Hello! I’m Carlin,
an education researcher and former special education teacher.
I am passionate about improving education opportunities for all children, especially students with special needs.
Teaching Experience
My passion for helping students with disabilities began when I taught special education at a Title 1 school in Dallas, Texas. My students had a range of abilities, including those with learning disabilities, dyslexia, traumatic brain injury, intellectual disability, and autism. In addition to having a disability, many of my students were also English language learners. I absolutely loved my job and became passionate about providing the best educational opportunities for my students. Unfortunately, I constantly ran into road blocks that made it difficult for me to help my students.
For instance, there were limited resources at my school; we did not have any programs that were designed specifically for students in special education, students who have very unique needs. I was often given old materials that general education teachers were no longer using because they were outdated or was forced to make my own materials (books, worksheets, etc.) from resources I found on the internet. While at least this was something, I had no idea how effective these self-made materials would actually be for my students.
Master’s Degree
In 2014, I went back to school at Southern Methodist University (SMU) to get a Master’s in Education with a focus on special education. Among other things, I wanted to learn about teaching methods that were supported by research to be effective for my students. The two years I spent working on my Master’s degree were amazing! I was constantly learning about teaching techniques and resources that were effective for my students. However, as I was gaining knowledge about teaching special education, I started to wonder how I could create positive change for students with disabilities and special education teachers on a larger scale.
PhD
I decided to continue my education, staying at SMU to work on a Ph.D. in educational research, so that I could focus on answering some of these questions that remained with me after I finished my Master’s degree. I began my Ph.D. in 2016, and over the course of my program, I engaged in incredible opportunities to participate in research, learned from experienced researchers in my field, presented my work at conferences, and worked with others who are passionate about issues in education. I defended my dissertation, Making the case for the systematic observation of language and reading: A reading comprehension measure inclusive of students with disabilities, in May of 2020. After passing my defense, I officially became Dr. Conner and accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia (UVA) in the Reading and Academic Development Research lab.
UVA
I began working at UVA on an IES postdoctoral fellowship created to support researchers focusing on autism and reading research. To kick off my post-doctoral research, I began work as a co-principal investigator on a virtual reading comprehension study for children with autism. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and efficacy of a listening comprehension intervention for children with autism delivered over a telecommunication platform. The study yielded promising results, and you can read more about it on my blog page!
In October of 2021, I transitioned to a new position at UVA as a Senior Research Scientist on a literacy screener revision in the Center for the Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning. As a research scientist on the literacy screener revision, I am able to focus on reading assessment development for all beginning readers, including students with disabilities and those who are English learners. This role has brought new responsibilities and opportunities for assessment research which are all incredibly exciting! Read more about my current work over on the blog page or catch me at a conference or read up on one of the research briefs put out by my team (found on the content page of this website).
The purpose of this website is to share my research, along with resources that are effective and practical for special education teachers, in hopes that I can help a wide network of teachers and their students. Find links to my work over on the content page and jump over to the blog for resources for teachers, families, and work related to conference presentations!
much love,
Carlin Conner, Ph.D.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Content
Publications
Peer-reviewed
Biel, C., Conner, C., Abry, T., Williams, B. S., Tyree, L., Blackwell-Bullock, R., & Solari, E. J. (2022) How does the science of reading inform early literacy screening? Virginia State Literacy Association.
Conner, C., Jones, F.J., Delzell, L., Walte, S., & Allor, J. (2021). What teachers know about teaching reading to students with developmental disabilities: A survey of special educators. Journal of Policy and Practice in Developmental Disabilities. JPIDD manuscript
Conner, C., Baker, D., & Allor, J. (2020). Multiple language exposure for children with autism spectrum disorder from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. Bilingual Research Journal, 43, BRJ manuscript
Allor, J., Yovanoff, P., Al Otaiba, S., Ortiz, M., & Conner, C. (2020). Evidence for a literacy intervention for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 55, 290-302 ETADD manuscript
Al Otaiba, S., Allor, J. H., Baker, K., Conner, C., Stewart, J., & Mellado De La Cruz, V. (2019). Teaching phonemic awareness and word reading skills: Focusing on explicit and systematic approaches. Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 45, 11-16. Perspectives manuscript
Other
Research Brief: PALS Statewide Report 2021-2022
Examining the impact of COVID-19 on identification of at-risk students: Spring 2021 literacy screening findings: PALS_Spring2021_Impact_COVID-19.pdf
Book Chapter:
Allor, J. H., Kearns, D., Ortiz, M., & Conner, C. (invited book chapter; in press). An examination of the text characteristics of an early reading book series: Providing intensive practice with connected text. In M. Tankersley, B. G. Cook, & T. J. Landrum (Eds.), Advances in Learning and Behavioral Disabilities (Vol. 31), Bingley, UK: Emerald.
