School Psychology
Alumni Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 1
About the Newsletter
We are excited to present our first newsletter
for alumni of the University of Iowa’s School
Psychology program!
The aim of this
newsletter is to keep our alumni informed on
what’s happening within the program, as well
as provide a way to stay connected with the
university and its graduates.
Have something that you would like to appear
in the newsletter? We welcome news from all
of our alumni! Please do not hesitate to
contact Amanda Osborn at amanda-osborn@
uiowa.edu or Kit Gerken at kathryngerken@uiowa.edu.
Summer 2013
Announcements
Congratulations to the following award recipients from the past
year:
Jenny Andersen, Amanda Berns, Shannon Dyson, Jennifer
Kuhle, Nicole Lustig, Patrick Romani, Jessica Schwartz, Julie St.
John, Alyssa Suess, and Shaun Wilkinson awarded the iLend
Fellowship
Jill Brink, Kirstin Miller, Amanda Osborn, and Shaun Wilkinson
awarded the Dean’s Award of Excellence, 2012
Brooke Holland: Audrey Qualls Travel Award, 2012 and The
Office of the Dean Graduate Student Travel Award, 2012
Nicole Lustig awarded the Braverman Scholarship
Clark Kopelman, Kirstin Miller, and Ginna Moreano awarded the
first place award at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Research
Symposium, 2013
Jessica O’Bleness awarded James and Coretta Stroud
Fellowship, 2012
Jessica O’Bleness awarded the Howard Jones Achievement
Award, 2013
Dr. Kristen Missall commissioned to serve on the Kindergarten
Readiness Assessment Task Force by the Iowa General
Assembly, 2012
Dr. Kristen Missall received the Editor’s Appreciation Award,
Journal of School Psychology, 2012
Patrick Romani awarded the Oustanding Graduate Student
Mentor Award, 2013, as well as the Ballard Seashore
Dissertation Year Fellowship, 2013
Amanda Osborn, Gun Sung Lee, and Dr. Kit Gerken
at the APA Convention in Washington, DC
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Shaun Wilkinson awarded the Winifred S. Scott Scholarship in
Child Growth and Development and the ECGPS Earn While You
Learn Scholarship
About the Newsletter
Announcements
Did You Know?
Selected Presentations
Selected Publications
Catching Up with Alumni
Lindquist Center
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School Psychology Alumni Newsletter
Did You Know?
Our students and faculty lead some interesting
lives…
Nicole Lustig recently completed an Ironman competition.
Amanda Osborn breeds sheep as a hobby.
Jen Kuhle teaches French to children.
Dr. Kit Gerken has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Selected Presentations
Holland, B.M., Cooper-Brown, L.J., & Bachmeyer, M.H. (2012,
May). Outcomes of an intensive outpatient behavioral feeding
program at the University of Iowa. Presented at the annual
meeting for Association for Behavior Analysis, Denver, CO.
Holland, B.M., Schieltz, K.M., Wacker, D.P., & Suess, A.N.
(2012, May). Effects of reinforcers identified in a concurrent
operants on low preferred activities in an outpatient clinic.
Poster presented at the annual conference of the Association
for Behavior Analysis International, Seattle, WA.
Kopelman, A. R., Miller, K. D., Moreano, G., & Santos,
A. (2013, February). Promoting School Engagement of
Migrant Students Through Summer School
Participation. Poster presentation at the National
Association of School Psychologists Annual Convention,
Seattle, WA.
Selected Presentations
Holland, B.M., Cooper-Brown, L.J., & Bachmeyer, M.H.
(2012, May). Outcomes of an intensive outpatient
behavioral feeding program at the University of Iowa.
Presented at the annual meeting for Association for
Behavior Analysis, Denver, CO.
Holland, B.M., Schieltz, K.M., Wacker, D.P., & Suess, A.N.
(2012, May). Effects of reinforcers identified in a
concurrent operants on low preferred activities in an
outpatient clinic. Poster presented at the annual
conference of the Association for Behavior Analysis
International, Seattle, WA.
Kopelman, C., Jones, G., Kramer, A. R.., Knabe, W., &
Ehly, S. (2012, May). The relationship between parental
involvement and adolescent drug use. Poster session
presented at the 84th annual meeting of the Midwestern
Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Holland, B.M., Cooper-Brown, L.J., & Bachmeyer, M.H.
