Live Interactive Chat

Guest Biography

Mary Louise Hemmeter, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. From 1991-2001, she was on the faculty at the University of Kentucky. In addition to working in a variety of early childhood settings, she has been involved in providing training and technical assistance to staff in early childhood settings including Child Care, Head Start, and public schools. During the ten years that she worked at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Hemmeter was instrumental in developing an Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education Personnel Preparation Program. In addition to her activities related to training and technical assistance, Dr. Hemmeter has pursued an active research and publishing career. She has had over $10,000,000 in funding for her research and training activities. These grants have been funded by federal, state and local entities and have included model demonstration projects, outreach projects, research projects and personnel training projects. She is currently directing the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning which is a collaborative project between Head Start and Child Care. Much of her research has focused on effective teaching strategies and promoting children's active engagement and communication skills in order to prevent challenging behaviors. In addition, she has been involved in a number of evaluation projects including an 8-year longitudinal evaluation of the Kentucky Preschool Programs and an evaluation of the Kentucky Governor's Initiative on Early Childhood Development. Finally, Dr. Hemmeter recently completed a five-year term on the Executive Board of the Council for Exceptional Children's Division for Early Childhood during which time she served as President. During her tenures on the DEC Board, she worked on products related to DEC's Recommended Practices in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education.

Disclaimer

The opinions, resources, and referrals provided on the IEL Web site are intended for informational purposes only and are not intended to take the place of medical or legal advice, or of other appropriate services. We encourage you to seek direct local assistance from a qualified professional if necessary before taking action.

The content of the IEL Web site does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Illinois Early Learning Project, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, or the Illinois State Board of Education; nor does the mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the Illinois Early Learning Project, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, or the Illinois State Board of Education.