaching Research Interests/Areas of Expertise Awards & Honors Selected Publications O’Brien, C. & Sacco, D. (2023). Exceptionality in school and society: A […]

Area(s) of Interest and Research students with significant cognitive disabilitiesapplied behavior analysisaccess to the general curriculumalternate assessment