{"id":19890,"date":"2022-10-24T15:10:04","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T19:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/educational-research\/19890"},"modified":"2026-02-17T16:47:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T16:47:33","slug":"research-spotlight-ashley-pennypacker-hill-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/educational-research\/2022\/10\/24\/research-spotlight-ashley-pennypacker-hill-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Research Spotlight: Melinda Leko"},"content":{"rendered":"

Q & A\u00a0with Melinda Leko, Ph. D.<\/strong>, Professor in the School of Special Education, School Psychology, and\u00a0Early Childhood Studies<\/p>\n

What research are you currently working on?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Currently, I am working on an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Development project in professional development to support students with disabilities. My colleagues and I are developing a professional development (PD) innovation for emergency-certified special educators working in rural settings. The PD is being delivered remotely and includes individualized coaching and a community of practice. The PD content centers on social\/emotional\/behavioral high-leverage practices (HLPs) to support the needs of students who exhibit challenging behaviors.<\/p>\n

What is the broader impact of your research?<\/span><\/h2>\n

My research centers on how to best prepare educators to provide students with disabilities with an equitable, inclusive, and socially just education. When educators are better prepared, there are a series of positive outcomes including higher student achievement, higher teacher self-efficacy, and better retention of teachers.<\/span><\/p>\n

What other research topics are you interested in?<\/span><\/h2>\n

I am interested in reading instruction for adolescents with dis<\/span>abilities<\/span> and the rigorous use of qualitative and mixed methods research in special education.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q & A with Nigel Newbutt, Assistant Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":24199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[125],"class_list":["post-19890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-spotlights","tag-october-2022"],"yoast_head":"\nResearch Spotlight: Melinda Leko - Office of Educational Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/educational-research\/2022\/10\/24\/research-spotlight-ashley-pennypacker-hill-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Research Spotlight: Melinda Leko\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q & A with Nigel Newbutt, Assistant Professor in the School of Teaching and Learning\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/educational-research\/2022\/10\/24\/research-spotlight-ashley-pennypacker-hill-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Office of Educational Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-10-24T19:10:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T16:47:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/educational-research\/files\/2022\/10\/Melinda-Leko-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1747\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"evekung\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"evekung\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/educational-research\/2022\/10\/24\/research-spotlight-ashley-pennypacker-hill-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/education.ufl.edu\/educational-research\/2022\/10\/24\/research-spotlight-ashley-pennypacker-hill-2\/\",\"name\":\"Research Spotlight: Melinda Leko - 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