Dear Special Education Research SIG Members,

I am extremely excited to serve as the next Chair of the Special Education Research SIG for AERA.  

As I begin my term, I want to first thank our former Chair, Dr. Chad Rose, who led the efforts last year and was instrumental in guiding our elections and awards activities. Our budget and membership are strong and I hope to continue in his strong legacy, helping to advance and apply special education research.   

As your Chair, I want to encourage collaboration among scholars and practitioners in the field of special education. This will best be accomplished by creating an open and consistent forum for conversations, both formal and informal, related to research on students with special needs.  Our multi-disciplinary membership provides a significant strength.

I would also like to take a moment to thank Dr. Lusa Lo as she begins her year as Program Chair for her efforts and to welcome Dr. Gabriela Walker who begins her three-year term as the Treasurer/Secretary.

Ultimately, we hope to continue to support an inclusive and welcoming SIG atmosphere as a collaborative and productive group of scholars and practitioners within the field of special education.  

I am honored to serve as the Chair of the Special Education Research Special Interest Group in the American Educational Research Association and look forward to working with you. If you have any suggestions on how we can grow our numbers and work collaboratively with other special education research membership groups (e.g., CEC Division of Research) please let me know.

Sincerely,

Laurie U. deBettencourt, Ph.D.
Professor
Johns Hopkins University
[email protected]