About

Maureen Conroy, PhD is the Anita Zucker Endowed Professor, Co-Director of the Anita Zucker Center of Excellence in Early Childhood Studies, and a professor of special education and early childhood studies in the School of Special Education, School Psychology, and Early Childhood Studies at UF. She is also an affiliate faculty member of the UF Institute for Child Health Policy. Dr. Conroy is recognized for her research focused on developing, validating and evaluating interventions for young children with social and behavioral challenges. Prior to her appointment at the University of Florida in 2010, Dr. Conroy was a professor of special education and psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Dr. Conroy began her career as a teacher working with young children with or at risk for disabilities and their families. Over the course of her career, she has been an early childhood teacher serving young children in inclusive programs; an early interventionist working with caregivers to support their infants and toddlers; a director of a local early intervention program; a technical assistance provider to Head Start and local education agencies serving young children with or at risk for disabilities; and a higher education faculty member and administrator.
Dr. Conroy's research focuses on the promotion of evidence-based programs and practices to support young children's development and learning with an emphasis on social-emotional development. She has led or co-led a number of externally funded projects with much of this support coming from highly competitive federal funding sources such as the Institute of Education Sciences and National Institutes of Health. Currently, she is leading several federally funded grants investigating the efficacy and sustainability of a classroom-based intervention model, BEST in CLASS, designed for use by early childhood practitioners working with young children with social-emotional and behavioral learning difficulties and their families.
Dr. Conroy has an extensive publication record in the field of early childhood studies and early intervention with over 100 refereed articles, 20 book chapters, and three books. She has received numerous awards for her contributions to the field and is the former co-editor of Behavioral Disorders. Dr. Conroy is a regular presenter at international and national conferences on topics related to early childhood studies and early intervention and has mentored numerous doctoral students throughout her career in higher education.

Research Interests

Applied Behavior Analysis in Early Childhood, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Children and Poverty, Early Childhood, Early Childhood Studies, Evidence-based Practices, Family Engagement, Family-centered Practices, Family-centered Services, Instructional Practices for Young Children at Risk, Prevention Science, Professional Development in Early Childhood, Young Children at Risk

Education

• Ph.D. in Special Education, Vanderbilt University, 1986
• M.Ed. in Special Education, Vanderbilt University, 1982B.S.E. in Special Education/Elementary Education, Keene State College, 1979

Professional Appointments

• Associate Editor, Journal of Positive Behavioral Interventions, 2014 - 2020
• Co-editor, Behavioral Disorders, 2011 - 2014
• Associate Editor, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 2007 - 2016
• Associate Editor, Journal of Early Intervention, 2007 - 2010
• Member, Editorial Board, Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 2007 - Present
• Member, Editorial Board, Exceptional Children, 2012 - Present
• Member, Editorial Board, Remedial and Special Education, 2012 - 2014
• Member, Editorial Board, Teacher Education and Special Education, 2010 - 2020
• Member, Editorial Board, School Mental Health, 2010 - Present
• Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 2006 - Present
• Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 2002 - Present
• Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Early Intervention, 2002 - Present
• Member, Editorial Board, Behavioral Disorders, 1996 - Present
• School Psychology Review, Nomination for Best Paper, 2020
• Outstanding Leadership Award, Council for Children with Behavioral Disorders, Council for Exceptional Children, 2016
• Inaugural Anita Zucker Professor in Early Childhood Studies, 2015
• Review Panels, Advisory Boards, Committees, and Consulting
• Program Chair, Conference on Research and Innovations in Early Intervention, 2020 – 2022
• Program Co-Chair, Conference on Research and Innovations in Early Intervention, 2018 – 2020
• Standing Review Panel Member, Early Intervention and Early Childhood Review Panel, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 2016 – 2019
• External Reviewer, A Study of Early Intervention and Special Education Services and Personnel, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 2016
• Expert Reviewer, Division of Early Childhood Position Statement on Challenging Behavior, 2016 – 2017
• Member, Goal 4 Technical Working Group, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, 2016
• Reviewer, Research Council, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven University, Brussels, 2016
• Member, National Center on Intensive Intervention, American Institutes for Research, 2016 – 2018
• Member, Mixed Methods Working Group, Council for Exceptional Children, Division of Research, 2015 – 2018
• Reviewer, Single Case Design Student Research, Council for Exceptional Children, Division of Research, 2015
• Member, Committee for the Kauffman-Hallahan Distinguished Researcher Award, Council for Exceptional Children, Division of Research, 2011 – 2018
• Reviewer, Autism Centers of Excellence and Autism Network Centers, National Institutes of Health, 2011
• Standing Panel Review Member, Child Psychopathology & Developmental Disabilities, National Institutes of Health, 2010 – 2014
• Expert Reviewer, National Center on Quality Teaching and Learning, University of Washington, 2011
• Member, Children’s Trust of Alachua County Technical Advisory Committee, 2020

