The primary mission of the Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling is to offer quality graduate programs to an interdisciplinary array of students. The Educational Research program develops researchers for the public sector, private sector, and higher education. The Educational Psychology program provides exemplary graduate training in research, application, and practice related to learning, development, and mental well being of people of all ages. The Program in Counselor Education offers a quality program of teaching, research, and service for students enrolled for study and, ultimately, for the benefit of the publics they serve. The School Psychology program provides exemplary graduate training in research, application, and practice related to the learning, development, and mental health of children and youth as well as their families, teachers, educators and other professionals who work with them.
The Department of Educational Studies is committed to cultivating a scholarly community that celebrates values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Guided by these firm commitments, we embrace a holistic perspective of diversity, which includes race; ethnicity and national origin; gender, including gender identity and expressions; sexualities; age, socioeconomic status; disabilities; religion and spirituality; as well as other identities and ideologies. Our department strives to create and actively promote a welcoming and supportive environment where diverse perspectives are encouraged, recognized, and respected.
In response to COVID-19, most admission test scores (GRE/GMAT/MAT MCAT) have been waived for Spring, Summer and Fall 2021.
Department Head: Dr. Michael Lawson
Degrees
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
MASTER OF ARTS
EDUCATIONAL SPECIALIST
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
CERTIFICATES
Contacts
Program | Program Coordinators | Advisors | Emails |
Counselor Education | Dr. George Mugoya | | gmugoya@ua.edu |
Educational Psychology, MA (Hybrid, Class A School Psychometry) | | Dr. Heather Britnell | hbritnell@ua.edu |
Educational Psychology, EDS (Hybrid, Class AA School Psychology) | | Dr. Heather Britnell | hbritnell@ua.edu |
Educational Research | Dr. Stacey Hughey-Surman | | ssurman@ua.edu |
School Psychology | Dr. Michael Sulkowski | | mlsulkowski@ua.edu |
Qualitative Research Certificate | Dr. Stephanie Shelton | | sashelton@ua.edu |
Quantitative Research Certificate | Dr. Stefanie Wind | | swind@ua.edu |
People

Dr. Rana Al-Khatib-Eloubeidi
Clinical Assistant Professor, Quantitative Research
rmeloubeidi@ua.edu

Dr. Eric Baltrinic
Assistant Professor, Counselor Education
erbaltrinic@ua.edu
teaching and learning
counselor preparation
Q methodology

Dr. Heather Britnell
Clinical Asst. Professor, School Psychology
hbritnell@ua.edu

Professor, Counselor Education
jburnham@ua.edu
children’s fears
school counseling
women in academia

Dr. Chunhua Cao
Assistant Professor, Quantitative Methods
ccao6@ua.edu

Dr. Dominic Combs
Clinical Assistant Professor, Evaluation Research
ddcombs@ua.edu

Dr. Ryan Cook
Assistant Professor, Counselor Education
rmcook@ua.edu

Dr. Tony Derriso
Clinical Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology
acderriso@ua.edu

Dr. Heather Fye
Assistant Professor, Counselor Education
hjfye@ua.edu
wellness, stress, and burnout
school counseling
quantitative research

Dr. Teresa Grenawalt
Assistant Professor, Rehabilitative Counselor Education
tagrenawalt@ua.edu 
Dr. Wenjing Guo
Clinical Assistant Professor, Quantitative Research
wguo9@ua.edu

Dr. Karl Hamner
Clinical Professor, Educational Research
khamner@ua.edu

Dr. Stacy Hughey-Surman
Clinical Associate Professor, Educational Research
ssurman@ua.edu
classroom assessment
evaluating collective impact
arts evaluation

Dr. Joni Lakin
Professor, Educational Research
jlakin@ua.edu
education measurement
STEM education

Dr. Michael Lawson
Department Head and
Associate Professor, Educational Research
malawson1@ua.edu
student/family engagement
improvement science
mixed methods research
interventionh

Dr. Joon Ho Lee
Assistant Professor, Educational Research
jlee296@ua.edu
experimental and intervention research

Dr. Junfei Lu
Associate Professor, Rehabilitation Counseling
jlu27@ua.edu
mindfulness & resilience
counselor competence development
people with disabilitie

Dr. Emily Lund
Assistant Professor, Rehabilitation Counseling
emlund@ua.edu 
Dr. Wenchao Ma
Assistant Professor, Quantitative Research
wma9@ua.edu
psychometrics
cognitive diagnosis modeling
item response theory

Dr. Kaiwen Man
Assistant Professor, Educational Research
kman@ua.edu
educational measurement

Dr. Laura Morett
Assistant Professor, Educational Neuroscience
lmorett@ua.edu
gesture studies
language learning/processin

Dr. George Mugoya
Associate Professor, Counselor Education
gmugoya@ua.edu
disabilities
chronic illnesses
psychosocial correlates of health

Dr. June Preast
Assistant Professor, School Psychology
jlpreast@ua.edu
school consultation
intervention responsiveness
multi-tiered systems of support

Dr. Shena Sanchez
Assistant Professor, Educational Research
sasanchez1@ua.edu
educational research
student identity and voice
socio-political contexts of education

Dr. Randall Schumacker
Professor, Educational Research
rschumacker@ua.edu
multiple regression
multivariate statistics
structural equation modeling

Dr. Stephanie Anne Shelton
Associate Professor, Educational Research
sashelton@ua.edu
qualitative
interviewing
focus groups
gender & sexuality
queer & feminist theories

Dr. Firat Soylu
Associate Professor, Educational Neuroscience
fsoylu@ua.edu
numerical cognition
STEM learning

Dr. Macarena Suárez Pellicioni
Assistant Professor, Educational Neuroscience
mspellicioni@ua.edu
Educational neuroscience
mathematical cognition
cognition and emotion learning
learning, development
fMRI, ERPs

Dr. David Ian Walker
Associate Professor, Educational Psychology
diwalker@ua.edu
moral & character development
interdisciplinary research
military/ex-military populations

Dr. Yurou Wang
Clinical Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology
yurou.wang@ua.edu
motivation
learning
persistence
emotion

Dr. Stefanie Wind
Associate Professor, Measurement and Evaluation
swind@ua.edu
rater-mediated assessment
item response theory
nonparametric IRT