Distinguished researcher award

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Donald D. Deshler, the Williamson Family Distinguished Professor of Special Education and director of the Center for Research on Learning, is the recipient of this year’s Distinguished Researcher Award from the Special Education Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association.

The award recognizes a researcher for significant and sustained contributions to research, policy, or practice in the field.

In announcing the award, Delinda van Garderen, chair of AERA’s Special Education Research SIG executive committee, said, “Dr. Deshler has devoted his life to special education research. He has an outstanding record and has made significant contributions to the field of special education.”

The award was presented May 2 during the annual meeting of the Special Education Research SIG in Denver.

Deshler joined the faculty of the University of Kansas in 1974 as an assistant professor in special education and assumed the leadership of KU’s Center for Research on Learning in 1980.

Research conducted by the Center under his leadership falls into six main categories: 
1. Effective instruction strategies—addressing underlying factors related to learning disabilities and procedures for enabling people to cope with learning disabilities.
2. Adult literacy, policy development and implementation, and program design—addressing the lifelong learning needs of adults with disabilities.
3. Advanced learning technologies—integrating advanced technologies and education to improve student performance.
4. E-learning design—developing online instruction with a commitment to identifying the essential, effective elements of online teaching.
5. Professional development—studying ways to deliver quality learning opportunities and support to teachers and other school personnel.
6. Instructional coaching—studying effective methods of on-site, job-embedded professional development for educators.

Deshler’s influence within the field of special education is extensive. He has taught hundreds of undergraduate, master’s level, and doctoral students during his career and has reached thousands more teachers and administrators through professional development conducted across the country. He has published more than 200 articles, books, monographs, and instructional materials, and his grant proposals have resulted in awards totaling more than $49 million. In 2000, the Journal of Remedial and Special Education selected Deshler as one of the 50 most influential scholars in the field of special education in the 20th century.

---