(2012, May). Outcomes of an intensive outpatient
behavioral feeding program at the University of Iowa.
Presented at the annual meeting for Association for
Behavior Analysis, Denver, CO.
Holland, B.M., Schieltz, K.M., Wacker, D.P., & Suess, A.N.
(2012, May). Effects of reinforcers identified in a
concurrent operants on low preferred activities in an
outpatient clinic. Poster presented at the annual
conference of the Association for Behavior Analysis
International, Seattle, WA.
Kopelman, C., Jones, G., Kramer, A. R.., Knabe, W., &
Ehly, S. (2012, May). The relationship between parental
involvement and adolescent drug use. Poster session
presented at the 84th annual meeting of the Midwestern
Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Kopelman, C., Jones, G., Kramer, A. R.., Knabe, W., & Ehly,
S. (2012, May). The relationship between parental
involvement and adolescent drug use. Poster session
presented at the 84th annual meeting of the Midwestern
Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
Kopelman, C., Marron, M., & Assouline, S. (2012, December).
The social, emotional, and academic characteristics of
profoundly gifted students receiving specialized services.
Poster session presented at the 59th annual convention of the
National Association of Gifted Children, Denver, CO.
Missall, K., Wilkinson, S., Gethmann, D., & Johnson, K.
(2012). A Statewide Effort to Identify and Evaluate PreK
Assessments for Screening and Monitoring Progress in Early
Literacy. Poster presented at the RTI Early Childhood
Summit, Santa Ana Pueblo, NM.
Romani, P. W., Wacker, D.P., Kane, A.N., Suess, A.B.,
Holland, B.M., Padilla-Dalmau, Y.C, & Schwartz, J.E. (2013,
May). Relations between preference and the persistence of
task completion. In W. Berg (Chair). Presentation presented
at the 39th annual convention of the Association for Behavior
Analysis International, Minneapolis, MN.
Suess, A.N., Wacker, D.P., Kopelman, T.G., Lindgren, S.D.,
Lee, J.F., Romani, P., & Dyson, S. (2013, May). Assessment
of challenging behavior by parents via in-home telehealth
assessment of challenging behavior by parents via in-home
telehealth. Presentation presented at the 39th annual
convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis
International, Minneapolis, MN
Yang, L.-Y., Piazza, C., Milnes, S. M., Kozisek, J. M., Volkert,
V. M., & Van Riper, C. (2013, May). Producing clinically
meaningful outcomes for children with autism spectrum
disorders and feeding disorders. Symposium presented at the
39th Annual Convention of Association for Behavior Analysis
International, Minneapolis, MN.
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School Psychology Alumni Newsletter
Selected Publications
Selected Publications
Hojnoski, R. L., & Missall, K. N. (2010). Social development
in preschool classrooms: Promoting engagement,
competence, and school readiness. In M. R. Shinn and H.
M. Walker (Eds.), Interventions for achievement and
behavior in a three-tier model including RTI (pp. 703-728).
Bethesda, MD: National Association of School
Psychologists.
Suess, A. N., Romani, P. W., Wacker, D. P., Lee, J. F.,
Dyson, S. M., Kuhle, J. L., Lindgren, S. D., Kopleman, T. G.,
Pelzel, K. E., & Waldron, D. B (accepted pending revisions).
Evaluating the treatment integrity of parents who conduct inhome functional analyses and treatment of problem behavior
of young children with autism via teleconsultation. Journal of
Behavioral Education.
Kopelman, C. & Kramer, A. (2012). Expanding doors to
service for LGBT youth. The Iowa Psychologist, 12-13.
Retrieved from
http://iowapsychology.org/files/TIP%20Spring%202012%2
FINAL.pdf
Roseth, C. J., Missall, K. N., & McConnell, S. R. (accepted).
Early Literacy Individual Growth and Development Indicators
(EL-IGDIs): Growth trajectories using a large, internet-based
sample. Journal of School Psychology.
Kopelman, C. (2011). Letting research inform practice. The
Iowa Psychologist, 56(4), 3. Retrieved from
http://iowapsychology.org/files/TIP-Winter-2011.pdf
Missall, K. N. & McConnell, S. R. (2010). Early literacy and
language IGDIs for preschool-aged children. In J. J. Carta
and C.Greenwood (Eds.), Individual Growth and
Development Indicators: Tools for monitoring progress and
measuring growth in very young children (pp. 181-201).