Conference Proceeding:
Conner, C., & Al Otaiba, S. (2019). Recommendations for providing linguistic support to culturally and linguistically diverse children with autism spectrum disorder. 8th Annual International Conference on Language, Literature, and Linguistics. (Singapore, June 2019), Copyright GSTF © 2019. ISSN 2251-3566. doi: 10.5176/2251-3566_L319.398
Practice Guide:
Written by Carlin Conner, Maria L. Hugh, and Jennifer Stewart, available at http://nclii.org/intensive-intervention-practice-guides/
Presentations
Reading and language comprehension instruction for diverse learners.
Oral presentation for the Council for Exceptional Children Convention (2021). Presented by Carlin Conner, Cassidi Richmond, Isabel Vargas, Alyssa Henry, and Emily Solari
Webinar for the Division for Learning Disabilities: DLD at Night series (2021). Presented by Carlin Conner, Emily Solari, Isabel Vargas, and Karen Kehoe
Comprehensive reading interventions for students with ASD and cognitive disabilities: Focus on reading comprehension.
Poster presented at the Council for Exceptional Children Convention (2021). Created by Carlin Conner, Jill Allor, and Stephanie Al Otaiba
Using read-alouds to improve comprehension of children with ASD, IS, or SLI.
Invited webinar to educators and practitioners as a part of The Reading League’s Live Events (2021). Presented by Carlin Conner, Alyssa Henry, and Emily Solari
Interrater reliability conditional on literacy behavior.
Poster presented February, 2020, at the Annual Pacific Coast Research Conference in San Diego, California. Created by Carlin Conner and Paul Yovanoff
Exploring school-implemented RTI: Findings from a national study.
Poster presented February, 2020 at the Annual Conference for the Council for Exceptional Children, Portland, Oregon. Created by Carlin Conner, Stephanie Al Otaiba, Jennifer Stewart, Kristi Baker, and Jill Allor
Presented July, 2019 at the 29th annual meeting for the Society of Text & Discourse in New York, New York. Created by Carlin Conner, Kristi Baker, Eva Chiang, Jennifer Stewart, & Sumei Wu
Presented July, 2019 at the 29th annual meeting for the Society of Text & Discourse in New York, New York. Created by Carlin Conner, Dr. Devin Kearns, Dr. Jill Allor, & Dr. Stephanie Al Otaiba
Presented at the 2019 Child Language Symposium in Sheffield, UK. Created by Carlin Conner and Dr. Stephanie Al Otaiba.
Presented June, 2019 at the 8th Annual International Conference for Language, Literature, and Linguistics in Singapore by Carlin Conner
Presented in April, 2019 at the AERA annual meeting in Toronto, Canada by Carlin Conner, Jennifer Stewart, Victoria Whaley, Britta Cook Bresina, & Dr. Devin M. Kearns
Presented in February, 2019 at the CEC convention in Indianapolis, IN by Carlin Conner, Maria L. Hugh, & Jennifer Stewart
Presented in February, 2019 at the CEC convention in Indianapolis, IN by Carlin Conner, Dr. Francesca G Jones, Dr. Samantha Walte, Dr. Lynn Ahlgrim-Delzell, & Dr. Jill Allor
Presented at SMU Research Day, 2019 by Carlin Conner
Presented at SMU Research Day, 2018, by Carlin Conner, Winning Presentation
Additional research:
Friends on the Block
Visit the Research & Resources page at the Friends on the Block website to find presentations and accompanying handouts from presentations regarding the reading intervention, many of which I assisted with creating or presenting.
Download a copy of my CV for more information about my education, teaching experience (in K-12 and at the college level), and research.
Contact Information
Email me with questions about my work (or special education in general) at clc6wc@virginia.edu or connect with me on LINKEDIN or Twitter (@ConnerCarlin)
Check out my Blog section for updates on resources I recommend for teachers and upcoming conferences at which I may be presenting!
Carlin Conner, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
University of Virginia
School of Education and Human Development
Center for the Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning CASTL
Phonological Awareness Literacy Screener PALS
NCLII Scholar from 2016-2020