MLFC faculty, students share insights at CEC 2026
MLFC faculty and students shared knowledge and insights at the recent Council for Exceptional Children annual convention in Salt Lake City. The March event involved eight faculty members, most in leadership or presenting roles; five MLFC PhD students; and seven undergraduate early childhood and special education students. Associate Dean and Professor Sarup Mather also received an award for outstanding leadership.
For her important contributions to the field of special education with a focus on students with emotional and behavioral needs, Mathur was recognized with the Outstanding Leadership Award from CEC’s Division for Emotional and Behavioral Health. Her scholarship comprises more than 120 publications in areas including professional development, violence prevention, mental health, juvenile justice, applied behavior analysis and academic outcomes. The award announcement also commended Mathur for her leadership in national professional organizations, educating and mentoring students and practitioners, and spearheading a rigorous program of research.
Presenters at CEC 2026 March 11-14 included Wendy Peia Oakes, MLFC executive strategist and the Nadine Mathis Basha Professor of Early Childhood Education, professors Juliet Hart Barnett and Erin Rotheram-Fuller and Assistant Professor Jesse Fleming. Also presenting was Associate Professor Kathleen M. Farrand. Farrand is the editor of Visual Impairment and DeafBlind Education Quarterly, the practitioner journal of CEC’s Division on Visual Impairments and DeafBlindness, and co-editor of the Journal of the Arts and Special Education. Also representing MLFC were Emeritus Professor Kathleen S. Puckett, and Professor Kathleen King Thorius, co-editor of the CEC’s flagship journal, Exceptional Children.
Five MLFC doctoral students attended — Carrie Brandon, Kassandra Spurlock, Brad Thompon, Rebecca Adams and Matthew Aschliman — and each made presentations. Adams, a PhD student in Learning, Literacies and Technologies, was also recognized with the Lyndall Bullock Doctoral Award, presented by CEC’s Division for Emotional and Behavioral Health, which Adams also serves as secretary. Brandon and Spurlock, also LLT students, were named Doctoral Student Scholars in the CEC Division for Research. Brandon was elected to the CEC DEBH executive board, and Spurlock is the editor of the DEBH newsletter, “Behavior Today.”
Six MLFC undergraduate students attended. All are part of Project GREATNESS — GRowing Exceptional Arizona Teachers to meet the Needs of Early-childhood Students in Special-education — a U.S. Department of Education-funded research initiative led by Farrand.