Educational and Developmental Sciences Research Program
The Educational and Developmental Sciences (EDS) Research Program involves a team of interdisciplinary researchers working at the intersection of educational and developmental science to create and evaluate new strategies and programs that teachers, related school and community professionals, and school leaders and administrators can use to foster sustained educational success and productive career outcomes for all youth. Reflecting the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that was signed into law by President Obama in 2015, there is a growing recognition that all youth can succeed but efforts to support their pathways to success need to be responsive to individual students’ specific strengths and needs, the contexts and communities in which they live and develop, and their own goals, aspirations, and definitions of success.
The mission of the EDS Research Program is to conduct rigorous research to identify approaches to strengthen and/or create school and community ecologies that provide youth with the supports, experiences, and opportunities they need to achieve outcomes that are meaningful to them, their families, and the communities and cultures in which they grow and live. To do this, our efforts build on the ever growing knowledge base on effective educational practice and student learning (i.e., educational science) and equally dynamic research on child and adolescent developmental pathways and positive youth development programs (i.e., applied developmental science).
About our director
Tom Farmer is associate dean of research and professor in the departments of Curriculum and Instruction and School Psychology and Counselor Education at William & Mary. His research focuses on classroom and behavior management, service delivery models to support students with disabilities and students who have intensive intervention needs in inclusive settings, the prevention of bullying and aggression, and the development and evaluation of teacher professional development programs. He has been PI of several federally funded intervention development and evaluation studies involving professional development programs to promote teachers’ management of the classroom context and students’ academic, behavioral, and social adjustment. He co-developed the SEALS models to support students across the middle school years. He serves as co-editor of the Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.
Research Projects
Ongoing: SEALS II
Completed: SEALS, REAL, Rural High School Aspirations
Sample Publications
JEBD 2016 – Intensive Interventions
RASE 2015 – Disability and Involvement in Peer Victimization
JEBD 2014 – Managing Classrooms and Students with Challenging Behavior
Affiliated Scientists
Quintin Alexander
Debbie Brooks
Soo-yong Byun
Chin-Chih Chin
Lisa Gatzke-Kopp
Jill Hamm
David Lee
Daniel Maggin
LaRon Scott
Kevin Sutherland
Betsy Talbott
Joseph Wehby
Hongling Xie