Early Childhood Special Education Program Coordinator for the Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education, Principal Investigator/Project Director for REED - Cynthia O. Vail, Ph.D.

Dr. Vail is an Associate Professor and Associate Department Head for the Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education at UGA. She has specific expertise in teacher preparation and in ECSE, inclusion, collaboration among providers and families, and positive behavior supports. Her research interests include setting up play environments to promote positive social interaction for children with challenging behaviors and autism. She co-directed three Leadership Personnel Preparation and two masters level personnel preparation grants with an ESCE focus. She has published both quantitative and qualitative research papers including studies related to collaborating with families, cultural issues and peer coaching. Dr. Vail chairs the State Interagency Coordinating Council and helps to coordinate Georgia’s Higher Education Consortium. She previously served on the local Early Head Start Policy Council and the Advisory Council for Northeast Georgia’s Child- Care Resource and Referral Agency. Dr. Vail directs the Birth through Five program and Project REED.

Program Faculty

Bridget Ratajczak, M.A.

 

 

Bridget Ratajczak is a Full-Time Instructor in the Department of Special Education at UGA. She received her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education at the University of Georgia. Mrs. Ratajczak has worked as an Early Intervention Specialist and Developmental Evaluator with the Babies Can’t Wait program in Georgia. She also taught Preschool Special Education, specializing in children with autism. Her areas of interest and specialization include toddler development and behavior issues, positive behavior supports, social-emotional development, Spanish-speaking children and their families, and autism. Mrs. Ratajczak teaches in the Birth – Five program, coordinates and supervises field placements and assists with REED grant activities.

Valerie Cown, M.A.

Valerie Cown is the Program Coordinator of the Birth through Five Program in Child and Family Development at The University of Georgia. She received her Master's Degree in Child and Family Development at UGA. She has taught at the McPhaul Child Development Lab for 25 years and coordinated the Head Start program for 20 of those years.  She is also a lecturer at UGA teaching Creative Activities (5130) in Child Development. Valerie coordinates, advises, arranges/supervises field placements, and handles recruitment, registration and the admissions process for the Birth through Five Program in Child and Family Development. 

Rebecca Lieberman, Ph.D.

Dr. Rebecca Lieberman is an Assistant Professor with the Communication Sciences and Special Education department.  She received her Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Cornell University, and went on to earn her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Oregon in 2001.  Dr. Lieberman provided direct services to infants and toddlers with special needs and their families in Oregon and Massachusetts, and worked as a developmental preschool teacher in Alaska.  Dr. Lieberman received her doctoral degree in special education from Vanderbilt University, with a focus on early childhood special education.  Her research interests include play and communication development in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), parent responsivity behaviors during parent-child interactions, and parent-mediated intervention for young children with ASD.

Stacey Neuharth-Pritchett, Ph.D.

Dr. Pritchett currently serves as a Professor of Educational Psychology and EPIT Graduate Coordinator. Her research interests center on the contexts of early educational intervention, kindergarten retention, economically disadvantaged children's transition to school (particularly the Head Start population), and intervention for children with chronic health problems. She has served as the principal investigator, co-investigator on a number of externally-funded research projects on Head Start, early literacy, and teacher quality. She teaches courses in educational research methodology, applied educational measurement, and seminars on psychological issues for young children placed at risk. She is a Fellow in the Institute for Behavioral Research at The University of Georgia.

Alicia Davis, Ph.D.

Dr. Alicia Davis is an Academic Professional Associate in the Department of Communication Sciences and Special Education. She received her Masters degree from the University of Illinois in the area of moderate/severe disabilities and ECSE. She received her Ph.D. in Special Education from The University of Georgia. Upon graduation, Dr. Davis served as Assistant Professor in ECSE at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Her areas of interest and specialization are Early Childhood Special Education, moderate/severe disabilities, and distance education. She teaches graduate and undergraduate coursework in the SETWEB program (a Special Education distance education program). Dr. Davis will help develop and implement the web-based community of learners, induction year support. Dr. Davis teaches SPED 3050 and serves on our Advisory Board.

Charlotte Wallinga, Ph.D.

Dr. Charlotte Wallinga is an Associate Professor of Child and Family Development. Her research interests include early childhood education, parent-child relationships, and families with hospitalized children. She teaches courses in Child Development, Early Childhood Education, and Hospitalized Child and the Family. Her outreach includes working with Head Start, Child Care, Early Childhood Education, and child life consultation. Dr. Wallinga teaches CHFD 4810. She also serves on the Advisory Board.

Zhen Chai, M. Ed.

Ms. Zhen Chai is the graduate assistant of the Birth through Five program. She received her master's degree in Special Education from Boston University. She is working on her doctoral degree in Early Childhood Special Education at the University of Georgia. Ms. Chai supervises field placements, assists with recruitment and grant activities, and designs and monitors the Birth through Five website.

Mariana Souto-Manning, Ph.D.

Dr. Souto-Manning co-authored the proposal for Project REED. She served as Co-director for REED 2007-2009. She currently is an Associate Professor for Teachers College at Columbia University.