PIRT Faculty
Christopher J. Lonigan, Ph.D. (Program Director) is a Professor of
Psychology at Florida State University and the Associate Director of the
Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR). Dr. Lonigan is a clinical psychologist
with expertise in applied developmental issues, early literacy, quantitative methods,
preventative interventions, and longitudinal projects. Dr. Lonigan is or has been the
Principal Investigator for an IES Preschool Curriculum Evaluation Project, three NICHD-funded
research projects on the development of early literacy, a NSF-funded research project on preschool
intervention, a DHHS-funded research on the development and promotion of early literacy in children attending Head Start,
and he has been a Co-Principal Investigator on an NICHD-funded research project examining the efficacy of a preventative
preschool intervention for children at risk of reading problems and the development of reading problems. The IES, NSF,
DHHS and two of the NICHD projects involve RCTs of interventions or curricula.
More info >>
Christopher Schatschneider, Ph.D. (Program Co-Director) is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Florida State University and a
Faculty Member of the Florida Center for Reading Research. He has the longest name of any PIRT faculty member.
Dr. Schatschneider has significant expertise in quantitative methods and research design. He has published in the area
of individual differences in early reading acquisition, measurement, and item response theory, and the use of hierarchical
linear models in developmental research. Dr. Schatschneider has been a NICHD Principal Investigator in a research project on
bilingual literacy and is currently a Co-Principal Investigator on four federal grants (two IERI-NSF and two NICHD), which
focus on the development of early reading skills. Three of the four current grants involve the use of randomized trials in the research design.
More info >>
Joseph K. Torgesen, Ph.D. is the Robert M. Gagne Professor of Psychology and Education and the Director of the
Florida Center for Reading Research. Dr. Torgesen is a nationally recognized expert in reading disabilities, reading assessment,
and interventions for both the prevention and remediation of reading difficulties. Dr. Torgesen is or has been the principal
investigator on several NICHD and IES funded research projects involving randomized evaluations of interventions for struggling
readers in grades 1 through 5. He was one of the principal engineers of Florida's Reading First Initiative and is actively involved
in providing leadership for that effort in 400 elementary schools in Florida. He is also the principal investigator for a U.S.
Department of Education Award to provide technical assistance for the implementation of Reading First programs in states along the Eastern seaboard.
More info >>
Richard K. Wagner, Ph.D. is the Alfred Binet Professor of Psychology and Associate Director of the Florida Center for
Reading Research. Dr. Wagner is a nationally recognized expert in the development and measurement of early reading skills.
He has substantial expertise in research methods and quantitative methods, including measurement and item response theory,
multivariate analyses, and structural equation modeling. Dr. Wagner has the principal investigator on several NICHD funded
research projects involving the development of early reading skills, co-principal investigator on several NICHD funded research
projects involving the evaluation of early reading interventions for struggling readers, and is principal investigator on an IES
funded research project examining reading comprehension in school age children.
More info >>
Laura B. Lang, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and the Director of the Learning Systems Institute (LSI), an interdisciplinary research and development unit of Florida State University. Dr. Hassler's experiences for 12 years as a special education teacher, 14 years as a school-based administrator--including 8 years as a school principal, and her role in LSI provide her with firsthand knowledge and expertise concerning the challenges encountered in undertaking major educational reform efforts at the classroom, school, and district level. Dr. Hassler is the principal investigator for a number of federal and state-level grants involved with the evaluation of initiatives to improve the quality of leadership, teaching and learning in Pre-K-12 schools. She is the principal investigator on an IES funded project designed to systematically examine the relationship between data driven instructional decision-making and student performance in reading. In addition, she oversees a variety of other educationally relevant projects in her role as Director of LSI. Dr. Hassler
serves on the boards and executive committees of numerous organizations and committees associated with the development
and evaluation of educational policy in the State of Florida.
More info >>
Alysia D. Roehrig, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems at Florida State University,
and she is a Faculty Member of the Florida Center for Reading Research. Dr Roehrig is an expert in teacher quality and effective teaching
practices. She currently has several on-going research projects related to improving teachers' practices in the classroom.
More info >>
Stephanie Al Otaiba, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Childhood Education, Reading,
and Disability Services at Florida State University, and she is a Faculty Member of the Florida Center
for Reading Research. Dr. Al Otaiba has been teaching and studying children with special needs for over
20 years, and she has authored or co-authored several articles and book chapters on that subject. She has
expertise in the early identification of children at risk for reading failure, early literacy interventions
for children with disabilities, and training teachers to work with students with special needs.
More info >>
Akihito Kamata, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems at
Florida State University. Dr. Kamata is an expert in psychometrics, including Reliability Theory, Item-Response Theory,
Multilevel Item Response models, and related quantitative methods. His recent work, funded by IES and the State of Florida,
has examined how test accommodations for limited English proficiency students and students with disabilities are affecting
their performance on test items, such as in the NAEP and FCAT. Dr. Kamata teaches several graduate-level courses on psychometrics
and quantitative methods, including IRT analyses of test data.
More info >>
Richard L. Tate, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems at Florida State University.
Dr. Tate is an expert in multivariate statistics, including Hierarchical Linear Modeling and Item-Response Theory.
His recent work has focused on psychometric analyses. Dr. Tate teaches several graduate-level courses on psychometrics and quantitative methods.
More info >>
Carol M. Connor, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Childhood Education, Reading, and Disability Services at Florida State University, and she is a Faculty Member of the Florida Center for Reading Research. Dr. Connor's area of expertise includes the way in which characteristics of learners influence their responses to education and educational interventions. Additionally, her professional background and research has focused on children with special needs in educational settings, particularly children with hearing impairments.
Roxanne F. Hudson, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Childhood Education, Reading, and Disability Services at Florida State University, and she is a Faculty Member of the Florida Center for Reading Research. Dr. Hudson's areas of interest include instructional methods to prevent and remediate reading disabilities in children and studies to understand the complexities of fluent reading. Dr. Hudson also is interested in understanding how pre-service and in-service teachers change in their understanding of teaching and learning as a result of coursework, field experiences, and professional development. She is currently the PI on a project funded by the OSEP focused on reading fluency in second grade students.
Howard Goldstein, Ph.D. is the Donald M. Baer Professor and Chair of Communication Disorders at Florida State University. Dr. Goldstein's
area of expertise involves the development and evaluation of early intervention programs for children with communication disorders. Most
recently, he has focused on evaluations of intervention programs for improving the language and literacy outcomes for young children with
communication impairments, as well as the preparation of personnel who will work at the interface of research and policy. He has current
funding from the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate the impact of various interventions for children with communication impairments.
More info >>
Thomas A. Lynch, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis and an Adjunct Professor of Economics, Public Administration, Urban Planning at Florida State University. Dr. Lynch is an economist with expertise in the economics of educational policy and practice.
More info >>