Baltimore, MD: Brookes.
Missall, K. N., Mercer, S. H., Martinez, R. S. & Casebeer,
D. (2012). Concurrent and longitudinal patterns and trends
in performance on early numeracy curriculum-based
measures in kindergarten through third grade. Assessment
for Effective Intervention, 37(2), 95-106.
Wacker, D. P., Berg, W. K., Schieltz, K. M., Romani, P. W., &
Padilla Dalmau, Y. C. (2012). Outpatient units. In D. D. Reed,
F. D. Reed, & J. L. Luiselli (Eds.), Handbook of crisis
intervention for individuals with developmental disabilities.
New York, NY: Springer.
Wacker, D.P., Lee, J.F., Padilla Dalmau, Y.C., Kopelman,
T.G., Lindgren, S.D., Kuhle, J.L., Pelzel, K.E., Dyson, S.,
Schieltz, K.M., & Waldron, D.B. (in press). Conducting
functional communication training via telehealth to reduce
problem behavior of young children with autism, Journal of
Physical and Developmental Disabilities.
Yang, L.-Y., Guo, J.-P., Richman, L.C., Schmidt, F.L.,
Gerken, K.C., & Ding, Y. (2013). Visual skills and Chinese
reading acquisition: A meta-analysis of correlation
evidence. Educational Psychology Review (SSCI). 25
(1), 115-143.
Missall, K., & O’Bleness, J. (2013). Quality of life in early
childhood. In A. C. Michalos (Ed.), Encyclopedia of quality
of life research. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer.
O’Bleness, J. & Missall, K. (2013). Attachment theory and
classroom management. To appear in W.G. Scarlett
(Ed.).Classroom management: An A-to-Z guide. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing
Osborn, A. (2012). Juggling personal life and
professionalism: Ethical implications for rural school
psychologists. Psychology in the Schools, 49 (9), 876-882.
Padilla Dalmau, Y. C., Wacker, D. P., Harding, J. W., Berg,
W. K., Schieltz, K. M., Lee, J. F., Breznican, B. P., &
Kramer, A. R. (2011). A preliminary evaluation of functional
communication training effectiveness and language
preference when English and Spanish are manipulated.
Journal of Behavioral Education, 20, 233-251.
Gun Sung Lee, Alyssa Suess, Kirstin Miller, and Shaun
Wilkinson in Philadelphia for the NASP Convention
Romani, P.W., Ringdahl, J.E., Vinquist, K.M., Dutt, A.,
Suess, A.N., Whittington, H., & Kopelman, C. (in press). An
evaluation of prompt density, rate of reinforcement, and the
persistence of manding. The Psychological Record.
Anna Ing, Brooke Holland, Jessica Schwartz, Alyssa Seuss,
Michael Scheib, Nicole Lustig, Yaniz Padilla Dalmau, and
Patrick Romani at a Seattle Mariners game, before the ABAI
Conferece
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School Psychology Alumni Newsletter
Catching Up With Alumni
Thomas Reimers, PhD
Director of Behavioral Health Clinic
At Boys Town in Nebraska
Dr. Reimers is an Iowa graduate who has
accomplished quite a lot in his career. While a
doctoral student in the School Psychology
program at the University of Iowa, Dr. Reimers
worked extensively in the behavioral clinics at the
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He
received post-doctoral training in the Kennedy
Institute at The Johns Hopkins School of
Medicine. Dr. Reimers created a new program
and worked for 17 years in The Family Support
Center at Children’s Hospital in Omaha, before
becoming the director of the Behavioral Health
Clinic at Boys Town. During his time as director,
Dr. Reimers has expanded the services of the
clinic, which sees about 20,000 children each
year. Dr. Reimers’ career has included clinical
work and research, and he published many works
in professional journals, as well as the public
arena.
Dr. Reimers credits the School Psychology
program with providing him the opportunities to
develop the skills that has led him to be a
successful clinician and researcher. He believes
the ability to work in the schools and the clinics at
UIHC are a great asset to the program, as
students can gain valuable experiences in a range
of settings. As Dr. Reimers put it, the program is
the “best of both worlds” for school assessment
and intervention, as well as clinic experiences.
Working in the clinics at UIHC also provided Dr.