Selected Grants

Selected Publications

• Farmer, T. W., Conroy, M. A., Farmer, E. M. Z., & Sutherland, K. S. (Eds). (2020). Handbook of research on emotional and behavioral disorders: Interdisciplinary developmental perspectives on children and youth. Routledge.
• Stichter, J. P. & Conroy, M. A. (2017). How to teach social skills and plan for peer social interactions with learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders (2nd ed.). PRO-Ed, Inc.
• Conroy, M. A. (Section Ed.). (2017). Section XII: Early identification and intervention in exceptionality. In J. M. Kauffman, D. P. Hallahan, & P. C. Pullen (Eds.), Handbook of special education (2nd ed., pp. 829). Routledge Press.
• Conroy, M. A., & Sutherland, K. S. (2021). Using positive descriptive feedback to improve children's behavior. In M. L. Hemmeter, M. Ostrosky, & L. Fox (Eds.), Unpacking the Pyramid Model: A practical guide for preschool teachers(pp. 101-108). Brookes.
• Conroy, M. A., Bulotsky-Shearer, R., Morris, C., & Hetrick, A. A. (2020). Prevention and intervention in preschool and early elementary school years. In T. W. Farmer, M. A. Conroy, E. M. Z. Farmer, & K. S. Sutherland (Eds.), Handbook of research in emotional and behavioral disorders (pp. 35-50). Routledge.
• Sutherland, K. S., Conroy, M. A., & Granger, K. (2020). BEST in CLASS: A tier-2 program for children with and at risk for emotional/behavioral disorders. In T. W. Farmer, M. A. Conroy, E. M. Z. Farmer, & K. Sutherland (Eds), Handbook of research in emotional and behavioral disorders (pp. 214-227). Routledge.
• Conroy, M. A., *McKnight, K., & Sutherland, K. S. (2019). Partnering with families of students at risk for emotional/behavioral disorders. In L. Lusa & Y. Xu (Eds.), Family, school, and community partnerships for individuals with disabilities (pp. 57-69). Springer.
• Stichter, J. P., Conroy, M., O'Donnell, R., & Reichow, B. (2017). Current issues and trends in the education of children and youth with autism spectrum disorders. In J. M. Kauffman, D. P. Hallahan & P. C. Pullen (Eds.). Handbook of special education (2nd ed., pp. 394-410). Rutledge.
• Marshall, K., Brown, W. H., Conroy, M. A., & Knopf, H. (2017). Early intervention and prevention of disability: Preschoolers. In J. M. Kauffman, D. P. Hallahan, & P. C. Pullen (Eds.), Handbook of special education (2nd ed., pp. 850-864). Routledge.
• Conroy, M. A., Whalon, K., & *Martinez, J. (2014). How to assess the social competence for instructional planning. In J. E. Hart & K. J. Whalon (Eds.), Friendship 101: Developing social skills among children and youth with autism and developmental disabilities (pp. 1-14). Council for Exceptional Children.

Selected Links

• http://ceecs.education.ufl.edu/
• https://education.ufl.edu/best-in-class/
• https://education.ufl.edu/sespecs/