Reimers with the opportunity to engage in
research as well as clinical practice. Dr. Reimers
was especially influenced by his mentor at UIHC,
Dr. David Wacker, and recalls working with Dr.
Wacker as an important contribution to his doctoral
training. Furthermore, Dr. Reimers expressed his
gratitude to the School Psychology program,
especially Dr. Stewart Ehly, for preparing him for
his career as a researcher and clinician. Overall,
he believes that these opportunities have opened
many doors for him, such as providing him with the
training that allowed him to obtain an internship at
Johns Hopkins.
When asked to provide advice for current students
of the program, Dr. Reimers encouraged students
to start thinking about one’s personal objective right
away, and to take advantage of the many
opportunities that the university has to offer in order
to achieve this objective. Students should talk to
people doing what they want to do, so that they can
get more information and obtain the proper training.
Dr. Reimers also believes that students should
spend a lot of time in the classroom and in the field
learning new things. This provides the opportunity
to get experiences early and find the things that
interest you, as well as the things that you don’t
enjoy. As Dr. Reimers puts it, many students and
interns think they want to do something, until they
start doing it and realize it isn’t exactly what they
thought it would be. Furthermore, you may not find
out what you want to do until you start doing it.
Dr. Reimers extends this advice to program
graduates just starting out in this career.
Practitioners should continue to reach out and
actively seek the opportunities they need to be
successful professionals.
Get engaged in
organization at the community, local, and national
levels. Take advantage of any connections that
you may have. If you are not happy with your
situation, think about ways that you can create the
opportunities you wish to seek. Based on his own
accomplishments, Dr. Reimers is definitely an
example of the power of this advice.
Written by Amanda Osborn
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School Psychology Alumni Newsletter
Catching Up With Alumni
Mary Stevens, PhD
Director of Special Education
Area Education Agency 267
“Stick with it; you’re going to love it.” That’s Dr.
Steven’s advice for students in the school
psychology program. She stated the school
psychology is an interesting and rewarding field. In
terms of training advice, Dr. Stevens asserts that
students should focus on data-based decision
making, including how this relates to the Iowa
Core, and response to intervention (RTI).
Additionally,
students
should
familiarize
themselves with effective instructional strategies
Dr. Stevens is an Iowa alumnus who has displayed and functional assessments (both behavioral and
great leadership in her career. Dr. Stevens worked academic), so they can lead students to good
as a school psychologist from 1977 to 1987, at instruction.
which point she became a part time administrator
as well. In 1992, Dr. Stevens became a full time Dr. Stevens’ advice for new professionals is to
administrator in the schools. In 2003, she became focus on the kids. The most important goal for a
psychologist should be to accelerate learning for
a regional director for the AEA, and in 2005
promoted to special education director of AEA 267. each child, so that every child can succeed.
Dr. Stevens’ work has led her out of state as well, Furthermore, keep in mind that our job is to support
to Minnesota and Illinois, before bringing her back teachers and parents. Dr. Stevens emphasized
to Iowa. In her current position as director of the importance of parental involvement in student
special education, Dr. Stevens provides leadership success; school psychologists need to make an
to staff, hires new employees, designates especial effort to collaborate with parents in order
employee assignments, allocates resources, and to provide the best services to students.
ensures that students with disabilities have their
needs met and are provided with free and At the end of the interview, Dr. Stevens stressed
her gratitude to the school psychology program at
appropriate education.
the University of Iowa. She stated that she feels
Dr. Stevens stated that she loved the school “blessed” to have had such great opportunities in
psychology program at the University of Iowa. She this field, and a lot of those opportunities were
stated that Dr. Kit Gerken was a great advisor, and given to her because of the University of Iowa.
she was provided a supportive and encouraging She reiterated that her training has helped her not
environment to develop her skills. Furthermore, only in her work as a school psychologist, but in
she claimed that the program stressed problem- other areas outside the field, particularly with
solving and the scientific method of hypothesis respect to administration. It is clear that Dr.
testing, which has helped her work with students, Stevens is a credit to the school psychology
teachers, and parents in order to select the best program; not only does she exhibit great leadership
strategies in the schools. This has also helped as skills, she also demonstrates how a professional
her work has moved to more system-wide and can take the training provided in the program to
classroom-level interventions, as Dr. Stevens advance to great heights.
believes that the same data-based decision making
process for individual students is important for
administrative decisions.
Written by Amanda Osborn
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